RCMAN46 wrote:
During my searching for information on electric cars a common number I find is it takes 6 kwh of power to process a gallon of gasoline.
But I found this on the internet and as with much internet information I can not find a reliable source to verify the number.
Tesla claims 6 kwh will take their cars further than a gallon of gasoline will take most gasoline powered cars.
One problem I see with this gasoline is not the only thing that comes from a barrel of crude oil.
If we stop using gasoline then what will the oil companies do with the gasoline when they process crude oil?
Back in the early 1900's the oil company just burned off the gasoline.
I am not a chemist but there may be a way to convert the gasoline into something we can use.
If all of this is possible then there would be no need to enlarge our electrical power system.
One problem I have is the range of an electric car. Example I am not excited about adding one hour to a trip from Las Vegas to Los Angeles to recharge my electric car when I can easily do it non stop with most gasoline powered cars and trucks even when towing a large trailer.
Just imagine the size of the recharging station in Baker, California to handle the Friday and Sunday traffic.
If they can get the electric range to 400 miles while using the air conditioner or heater I would be interested.
I think your concerns are valid for many in North America. Our distances are greater than those in Europe and single vehicle households need to be versatile and adopt to our various needs. I think the current crop of EV's though would make excellent second vehicles for two car families and they are especially useful for the commuting crowd who need to do 40 to 80 KM per day. This is where they shine. Low maintenance, cheap to run, no oil changes, no plugs, filters, belts, hoses etc etc. For us they are quite literally a small fraction of our former gas vehicle expenses. BUT... we only do 10,000 to 15,000 km a year between the two cars. So for those that do long trips and trips that are 400 or 500 km on a regular basis the current EV's might not be the way to go. For us if we need a truck we'll just rent one as it is not something we would need very often. We occasionally need to make a 400 KM trip to Vancouver but there are fast chargers at regular intervals so we are fine with taking a 20 minute break every 90 minutes for the once a year trip we might have to make. (We have a max range of 180 to 200 KM). That 400 KM trip costs us less than 12 bucks on power so its worth the extra stop or two. Besides, the Chihuahua needs to pee every couple hours. For us all the power comes from Hydro which is kinda cool I guess although we didn't buy our EV's for environmental reasons. Certainly the driving experience is better and it is much more convenient. No gas stations etc. Twice a week I plug it in overnight. 10 seconds to hook up, 10 seconds to unhook.
One thing we find amusing is the term "range anxiety". It was a term coined by GM about 10 years ago in their campaign to dissuade folks from the EV pathway. Mot EV drivers don't have "range anxiety" because we know how far our EV's go and we made the decision to buy them as they suited our needs. It comes down to...don't buy a car if you need a truck, don't buy a bike if you need a motorcycle etc etc.
EV's are a very nice driving experience and the plusses far outweigh any negatives. But they need to suit the persons needs, and for many of us and a world wide quickly growing number of people they do exactly that.
