ORIGINAL: morris944s2john
I still think its marketing hype. I know a bit about chemistry and how much batteries can deliver and there is only so far you can go with chemistry and physics. I dont have Sat Nav in my car and dont need it. Nor video cellphone. I park to make a phone call.
You are describing a throwaway society gone mad- mobile phones, electronics, disposable creating mountains of toxic waste. We need to get away from all this as this is the real problem for the planet, manufacture of all these "wonderful goods" is creating HUGE pollution and is the real problem. I've only had two mobile phones and keep them till they break.
The problem Peanut is you've been taken in by all this marketing consumer nonsense. In reality, technology in not that much better than it used to be with a few exceptions.
I agree. There has never been a problem with electric motors. They have powered ships and trains for decades. The problem is batteries which is why they are pinning hopes on hybrids and fuel cells. The problems with electric cars as I see it are:-
1. Copper is a scarce resource and becoming more scarce. If you were to replace the billions of cars on the planet with electric cars there would not be enough copper in the world to make the motors.
2. When high voltage and currents run through cables the strong electromagnetic force around the wire ionizes the air around the wires creating ozone. While there may be a shortage of ozone in the upper atmosphere there certainly isn't at low level due to high tension power distribution lines and the massive increase in electronic goods. The problem with low level ozone is that it has been linked to all sorts of health issues such as astma and even cancers. It is not pleasant stuff. So electric cars are a million miles away from zero emissions.
3. DC motors have good torque at low rpm but as rpm increases the torque drops off. Not the best characteristics for a car. You can get away with it on a train or ship as the motor will stay at a contant speed for much of it's life.
4. Hybrid cars are a bit of a con in my view. You still have to generate the electicity which is generated by a petrol engine, so if emissions is an issue for you then you are no better off. Yes you might get free electricity from braking, but that is not going to be very helpfull if you do alot of motorway driving where you don't use your brakes much.
5. Fuel cells are also a bit of a con. They use precious metals in their contruction and need hydrogen to work. Hydrogen requires vast amounts of electricity to make and Hydrogen is difficult to transport - espeically in a car that, every now and again, have tendancies to crash. Think Hindenburg. I can see fuel cells being of use as power stations and ship and train power sources, but it is not really feasible for cars.
As for oil - no-one really knows how much we have left as we are finding it all the time. We are literally tripping up over the stuff. Russia has vast reserves that has only recently began to be tapped, the middle east still has loads, there is still life in the North Sea though it is in decline, China, and South America have not really begun to have been explored, the US has been stock piling their reserves ready for a rainy day, and we know there is vast reserves under Antarctica , the North Pole and Alaska. It is political reasons that will kill off oil rather than lack of it. We don't want to be held to randsome by dodgy political regimes and the public will no longer stand for us going to war for oil. The Middle East as we know it was created by Britain after the war so we could expoit the oil. Before then it was just a vast desert with warring tribes. Can you imagine us doing that today?
I think the future for the car is still with the good old internal combustion engine but running off alternative fuels grown from ginetically modified crops that grow quickly enough to meet demand. At least until the Teleportation machine is invented!
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