Electric Car Nation

[Doc Shunter]

So, according to the loony left & the tree huggers we are all doomed.

Do you lot honestly then think you can do anything to change it ?

The only thing that's changed is my skyrocketing bloody power bill as I sit here in sunny Melbourne, freezing my nuts off.

Funny S**T.

 

[Doc Shunter]

And renewable energy ? Just follow the $$$$ trail.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Battery powered cars, (& driverless cars) are realms of fantasy stuff.

They're really not. Both technologies already exist, in the former case in the commercial market (yes, people are driving them at this very second), in the latter case not quite yet but close.

I understand people who think a move away from human control/employment is not a good thing. I do see some big challenges there.

But to suggest it won't happen is putting your head in the sand and going "la la la". It absolutely will, unless some major war puts us back to the dark ages before it gets chance to.

 

[Domh245]

So, according to the loony left & the tree huggers we are all doomed.

Do you lot honestly then think you can do anything to change it ?

Nope - but we can try to limit the amount of damage that we are doing.

 

[Bletchleyite]

And I'll point out that electric cars predate the use of the internal combustion engine.

Quite. The basic technology is really, really simple - far simpler[1] than the ICE. A battery, a potentiometer (variable resistor) connected to the accelerator pedal, an electric motor. Other stuff exactly the same as an ICE car. The thing that's taking time is fast charging and battery capacity.

[1] And more reliable. That could mean cars lasting not 10 but 20+ years just like EMUs last longer than DMUs - another environmental benefit.

 

[gnolife]

And renewable energy ? Just follow the $$$$ trail.

I'm following the $$$$ trail, as you put it.. It's got me as far as Riyadh.

 

[Doc Shunter]

On a lighter note, a year or two back, there was a group of those lefty, greenie scientists, (you know the ones, all on the government teat) who decided to charter an ice breaker for a couple of months to have a good old knees up & bludge, (at the Aussie tax payers expense) to 'study' the 'melting ice' in the Antarctic.

Well, guess what ? The pricks got stuck in the ice and spent weeks waiting for a rescue!

Mate. we all had a good chuckle at that.

 

[Doc Shunter]

I too worked for a milko as a kid. Riding on the electric milk float making a few bob. Some extra pocket money.

Funny how they haven't progressed much or taken off in almost 50 years.

I'd actually forgotten all about them until I was reminded of them on here tonight.

Do any still exist or are in use ?

 

[ainsworth74]

In a miniscule, experimental way.

They will never become mainstream or ever be able to replace the I.C.E, same as windmills/farms and 'renewable' energy is all loopy greenie fantasy.

Currently (at the time of this posting) the UK is generating 26% of it's electricity via solar and wind this is the same as we are generating from nuclear and only 3% less than we are generating via combined cycle gas turbines (29%). You'll forgive me if that doesn't feel like a 'minuscule' or 'fantasy'.

 

[Doc Shunter]

Quite. The basic technology is really, really simple - far simpler[1] than the ICE. A battery, a potentiometer (variable resistor) connected to the accelerator pedal, an electric motor. Other stuff exactly the same as an ICE car. The thing that's taking time is fast charging and battery capacity.

[1] And more reliable. That could mean cars lasting not 10 but 20+ years just like EMUs last longer than DMUs - another environmental benefit.

Less moving parts. Yes. All fabulous.

Just that the battery tech is not there and batteries need to be recharged, are hard to dispose of, and don't last that long before they need replacing.

Crazy sh*t.

 

[Doc Shunter]

Currently (at the time of this posting) the UK is generating 26% of it's electricity via solar and wind this is the same as we are generating from nuclear and only 3% less than we are generating via combined cycle gas turbines (29%). You'll forgive me if that doesn't feel like a 'minuscule' or 'fantasy'.

Summer in the UK. All good. But what are your winter figures ? Still 26% ? And tomorrow when you might have cloud cover and or no wind ?

Wind turbines don't work with high windspeeds either.

You are either delusional or on the renewable money train with shares in wind mills.

Also, apart from being bloody useless, windmills look pig ugly and kill bird life.

Try running London or say Manchester on renewable alone and see how far you get.

 

[Busaholic]

I too worked for a milko as a kid. Riding on the electric milk float making a few bob. Some extra pocket money.

Funny how they haven't progressed much or taken off in almost 50 years.

I'd actually forgotten all about them until I was reminded of them on here tonight.

Do any still exist or are in use ?

There's a 3 wheeler version that I see occasionally operated by a small dairy in West Cornwall, a bit less capacious than the ones of yore.

 

[Doc Shunter]

There's a 3 wheeler version that I see occasionally operated by a small dairy in West Cornwall, a bit less capacious than the ones of yore.

That is the secret and answer to it all.

The three wheeler. The three wheeler ! Even LESS moving parts !

Why, you could run her on 3 AA's for weeks

SAVE THE PLANET. BRING BACK THE RELIANT ROBIN .... Battery powered and driverless of course.

 

[najaB]

Summer in the UK. All good. But what are your winter figures ? Still 26% ?

No, obviously not since demand is higher. As per the chart I posted a link to earlier in the thread, in Q1 2016 combined renewable sources (hydro, wind, solar and bio) contributed 24% of the total.

 

[Doc Shunter]

No, obviously not since demand is higher. As per the chart I posted a link to earlier in the thread, in Q1 2016 combined renewable sources (hydro, wind, solar and bio) contributed 24% of the total.

Exactly Sherlock.

Demand is higher, output lower. As I said earlier, there is no free lunch.

And even at it's peak, 24% is pretty p**s poor.

*People like you, peddling this garbage, are just driving up our energy bills and for absolutely no gain.

A pox on you.


*Well, a gain for the mongrels like Al Gore and other commie, globalist scum who own shares in renewables.

 

[bramling]

You driving habits are hardly typical

Really? So all the news reports we see on a regular basis about the Christmas/Easter/Summer "getaway", or for that matter the stream of traffic one sees heading north along the A1 on a Friday evening, or west along the A303 or M5, is a figment of the imagination?

so they won't get in the way of the removal of fossil fuel ICEs.

This may not get in the way if a viable alternative can be provided, but I just can't see people accepting it if such an alternative doesn't come about. I remember how people went crazy during the fuel protests just because petrol wasn't quite as available as normal.

As someone else pointed out, all this has to get through quite a few general elections in the meantime.

Either alternative technologies will emerge that you can buy/rent or you will need to manage your aspirations. The removal of gross pollution will certainly not be a retrograde step for the nation or the world, so it's a case of the needs of the many being greater then the wishes of the few.

I get sick of hearing the baby-boom generation preaching about what changes need to be made in the future, whilst they continue to enjoy everything as it is now and make no adjustments to their own behaviour at all. All seems rather hypocritical to me.

 

[najaB]

And even at it's peak, 24% is pretty p**s poor.

Sorry, but a quarter of the highest demand is not **** poor. It was within a percentage point of the amount generated by coal.

 

[Doc Shunter]

Sorry, but a quarter of the highest demand is not **** poor. It was within a percentage point of the amount generated by coal.

You would be rooted without coal & nuke.

Your renewable crap will never replace either. EVER.

And you bloody know it.

Either that or you really are frikken stupid.

 

[Doc Shunter]

Out of here. You can never reason with idiots.

 

[najaB]

You would be rooted without coal & nuke

Did you even look at the information I've provided? Coal is very much on the way out - under 10% of generation by Q4 2016.

Nuclear makes a sizeable (and increasing) contribution to the mix, as it should given that it's a low-carbon source.

Out of here. You can never reason with idiots.

A fact that's becoming increasingly clear.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Less moving parts. Yes. All fabulous.

Just that the battery tech is not there and batteries need to be recharged, are hard to dispose of, and don't last that long before they need replacing..

You think technology development has suddenly stopped? What abject nonsense.

 

[J-2739]

Well, that escalated quickly!

 

[HSTEd]

Wind installations globally actually dropped last year though, 54GWe in 2016, as opposed to 63GWe in 2015.

Its worth noting that despite the vvery large figure, once adjusted for capacity factor differences, that is not hugely more than the ~10GWe added in nuclear last year.

 

[bramling]

Funny how they are both happening, right now.

To me this all sounds very much like the discussions elsewhere about driverless trains.

According to some people, the "technology is there" for ATO on the mainline. But when asked to demonstrate a real-world example of this technology we are met with silence.

Just because people or organisations are having a go at developing a concept doesn't automatically mean the product meets the requirements made of it, nor ever will.

 

[najaB]

Wind installations globally actually dropped last year though, 54GWe in 2016, as opposed to 63GWe in 2015.

Without wanting to sound too flippant, I don't care about the rest of the world I care about the UK.

(Less flippantly, we have zero direct impact on the polices of other countries. We can but set an example and hope that they follow.)

Its worth noting that despite the vvery large figure, once adjusted for capacity factor differences, that is not hugely more than the ~10GWe added in nuclear last year.

Which is fine by me. As I see it, they both have place in the lower-carbon future.

 

[najaB]

To me this all sounds very much like the discussions elsewhere about driverless trains.

It's similar, but not the same. Nobody who knows what they are talking about is seriously proposing driverless trains for the mainline - the technology just isn't there yet.

Whereas there *are* driverless cars out on the road, today. The technology is out of the hands of scientists (whose job is to prove that it's possible) and into the hands of engineers (whose job it is to make it reliable). Pretty soon it'll be over to the manufacturers - who have to make it affordable.

In comparison, a low/zero carbon electricity grid is possible, reliable and affordable today.

 

[HSTEd]

Without wanting to sound too flippant, I don't care about the rest of the world I care about the UK.

(Less flippantly, we have zero direct impact on the polices of other countries. We can but set an example and hope that they follow.)
Which is fine by me. As I see it, they both have place in the lower-carbon future.

Its interesting considering environmentalists never celebrate the nuclear programme that is achieving as much as the wind one, which also appears to be stumbling in a significant way

 

[D365]

To me this all sounds very much like the discussions elsewhere about driverless trains.

According to some people, the "technology is there" for ATO on the mainline. But when asked to demonstrate a real-world example of this technology we are met with silence.

According to what people? I've not heard this before.

 

[bramling]

According to what people? I've not heard this before.

Plenty of same in the various threads on driverless trains.

 

[najaB]

Plenty of same in the various threads on driverless trains.

Indeed. But as I said, nobody who knows what the are talking about.