Oh.. Come on.. give me a break.. News like this break my heart.. All electric cars are the future of automobile. I am sure in next 20 years or even earlier, we will have battery stations just like gas stations today.. In these battery stations, you can buy "Charge".. by giving your discharged battery back and taking "Charged" battery and use it to drive further.. So instead of filling your gas tank you will fill in your battery tank.. This will be applicable only for long drives.. for daily commute, I am assuming your home or office parking lots will be good enough to take care of filling your battery with charge you need to drive.
Now, you can link it this "Charge" to any source you want. Unfortunately "Charge"created by thermal or nuclear or solar power plant doesn't carry it's signature.. so you can't really differentiate among them.. all the charges are same and equal!!
Another thing these morons need to consider is efficiency of producing this "Charge". If you think about it, why anything is cheap or expensive.. it is the ultimately cost of energy going into production or usage of that thing!! Even though we blame so much to Thermal Power plants for creating green house gases. True.. they do it.. but still cost is their electricity is lower due to fact that they do burn coal really efficiently thus creating cheap electricity. Same is true for Nuclear power plant..
Now when we talk about solar panel based power plant.. ROI of Solar power plant is still very low and it still takes more than 10 years to recover cost despite subsidies from government. What it means is that process of producing Solar power panels is expensive and production itself takes lot more energy (in some form or other... ) so it takes literally 10-12 years to recoup those loses or the electricity or energy consumed to produce them. I agree, over a period of time, their cost will go down thus increasing ROI for them.
Coming back to our main topic, Electric cars are the future of automobile.. whether you agree or not, electric care are most efficient in transforming energy and using it for human needs. You can't blame or find fault with the source of electricity produced to power them up. Market forces will take care of non-efficient power sources.
In US, share of Coal based power generation is already on decline. Most of the new power plants are either gas based or solar/wind. Which is great.. Power consumption is bound to grow.
Even with these newer and jazzier low power devices, it is bound to go up as number of these energy efficient devices is going up exponentially.. literally making mockery of energy efficiency all together.
Biggest problem our current power grids face is lack of Storage. There is no cloud storage available for electricity as in case of iPhone or iPad' iCloud. These battery powered cars, collectively, are going to provide this critical storage space to grid.
it really doesn't matter where the electricity is coming from.. I can guarantee that coal generated electricity will still be more green than the fossil fuel cars developed..
In case of nuclear power.. I agree, it is dangerous.. but which power source isn't.. Thermal power plants? are they 100% safe? accidents doesn't happen there? or Hydro? doesn't dam breach and flood and kill people.. Sooner or later we are going to hear that Wind turbine blades flew away and killed somebody.. Solar.. all the elements and chemicals gone into it.. doesn't they pose any problem to environment? everything has risk.. it is risk vs. rewards.. Nuclear.. still is one of the safest.. especially if we consider number of people died in or due to nuclear power plants Vs. people died in thermal power plants.. In case of Japanese nuclear power plant problem.. I would say it was unfortunate that event took place.. Also, I feel that Japanese companies are more hidden in nature and culture doesn't allow them to come forward and accept mistakes bravely.
Electric cars in Japan risk losing green sheen
Plans by the government to restart nuclear power plants cast long shadow
By Yuri Kageyama
Associated Press
TOKYO — Electric car owners who prided themselves on being green now find themselves in a bind as Japan’s government maneuvers to restart dozens of nuclear power plants idled after last year’s meltdowns. For decades, nuclear generation has been a crucial source of power here, but the tsunami-triggered meltdowns at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant have spurred a debate over how to supply Japan’s electricity in the future. Long touted as a clean, zero-emission alternative to vehicles powered by dirty fossil fuels, electric cars are now at risk of being tainted by their association with nuclear. If, as is possible, nuclear remains a key source of power, “then the green image of the electric car will get bashed to bits, maybe to the extent it will be irreparable,” said Ryuichi Kino, who has written books on nuclear power and hybrid technology. “I have the feeling it’s quite possible that might happen.”
Ripple effect
Not long after the tsunami swept through the plant on March 11 last year, the government backed away from plans to lift nuclear power from supplying a third of Japan’s electricity needs to half. But Japan isn’t abandoning nuclear power altogether. Despite the Fukushima crisis underscoring its risks, the government wants to restart some of the nation’s 54 reactors after safety checks are completed.
Critics say the checks aren’t good enough, and the damage from the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl looms large, with the 12-mile no-go zone around Fukushima, as well as surrounding areas, likely to be contaminated by radiation for decades.
Composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, a longtime opponent of nuclear power, acknowledged he gets bashed as hypocritical by people on Twitter about appearing in advertising for Nissan Motor’s Leaf electric car.
Many are not aware that, because he lives in New York, he can get his electricity from a company that relies solely on wind power — a kind of business that doesn’t exist yet in Japan, where utility regulations remain rigid and closed.
“How we make electricity is going to diversify, with fossil fuel and nuclear power declining,” said Sakamoto. People should be able to choose the kind of electricity they want to use, he said.
Electric cars were proving a hard sell even before the Fukushima disaster. And their green image has a weakness since generating electricity, unless it’s from solar, wind or other clean forms, emits polluting gases. Nissan, an electric-car leader, has sold just 25,000 Leaf cars around the world since late 2010, including 12,000 in Japan. It is targeting global sales of 1.5 million electric vehicles by 2015 in conjunction with alliance partner Renault of France.
Corporate Vice President Hideaki Watanabe, who oversees Nissan’s zero-emission business, insists sales are on target and haven’t dropped after the March disaster. The nuclear crisis has highlighted that the Leaf can be a backup storage for electricity in emergency blackouts, he said.
What’s holding Leaf sales back instead are the lack of charging stations on roads and its relatively high price.
Leaf prices
The Leaf starts at about 3 million yen ($36,000) in Japan, after the 780,000 yen ($9,400) green subsidy. In the U.S., the Leaf sells for about $25,000 after applying a $7,500 federal tax credit.
Although the Leaf is now a front-runner among electric vehicles, Nissan faces competition from rivals that already offer them such as Palo Alto luxury maker Tesla Motors and Mitsubishi Motors of Japan with the i-MiEV mini car. Others have them in the works.
Some electric car owners remain undaunted. They don’t equate their nifty green cars with atomic energy at all despite widespread jitters in Japan about spewing radiation and the safety of what had once delivered a third of the country’s electricity. The deficit is currently made up by expensive oil and gas imports.
“Concerns about global warming are growing,” Internet retailing entrepreneur Norishige Namba said while attending a recent gathering for 140 Leaf owners in Tokyo. “We need to preserve nature.”
Now, you can link it this "Charge" to any source you want. Unfortunately "Charge"created by thermal or nuclear or solar power plant doesn't carry it's signature.. so you can't really differentiate among them.. all the charges are same and equal!!
Another thing these morons need to consider is efficiency of producing this "Charge". If you think about it, why anything is cheap or expensive.. it is the ultimately cost of energy going into production or usage of that thing!! Even though we blame so much to Thermal Power plants for creating green house gases. True.. they do it.. but still cost is their electricity is lower due to fact that they do burn coal really efficiently thus creating cheap electricity. Same is true for Nuclear power plant..
Now when we talk about solar panel based power plant.. ROI of Solar power plant is still very low and it still takes more than 10 years to recover cost despite subsidies from government. What it means is that process of producing Solar power panels is expensive and production itself takes lot more energy (in some form or other... ) so it takes literally 10-12 years to recoup those loses or the electricity or energy consumed to produce them. I agree, over a period of time, their cost will go down thus increasing ROI for them.
Coming back to our main topic, Electric cars are the future of automobile.. whether you agree or not, electric care are most efficient in transforming energy and using it for human needs. You can't blame or find fault with the source of electricity produced to power them up. Market forces will take care of non-efficient power sources.
In US, share of Coal based power generation is already on decline. Most of the new power plants are either gas based or solar/wind. Which is great.. Power consumption is bound to grow.
Even with these newer and jazzier low power devices, it is bound to go up as number of these energy efficient devices is going up exponentially.. literally making mockery of energy efficiency all together.
Biggest problem our current power grids face is lack of Storage. There is no cloud storage available for electricity as in case of iPhone or iPad' iCloud. These battery powered cars, collectively, are going to provide this critical storage space to grid.
it really doesn't matter where the electricity is coming from.. I can guarantee that coal generated electricity will still be more green than the fossil fuel cars developed..
In case of nuclear power.. I agree, it is dangerous.. but which power source isn't.. Thermal power plants? are they 100% safe? accidents doesn't happen there? or Hydro? doesn't dam breach and flood and kill people.. Sooner or later we are going to hear that Wind turbine blades flew away and killed somebody.. Solar.. all the elements and chemicals gone into it.. doesn't they pose any problem to environment? everything has risk.. it is risk vs. rewards.. Nuclear.. still is one of the safest.. especially if we consider number of people died in or due to nuclear power plants Vs. people died in thermal power plants.. In case of Japanese nuclear power plant problem.. I would say it was unfortunate that event took place.. Also, I feel that Japanese companies are more hidden in nature and culture doesn't allow them to come forward and accept mistakes bravely.
Electric cars in Japan risk losing green sheen
Plans by the government to restart nuclear power plants cast long shadow
By Yuri Kageyama
Associated Press
TOKYO — Electric car owners who prided themselves on being green now find themselves in a bind as Japan’s government maneuvers to restart dozens of nuclear power plants idled after last year’s meltdowns. For decades, nuclear generation has been a crucial source of power here, but the tsunami-triggered meltdowns at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant have spurred a debate over how to supply Japan’s electricity in the future. Long touted as a clean, zero-emission alternative to vehicles powered by dirty fossil fuels, electric cars are now at risk of being tainted by their association with nuclear. If, as is possible, nuclear remains a key source of power, “then the green image of the electric car will get bashed to bits, maybe to the extent it will be irreparable,” said Ryuichi Kino, who has written books on nuclear power and hybrid technology. “I have the feeling it’s quite possible that might happen.”
Ripple effect
Not long after the tsunami swept through the plant on March 11 last year, the government backed away from plans to lift nuclear power from supplying a third of Japan’s electricity needs to half. But Japan isn’t abandoning nuclear power altogether. Despite the Fukushima crisis underscoring its risks, the government wants to restart some of the nation’s 54 reactors after safety checks are completed.
Critics say the checks aren’t good enough, and the damage from the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl looms large, with the 12-mile no-go zone around Fukushima, as well as surrounding areas, likely to be contaminated by radiation for decades.
Composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, a longtime opponent of nuclear power, acknowledged he gets bashed as hypocritical by people on Twitter about appearing in advertising for Nissan Motor’s Leaf electric car.
Many are not aware that, because he lives in New York, he can get his electricity from a company that relies solely on wind power — a kind of business that doesn’t exist yet in Japan, where utility regulations remain rigid and closed.
“How we make electricity is going to diversify, with fossil fuel and nuclear power declining,” said Sakamoto. People should be able to choose the kind of electricity they want to use, he said.
Electric cars were proving a hard sell even before the Fukushima disaster. And their green image has a weakness since generating electricity, unless it’s from solar, wind or other clean forms, emits polluting gases. Nissan, an electric-car leader, has sold just 25,000 Leaf cars around the world since late 2010, including 12,000 in Japan. It is targeting global sales of 1.5 million electric vehicles by 2015 in conjunction with alliance partner Renault of France.
Corporate Vice President Hideaki Watanabe, who oversees Nissan’s zero-emission business, insists sales are on target and haven’t dropped after the March disaster. The nuclear crisis has highlighted that the Leaf can be a backup storage for electricity in emergency blackouts, he said.
What’s holding Leaf sales back instead are the lack of charging stations on roads and its relatively high price.
Leaf prices
The Leaf starts at about 3 million yen ($36,000) in Japan, after the 780,000 yen ($9,400) green subsidy. In the U.S., the Leaf sells for about $25,000 after applying a $7,500 federal tax credit.
Although the Leaf is now a front-runner among electric vehicles, Nissan faces competition from rivals that already offer them such as Palo Alto luxury maker Tesla Motors and Mitsubishi Motors of Japan with the i-MiEV mini car. Others have them in the works.
Some electric car owners remain undaunted. They don’t equate their nifty green cars with atomic energy at all despite widespread jitters in Japan about spewing radiation and the safety of what had once delivered a third of the country’s electricity. The deficit is currently made up by expensive oil and gas imports.
“Concerns about global warming are growing,” Internet retailing entrepreneur Norishige Namba said while attending a recent gathering for 140 Leaf owners in Tokyo. “We need to preserve nature.”
1 comment:
The only problem regarding battery based cars is that batteries are horribly polluting. Hopefully we will have non-polluting batteries, and non-polluting processes for creating those batteries, before we get this future.
I would think combination engines will be best, as liquid fuels pack a lot more energy than batteries do.
Also hopefully we will learn to make fuels from waste products, cheaply. In my opinion ethanol from corn is not polluting as it just utilizes the carbon which was captured by the plant, and is pollution neutral. It is just very wasteful of an important resource arable land.
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