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Chris
02-22-2013, 11:10 PM
Good intentions gone bad....


Electric cars never really made any sense. They are cloaked in the sanctimony of the green movement, because they don't use nasty fossil fuels like gasoline. Instead, they use electricity, which is sent out through power lines from big power plants, which generate this electricity—how? Oh yes, by burning fossil fuels like oil, coal, and natural gas. This is known as the "long tailpipe," which goes from the car charging up in your garage all the way back to the smokestack of a coal-fired power plant. And don't forget, electric cars also have giant batteries made from nasty toxic metals like lithium and cobalt, the manufacture of which frontloads carbon dioxide emissions.

So the electric car was always more an exercise in green paternalism—it is the future, as selected for us by our betters—than a serious attempt to solve any real or imagined problem.

A new controversy over the Tesla electric luxury sedan reveals that the electric car fails an even more basic technological standard.

The New York Times started the controversy when its reviewer, John Broder, set off to test the Tesla S by driving it from Washington, DC, to Boston, only to encounter persistent problems with the range of the car and its ability to make it from one Tesla charging station to another without running out of juice. He ends us having to drive with the heat off on a cold day to conserve power—some luxury car!—until his battery conks out and the Tesla has to be towed. In short, the review was a PR disaster for Tesla.

But that's not the end of the story. The folks at Tesla, flunking Public Relations 101, decided....

Read more @ The Electric Car Is an Abomination (http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2013/02/22/the_electric_car_is_an_abomination_117114.html)

Dr. Who
02-22-2013, 11:24 PM
Good intentions gone bad....



Read more @ The Electric Car Is an Abomination (http://The Electric Car Is an Abomination)
The car is at-fault because there are insufficient electrical "fill-up" stations. It's a good thing for the automobile industry that this was not the deciding factor for the switch from horses to cars.

Dr. Who
02-22-2013, 11:29 PM
Good intentions gone bad....



Read more @ The Electric Car Is an Abomination (http://The Electric Car Is an Abomination)
There is something wrong with your link.

Peter1469
02-22-2013, 11:35 PM
Electric cars are an attempt to jump too far ahead in technology. Their time will come.

Chris
02-22-2013, 11:40 PM
The car is at-fault because there are insufficient electrical "fill-up" stations. It's a good thing for the automobile industry that this was not the deciding factor for the switch from horses to cars.

The car's not the real problem, that's "So the electric car was always more an exercise in green paternalism—it is the future, as selected for us by our betters—than a serious attempt to solve any real or imagined problem."


Link fixed, thanks.

Deadwood
02-22-2013, 11:51 PM
Good intentions gone bad....



Read more @ The Electric Car Is an Abomination (http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2013/02/22/the_electric_car_is_an_abomination_117114.html)


And now for the really bad news...

Honda's hybrid, the Prius is manufactured in the US for the North American Market. The electric motors are made in Korea. The batteries get final assembly in China after being pre-assembled in Germany. But the materials originated in Northern Ontario, were semi-refined there and shipped out through the St Lawrence Seaway to Ireland and from there to Germany.

and so, when you are done mining, refining, shipping the battery materials on top of the normal ecological footprint you now have a vehicle with a larger footprint than a Humvee...

Now, the battery is only backed by the manufacturer for two years.

Oh nyeah, we're going to stop global warming this way...

Deadwood
02-22-2013, 11:54 PM
The car is at-fault because there are insufficient electrical "fill-up" stations. It's a good thing for the automobile industry that this was not the deciding factor for the switch from horses to cars.

Please supply us with a credible link to what percentage the "car" is responsible for greenhouse gases. How far behind planes, volcanoes and cow farts are cars on the killing the world scale of scare mongering?

zelmo1234
02-23-2013, 02:25 AM
The car is at-fault because there are insufficient electrical "fill-up" stations. It's a good thing for the automobile industry that this was not the deciding factor for the switch from horses to cars.

It is not that there are not stations, but if you did have the stations it fails in every aspect. It not only is a hassel for the drivers, but because electricity is still primarily a natural gas and coal product it actually emits more carbon.

Financially there is never a pay off, unless you use someone elses power, that is still my favorite part. Go to the store and plug in have them pay for your electricity??? Nice!

And then you have the fact to try and bring down the price the cars are subsidised by the government. And even then companies like GM loose money on every care that the sell.

It was a terrible idea and the companies need to charge what they need to to make money, and the government needs to get out of people business, and if it is financially prudent to have electric cars then people will buy them.

Alif Qadr
02-23-2013, 07:17 AM
Good intentions gone bad....



Read more @ The Electric Car Is an Abomination (http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2013/02/22/the_electric_car_is_an_abomination_117114.html)

Chris, I have always gotten a "kick" out of how the "green" economy as well as electric automobiles are touted as the "alternative" to fossil fuels, yet the energy that this technology requires is reliant on the dreaded, "FOSSIL FUEL" consumption. Meanwhile, as safe alternative to fossil fuels is always subject to the NIMBY mentality. You just cannot win with people who refuse to give up their childish ideas when faced with dilemma when said plans move from theoretical to actual.

Alif Qadr
02-23-2013, 07:18 AM
There is something wrong with your link.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2013/02/22/the_electric_car_is_an_abomination_117114.html

respectfulguest
02-23-2013, 10:00 AM
electric cars pre-date the 1900's and look how far we have come in 150 years?? am all for clean burning, renewable energy but until such time why not take "some" of the sure-to-fail green energy money and invest that into our nation's abundant fossil fuels, perhaps on safer ways to extract and cleaner ways for fossil fuels to be consumed.

Chloe
02-23-2013, 10:06 PM
And now for the really bad news...

Honda's hybrid, the Prius is manufactured in the US for the North American Market. The electric motors are made in Korea. The batteries get final assembly in China after being pre-assembled in Germany. But the materials originated in Northern Ontario, were semi-refined there and shipped out through the St Lawrence Seaway to Ireland and from there to Germany.

and so, when you are done mining, refining, shipping the battery materials on top of the normal ecological footprint you now have a vehicle with a larger footprint than a Humvee...

Now, the battery is only backed by the manufacturer for two years.

Oh nyeah, we're going to stop global warming this way...

Prius is actually a Toyota and are really good cars. I love mine. Obviously the process of building the parts could be better but the amount of gas that I use every month is nothing compared to millions of other people who are filling up all of the time and the battery is supposed to last a long time.

Peter1469
02-23-2013, 10:14 PM
Prius is actually a Toyota and are really good cars. I love mine. Obviously the process of building the parts could be better but the amount of gas that I use every month is nothing compared to millions of other people who are filling up all of the time and the battery is supposed to last a long time.

But I have a Ford Escape Hybrid 4 wheel drive, so I can drive over much snow.

Chloe
02-23-2013, 10:19 PM
But I have a Ford Escape Hybrid 4 wheel drive, so I can drive over much snow.

Do you have to drive over a lot of snow often?

Peter1469
02-23-2013, 10:28 PM
Do you have to drive over a lot of snow often?

Not this winter.... :sad:

Chloe
02-23-2013, 10:30 PM
Not this winter.... :sad:

yeah that global warming's a bitch right? :grin:

Peter1469
02-23-2013, 10:44 PM
yeah that global warming's a bitch right? :grin:

I doubt it. It has been cold, just dry

Chloe
02-23-2013, 10:46 PM
I doubt it. It has been cold, just dry

I was just having some fun with ya

Peter1469
02-23-2013, 10:54 PM
Enjoy. I am still driving around in my eco-friendly SUV for non-eco reasons!

Chloe
02-23-2013, 10:55 PM
Enjoy. I am still driving around in my eco-friendly SUV for non-eco reasons!

it's part of your sub-conscious. Your inner voice is eco driven.

Chris
02-24-2013, 12:44 AM
Prius is actually a Toyota and are really good cars. I love mine. Obviously the process of building the parts could be better but the amount of gas that I use every month is nothing compared to millions of other people who are filling up all of the time and the battery is supposed to last a long time.


Prius, maybe that's why you got pulled over the other night. :-P


A guy I work with has had one for years. I think he gets like 80 mpg. he drives 40 miles to work and back each day so that's a win for him.

zelmo1234
02-24-2013, 04:06 AM
There are so many things that you can do to improve mileage.

being in construction and distribution, I drive a pickup. the company owns a F250 that is the truck we use for plowing, and hauling trailers.

My F150 us used mostly for very light hauling, and I pull my boat 14 ft fishing boat. So I installed the K & N force air system, and re chiped the Truck to change the shifting pattern. I should get about 14 mpg, but with the changes I get 19 to 21. The investment was about 1000 dollars.

Now I know that for you HyBrid drivers this does not seem like a lot, but for 4 X 4 drivers this is pretty good milage, and while this is not an option for those that do a lot of heavy hauling. It would work for tons of people that drive truck and SUV's

PS HyDrid drivers in MI are going to get hit with recistration fee's that are 3 times higher, because they do not pay as much in gas taxes. Which is how MI raises taxes for the roads.

Peter1469
02-24-2013, 11:09 AM
There are so many things that you can do to improve mileage.

being in construction and distribution, I drive a pickup. the company owns a F250 that is the truck we use for plowing, and hauling trailers.

My F150 us used mostly for very light hauling, and I pull my boat 14 ft fishing boat. So I installed the K & N force air system, and re chiped the Truck to change the shifting pattern. I should get about 14 mpg, but with the changes I get 19 to 21. The investment was about 1000 dollars.

Now I know that for you HyBrid drivers this does not seem like a lot, but for 4 X 4 drivers this is pretty good milage, and while this is not an option for those that do a lot of heavy hauling. It would work for tons of people that drive truck and SUV's

PS HyDrid drivers in MI are going to get hit with recistration fee's that are 3 times higher, because they do not pay as much in gas taxes. Which is how MI raises taxes for the roads.

That is good mileage for a gas powered 4WD.

My Ford Escape Hybrid gets 28-32 (28 in 4WD), but I wouldn't tow anything with it. I don't have anything to tow anyway.

prore
03-02-2013, 01:50 PM
As concerned to electric car is an abomination to the environment, not too much people would bother or even think about it. As it,s a phenomena of our society that people think about their personal benefits, necesary or a facility, rather than thinking about whole society like what their act could cause to society or environment. Which is quite sad.

Chris
03-02-2013, 01:52 PM
As concerned to electric car is an abomination to the environment, not too much people would bother or even think about it. As it,s a phenomena of our society that people think about their personal benefits, necesary or a facility, rather than thinking about whole society like what their act could cause to society or environment. Which is quite sad.

Thing is you can't really change society but by changing yourself.