MPG or Not MPG

[johnnyapollo]

Technically you don't need a wire to charge a battery - there're some new products about to hit the market that does this (like a table that charges any applicance laid on it, so you could charge your cell phone). The same could be done to recharge the batteries on your electric car. So basically you could have a plate that's wired in the ground that you park your car over. Most wouldn't have the know-how to steal the power when you weren't looking.

If you've ever seen an analysis of power to efficiency, you'd see that real burning fuels are much more efficient than stored energy cells - you hit a point of diminishing returns with a vehicle when you transition to stored electric power vs real fuel power. I'm as big an advocate as anyone when it comes to alternative fuel and energy, but there's a practical limit - if all we were interested in is getting around for great economy, we could all be on vespas and luxuriate in 90 mpg+. The fact is we still need to carry children/pets, groceries, etc.

-- John

[tom4bren]

"you could have a plate that's wired in the ground that you park your car over"

Convenient - yes. Efficient - no.

[Y33TREKker]

Electrics or hybrids don't necessarily have to be recharged with a byproduct of fossil fuels. How about a solar panel on top of the garage that can be storing energy all day? Wind farms are also being tied into the grid. Bottom line, there are alternatives to the current status quo.

The war on terror is no doubt part of the reason so much $$$ is being pumped into foreign occupation, but we all know that isn't the only reason. The problem is, that current investment is going towards a never ending cycle, and will most likely only increase. And what is it they say about repeating the same actions over and over again hoping that something will change?...

you also say we cant let the what ifs interefere in trying to solve the problems okay but we need more than why not to pursue a given direction.

I'll finish it then. Why not maintain the current status quo? I'm sure you can think of as many answers as me.

[circmand]

The status Quo does not work either. We need alternatives but we cannot stop oil production in the hope we discover an alternative that can be brought to market quicker. Solar and wind are neat little ideas and if I had the cash and property I would have solar and wind on my property. However they will not supply enough to put more than a 10% reduction in oil consumption. Do you know how much land is needed for a wind farm? You use 4x the land for the windmill than you do for the house. Also wind and solar are not constant you can have days and nights with no sun or wind. Also the solar garage recarge is neat if you stay under 150 miles round trip but what if you want to go on a trip? You run low and stop for 6 hours to recharge? Or do you use gas? And even if the government subsidizes thhe econobox we have have plenty to choose from right now what gets the people to BUY them. They do no good sitting on the dealership lots. Look at Toyota gas only cars. They get good gas mileage and if we all just bought those we would have the 35 mpg average. But not everyone is buying them. Also I do not plan to buy another vehicle until I can not rely on my VX as a daily driver. The $425 a month I paid to buy it that I am not paying now more than compensates for the low mpg. By the way I probably save more gas by not driving as frequently. I bought my 2001 VX brand new it has less than 50,000 miles on it and since I bought it in VT I have moved to Pennsylvania, Connecticut and now I am in Texas. Take the moves and visits of that 50,000 miles and I bet I have driven less than 6000 a year.

[Y33TREKker]

Well, no one ever said that current oil production would have to stop. That's what I meant when I said there would be a need for an additional expenditure up front (for subsidies to decrease purchase prices).

A 10% reduction in oil consumption due to wind and solar usage would certainly be nothing to dismiss when current nationwide consumption is taken into account.

Subsidies would at least lower current prices making those econoboxes more affordable than they are now, which is why a lot of them do keep sitting on dealer lots. At current prices, not breaking even until a person reaches 150,000 miles isn't much of an incentive, even if the buyer does know they'd be helping the environment the whole time. A person still has to make ends meet these days.

My VX is more of a weekender too. I've averaged about 2800 miles a year since buying mine.

And my question about the status quo was rhetorical. I already know it's not working. I was just hoping it would generate some ideas for possible solutions, not just more reasons why some things might not work.