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Post by cbk on Nov 29, 2009 5:53:24 GMT -5
As our friend Jerry always says, FOLLOW THE MONEY. And I watched a program that did just that. It opened my eyes to things that I hadn't considered before. Call me naive, I guess. While I believe in treating Mother Earth with kindness I don't believe in running around like Chicken Little crying that the sky is falling in. And that is what Cap&Trade would do. Yet there are things to be done that will lesson our dependence on oil for energy and clean up the air at the same time. One of these is the electric car. Electric cars have an old history. Some of the first cars were electric. G.M. built an electric car but even while they were building it they sabotaged it with poor performance. They had controlling interest in a new type of battery company. But they insisted on using regular batteries that would only get around 60 miles before they needed to be recharged. They did this because they thought they would lose their shirts making electric cars. They had an awful lot invested in the internal combustion engine, and the parts industry to keep them running. The electric car is so simple and maintenance free that they saw their profits going into the dumpster. So they made things like the Hummer in the 90's. Ironically, their effort to keep more ecological vehicles off the road led to their downfall. And our bailout.
During this time they sold their controlling interest in the battery company to EXXON, that had an even more intense desire to keep electric vehicles off the road. The reason why is obvious. The oil companies are making huge profits off of oil. Who would want to see that go away if you're an oil company?
Electric cars can be both profitable and "green". The Japanese car industry has seen that. And they have started converting their industry to that mode because they are looking down the road instead of the next quarter. They know it will take time but they know it will come to be a huge part of their manufacturing base. If our car companies were as far sighted they too would be starting to put a lot more emphasis on manufacturing energy saving vehicles. There will always (for the next 100 years or so at least) be a need for oil. The near future doesn't hold jet planes fueled by sun power. Huge trucks won't be electric. But yes, the profits made on oil will go down. But they will last longer. But the greed of American companies (as well as other countries) has slowed the advance of that which would be advantageous to the people, and Mother Earth.
Besides, I think a quiet, smooth running car would be a lot of fun to own and drive.
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Post by jerry on Nov 29, 2009 9:03:14 GMT -5
One sure-fire way to increase profits is to let somebody else do all the R&D work. Once the Orient learns how to make a really good electric car you can bet Detroit will jump on it. An American outfit named Tesla Motors now has an electric sports car that will out-accelerate almost anything else on the road and run up to 250 miles between charges. The sedan is slower, but can get up to 300 mbc and will haul five adults + two kids. But it still costs way too much. However, it proves the idea can work. Here's a link: www.teslamotors.com/Gotta get me one of those! |
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Post by cbk on Nov 29, 2009 9:24:44 GMT -5
Some beautiful cars, for sure. They are expensive, but no more so than some internal combustion engine models of other brands. As with anything, the more that are made and bought, the lower the price will become. Maybe we will live long enough Jerry to afford one.  |
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Post by jerry on Nov 29, 2009 10:16:16 GMT -5
Here's a link to a drive-by-wire hydrogen fuel cell car: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jHFT1X1JDI&feature=player_embedded#Chris sent this one to me. The car looks real good and the concept is great, but I gotta wonder how all that hi-tech hardware would hold up if you ran the car over a flooded road. I also wonder why we're hearing about it first on a Limey TV show. |
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Post by jerry on Nov 29, 2009 10:22:32 GMT -5
Only if I hit the lottery or sell a hell of a lot of pictures. There's nobody left to inherit from, so what you see is what I've got.
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Post by jb on Nov 29, 2009 11:35:16 GMT -5
Excellent points as usual. From what I understand. the batteries are lasting 5 to 7 years in these electric and hybrid cars. Just enough time after the last payment in today's financing. I've also heard talk what we are going to do with all these batteries in our landfills. The pendulum is going all over the place at the moment trying to find that happy medium.
As long as I can run an A/C on batteries when it is 117 degrees in the summer and don't have to mortgage the house to do it, I will be happy!
BTW, I heard they have come a long way with diesels as far as pollution, etc.
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Post by jerry on Nov 29, 2009 12:34:04 GMT -5
JB, there are even a few diesel aircraft engines. Among their advantages is a much higher TBO time, and they will burn jet fuel (kerosene). www.dieselair.com/ |
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Post by mickey on Nov 29, 2009 15:09:27 GMT -5
Only if I hit the lottery or sell a hell of a lot of pictures. There's nobody left to inherit from, so what you see is what I've got. There's one more way. If we get our BINGO casino up and running I will buy you one Jerry. The only catch is you'll have to allow the casino advertising and logo's to be on the car. But it will be yours otherwise. Paid for by losers. ;D |
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Post by jerry on Nov 29, 2009 15:24:50 GMT -5
You've got a deal, Mickey. Heck, you can advertise a cathouse on my car as long as they're paying for it.
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Post by larrywalker on Nov 29, 2009 16:34:03 GMT -5
How much electricity does it take to fully charge an electric car--I guess I am talking in terms of coal--how "green" is it, really?
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Post by jb on Nov 29, 2009 16:36:49 GMT -5
How much electricity does it take to fully charge an electric car--I guess I am talking in terms of coal--how "green" is it, really? Larry, you know better than ask that! It don't count! ;D |
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Post by cbk on Nov 29, 2009 16:40:44 GMT -5
Larry, I don't have the answer to your question. But remember, we can use other fuels to power electric plants. I'm sure that if we put our minds to it we'd come up with a reasonable answer. If you can make fuel from grass (and that's a proven technology) don't try to tell us it can't be done. It's just more hype from the oil companies. We can do this step by step. No need to ruin the economy or get paranoid about it.
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Post by larrywalker on Nov 29, 2009 16:43:44 GMT -5
unfortunately, planned obsolesence seems to be the rule rather than an exeception. If you make a fridge that will run for 100 years, no one will need a second one, and, without repeat buyers, a company will go under.
That said, I can't imagine what it will take to break the hold that the oil industry has on the market place.
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Post by jb on Nov 29, 2009 16:58:11 GMT -5
unfortunately, planned obsolesence seems to be the rule rather than an exeception. If you make a fridge that will run for 100 years, no one will need a second one, and, without repeat buyers, a company will go under. That said, I can't imagine what it will take to break the hold that the oil industry has on the market place. Good points! Detroit car and truck building got broken because of the economy. Oil is used for everything like making plastics and we know much of that we see everyday. CBK, if we can remove the need of oil to make plastics, that will be a big start also. The problem I see is people aren't going to be driving their electric vehicles on vacations. They would have to stop at recharging stations where they will pay to charge up and pay their road taxes as the roads still have to be maintained. People keep forgetting how much we pay in taxes per gallon now. Now, people will going back to flying more to make up for this and maybe rent electric cars at their destinations. So the airline industry profits will go back up, but they will still be sucking the fuel till they go electric. |
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Post by cbk on Nov 29, 2009 19:04:51 GMT -5
j.b., you're right that there are going to be reactions to everything. However, we had better start thinking of how to make do with less oil as there will come a time when it's gone. And there is no sense in not planning and experimenting now while we have time to work it all out. Otherwise we'll be at the mercy of folks like Obama who yell and scream that EVERYTHING is an emergency. Of course, it won't be you and me. It will be our great grandchildren and their children who have to face this mess.
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