Scientifically (it’s math and assumptions), when does it make sense to replace an old car with a new car if «environment» is the objective, aim?
I guess the question is this: How much energy goes into producing a new car, maintaining and driving it versus how much energy goes into maintenance and driving of the old car?
I think the answer is "never", on an individual case basis, assuming normal car usage (if one drives several hours every day, it might be different), as long as the old car functions. But then you also have the political aspects: Staying on a fossil cars maintains fossil infrastructure, while buying an electric car gives a small boost to the EV economy, which might make EVs over-take the market sooner. Those kind of politcal externalities are difficult to predict.
What is the global purpose of EV economy if it doesn’t save energy?
Locally, where I live, I am very happy though for EVs due to better air and noise.
What is the global purpose of EV economy if it doesn’t save energy?
Locally, where I live, I am very happy though for EVs due to better air and noise.
Point is: EVs lead to lower C02 emissions and lower energy use, even when electricity comes from fossil fuels (and even more so when electricity is renewable of course). If we don't change to EVs or hydrogen cars, people will still buy fossil cars 20 to 30 years from now. So we prolong the era of fossil fuels. Buying an EV can therefore quicken a global change to EVs, and lead to quicker phase-out of fossil energy.
But assume this scenario: I have an old fossil car which works just fine. I drive maximum 30 minutes to 1 hour a day. I can keep this car for 15 more years. In this case, it is very likely that my total individual emissions will become higher if I choose to buy a new EV instead of keeping my old car.
So the difference is between effects on the individual level, and aggregate socio-political effects on the macro level.
You got me beat Ray, my Ram pickup is only 12 yo. I'm in the market for a heart transplant, a used 707hp Dodge Hellcat engine that some dude totaled the body on. Or I might just spring for a new Hellcat Ram if they become available first.My car is 24 years old.
I can wait.
EVs are far more efficient in city driving than are fossil fuel cars because of regenerative braking, and because batteries are a highly efficient method of storing energy. It's also easier to manage air pollution at power plants than at millions of tail pipes.
Efficiency of electric cars will increase. There is an MIT spin-off near me, Solid Energy, that is now producing materials for solid electrolyte lithium metal batteries. They have 2x the energy density of lithium ion batteries, and they are safer. So batteries weight will be cut in half, and prices will fall.
http://www.solidenergysystems.com/
They need to ‘charge ‘ while being driven.. so maybe some kind of conducting from a device imbedded in the road ..Just to be clear, efficiency of electric cars is unlikely to increase much. There simply isn't much more efficiency possible with the car running on electricity. Battery size, weight and energy storage can be improved and will have the largest impact. Conventional IC cars could use less energy if they were built totally of carbon fiber due to greatly reduced weight. Yet that mostly hasn't happened due to costs.
I've read several treatments of this question. It is all about assumptions and data on manufacturing, and I've found little consistency while lacking access to actual data beyond wide extremes of what is possible.Scientifically (it’s math and assumptions), when does it make sense to replace an old car with a new car if «environment» is the objective, aim?
I guess the question is this: How much energy goes into producing a new car, maintaining and driving it versus how much energy goes into maintenance and driving of the old car?
Note: Tesla’s models S and X are heavier than most cars.
Is Ray the biggest environmentalist on ASR?
The solution to that was arrived at long ago.They need to ‘charge ‘ while being driven.. so maybe some kind of conducting from a device imbedded in the road ..
Relying on the energy Carried around in a ‘battery’ is bollocks ( excuse the high level scientific terminology).
They need to ‘charge ‘ while being driven.. so maybe some kind of conducting from a device imbedded in the road ..
Relying on the energy Carried around in a ‘battery’ is bollocks ( excuse the high level scientific terminology).
I was thinking about some wonderous alternating magnetic force but this will do .. , and the great thing about your solution here Is it’s safe to operate these while pissed up..The solution to that was arrived at long ago.
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We gona shoot down those North Korean nukes with one of these ...?
We gona shoot down those North Korean nukes with one of these ...?
A general class of propulsion techniques in which the laser beam power is converted to electricity, which then powers some type of electric propulsion thruster.
A small quadcopter has flown for 12 hours and 26 minutes charged by a 2.25 kW laser (powered at less than half of its normal operating current), using 170 watt photovoltaic arrays as the power receiver and a laser has been demonstrated to charge the batteries of an unmanned aerial vehicle in flight for 48 hours.
We could use laser propulsion. Simply track every car with a high power laser mounted on a huge tower or airship over the city.![]()
I was thinking about some wonderous alternating magnetic force but this will do .. , and the great thing about your solution here Is it’s safe to operate these while pissed up..