Aust’s first manufactured electric car


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Davo99
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Joined: 03/06/2019
Location: Australia
Posts: 1581
Posted: 01:24am 03 Dec 2019      

  Boppa said  And yet, on this very forum, we have a poster who has successfully owned an homemade EV for over ten years, who charges it from an offgrid house, and has regularly done quite long trips- at far less cost than I could ever dream of in an identical Toyota...


What one person does is a lot different to what every person can do.

I have run my vehicle and a lot of other things for 17 Years off used veg oil.
There's a mammoth difference between a few enthusiast's doing something though and everyone doing it and that's the problem that we are going to face. A few  nutters like me using veg is entirely a viable thing. Converting the world to Biofuels... That was the last big idea hyped up for changing the fuel of the future.... and it fell flat on it's face.

  Quote  And currently EVs are the best current option put forward


That doesn't mean they don't have problems and a lot of difficulties to implement.
Beta had it all over VHS too but we know what happened there. In this day and age it's all about money and to a degree, pacifying the green movement as well.
Also being the best idea put forward does not mean they are a viable or practical one. Just means so far they may be the best of a lacking bunch.

  Quote  Hydrogen would require either an equal (actually considering inefficiencies- larger) increase in electrical production for electrolysis- currently hydrogen is made from crude oil stocks- which is even less efficient than just burning it directly in an ICE, and a completely new transport and storage infrastructure- you can't put it in a fuel tanker, nor store it in a underground petrol tank, nor pump it through an existing bowser... that's all got to be swapped out for a different (and much more expensive) infrastructure


I'm not a fan of Hydrogen but there is no getting away from the fact it DOES have certain advantages over  electric the same as electric has some advantages over Hydrogen. Neither are perfect or in reality, come within a bulls roar of IC's.

With the points you make about distribution and storage, there certainly would have to be changes no question but you still have the basic infrastructure of what is now Oil refinery's, tanker trucks and and servos in place.  Sure the tanks and pumps etc will have to be different but it can work much the same as it is now.

The problems with making EV's the mainstream from a private transport let alone anything else, POV are HUGE.  The problems and ramifications run on and on.
With Hydrogen, as I see it you can change the transport sector pretty much on it's own. With EV's you are basically needing to change a lot of lifestyles of people and major infrastructure of citys, towns and energy systems.

I'm not against EV's But I am sick of hearing them touted as the all singing , all dancing soloution to the worlds problems while at the same time the facts and realities are hidden by omission, glossed over with stupid parroted excuses or plain lied about.  I really want to know how a lot of these problems I forsee are are going to be handled and the answers I am looking for need to be realistic, practical and logical, not a bunch of feel good like is so often the case now.