Electric cars

[Mr Pig]

No, YOU wouldn't understand! ;0)

 

[RedBike]

What about duel powered cars like the Toyota Pri... (Can't remember the name).

I know a work colegue of mine has one. Apparently the petrol engine only kicks in over 30mph.

 

[skwerl]

What about duel powered cars like the Toyota Pri... (Can't remember the name).

I know a work colegue of mine has one. Apparently the petrol engine only kicks in over 30mph.

Waste of time. A diesel golf returns far better fuel economy. The Polo that Hammond drove to Blackpool from Switzerland averaged 76 MPG. Even the Jag that Clarkson drove averaged over 40MPG and he gave up in France, whacked on all the electrics and plated his foot in an attempt to run out of fuel near his house.
Only thing an electric car does is de-localises pollution.
The G-Wizz puts out the equivalent of 80g CO2/km but carries 2 people and nearly zero luggage. Polo BlueMotion puts out 99g and carries 5 people (just) plus some luggage (ok - that will add to the CO2 output a bit).
Factor in the pollution from production/disposal of batteries, fibre-glass...

 

[tyred]

I know someone with a Toyota Prius. The technology in it is very impressive but I don't believe it serves a purpose. He can get around 55MPG from it and as mentioned, a modern day diesel can easily better that. There is also the fact that it will need ~£2000 spent on new batteries at some point and the fact that it is so complex, anything that does go wrong will probably cost a fortune to fix. I believe they are nothing more than a marketing con and are everything but green.

 

[tyred]

I still don't see hybrid cars as the future. They still use fossil fuels and are only slightly more economical than an ordinary car and liable to cost a lot more to repair. This will lead it to be scrapped at a younger age, which is hardly green.

 

[DaveP]

I know someone with a Toyota Prius. The technology in it is very impressive but I don't believe it serves a purpose. He can get around 55MPG from it and as mentioned, a modern day diesel can easily better that.

I have a Citroen C1 (confession time), yes it’s a fa*tbox but the fuel consumption way exceeds the Prius..

 

[Twiggy]

The G-Wizz puts out the equivalent of 80g CO2/km but carries 2 people and nearly zero luggage. Polo BlueMotion puts out 99g and carries 5 people (just) plus some luggage (ok - that will add to the CO2 output a bit).
Factor in the pollution from production/disposal of batteries, fibre-glass...

Pretty skewed thinking really.

The more weight in a car, the harder the engine has to work, the difference between a full car and an empty car isn't small.

Fibre-glass, compaired to extracting, refining, and producing a steel framed/bodied car... Must be a joke.

Shall we take a look at the extraction, production, and enviromental impact of diesel fuel?
Or shall we just look at the end user cost in monetery terms?

*if no one caught it on TV, a number of different fuel types and cars where compaired on range, from £1's worth of fuel. Guess which had the longest range..*

 

[skwerl]

Pretty skewed thinking really.

The more weight in a car, the harder the engine has to work, the difference between a full car and an empty car isn't small.

Fibre-glass, compaired to extracting, refining, and producing a steel framed/bodied car... Must be a joke.

Shall we take a look at the extraction, production, and enviromental impact of diesel fuel?
Or shall we just look at the end user cost in monetery terms?

*if no one caught it on TV, a number of different fuel types and cars where compaired on range, from £1's worth of fuel. Guess which had the longest range..*

Not skewed at all. A Polo carrying 4 passengers doesn't produce 160g/km C02. The difference between a full car and an empty (well, carrying at least a driver) car is 20%. Not small but apply that to the 99g/Km figure for the car plus driver and you get around 120g/km. CO2 per passenger per kilometer is still way lower than a G-Wizz.
Extraction/processing of steel pollutes, of course but it can be recycled. Glass fibre takes how long to degrade? Where do the solvents used in glass-fibre production come from? Oh yes, oil. Where does the electricity come from that powers an electric car? Hmm. Oil, coal and gas.

You then go on to say "Or shall we just look at the end user cost in monetery terms?" but then ask which car gets the furthest on £1 worth of fuel! I'm assuming the answer is the G-Wizz but I doubt it's correct.
It costs 80p to charge a G-Wizz. That gives around 35 miles range I believe. An efficient combustion engine can get you further than that on 1 litre, which currently costs about a pound.

Any idea how polluting/toxic the mining, extraction and purification of nickle is?

 

[skwerl]

Remember that the Prius is over 10 years old. You won't find many comparing a 10 year old petrol-engined car with a new model and expecting a competitive comparison.

The current incarnation with hybrid synergy drive and NiMH batteries came in 2004