Climate in the 21st Century

DIY-HP-LED said:

EV batteries and charging infrastructure are not there yet IMO and an EV makes sense if most of your driving is commuting, and you are charging from home. Many homeowners will have the option of reducing their transportation costs with home solar generation and storage. Even traditional Li-on batteries will have much better temperature performance, capacity and lifetimes soon. I figure the situation will change quite a bit in 5 years, in terms of charging and vehicle options. Not that many people can afford the bloated offerings they have for EVs these days and the automakers are appealing to the more affluent market, those who can afford to make the transition. There will be a demand for smaller cheaper EVs that most people can afford to buy and operate, or we will be using a lot more public transport and a lot of companies will go out of business. The average age of the light vehicle fleet is increasing as is the demand for used cars and this is a sign that increasing numbers of people can no longer afford a new car.

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And still it costs more than gas for the same mileage and takes hours at each charger.

The one great economic challenge that EV makers aren’t taking on is how to get more miles per kWh. That would be the single best driver of EV acceptance, barring punitive regulation of ICE vehicles. You get two advantages, each very important:

1) enough range to do more than commute
2) bringing the cost per mile down to parity (or better) with petroleum.

Both are conditions for EVs being an honest solution, not simply one that is made marginally attractive by subsidies.

It sort of sucks to have a commute-only vehicle.

cannabineer said:

And still it costs more than gas for the same mileage and takes hours at each charger.

The one great economic challenge that EV makers aren’t taking on is how to get more miles per kWh. That would be the single best driver of EV acceptance, barring punitive regulation of ICE vehicles. You get two advantages, each very important:

1) enough range to do more than commute
2) bringing the cost per mile down to parity (or better) with petroleum.

Both are conditions for EVs being an honest solution, not simply one that is made marginally attractive by subsidies.

It sort of sucks to have a commute-only vehicle.

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The battery factories are going up now and I expect that situation to improve over time and new mass production coming online should reduce costs. GM is keeping the economical Bolt in response to consumer demand, but everything depends on improved cheaper batteries, and they are in the pipeline. I think Chinese competition will drive prices down and they will be assembling them here from Chinese parts to get around tariffs, they want to break into the global car market during the transition to EVs and have been preparing to do so. Most of the markets that count, are banning the sale of ICE vehicles or will over the next 10 years, so used ICE cars might go up in value for a time.

DIY-HP-LED said:

The battery factories are going up now and I expect that situation to improve over time and new mass production coming online should reduce costs. GM is keeping the economical Bolt in response to consumer demand, but everything depends on improved cheaper batteries, and they are in the pipeline. I think Chinese competition will drive prices down and they will be assembling them here from Chinese parts to get around tariffs, they want to break into the global car market during the transition to EVs and have been preparing to do so. Most of the markets that count, are banning the sale of ICE vehicles or will over the next 10 years, so used ICE cars might go up in value for a time.

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Batteries are not the only thing or even the main thing.

The main thing is cheap efficient long-range transport.

Automakers need to sweat distance per kWh. Because the retail price of a kWh ain’t coming down.

At this point, most EV users charge at home, and know their EV is nothing but a back and forth to work car. Most who have jumped in this early are true believers and have decided the cons do not out weigh the pros.

I'm so green it hurts me to eat a handful of almonds, from worrying about the water I'm wasting. But I know, like most folks, an EV wouldn't work without at least one ICE car in the family. Lots of folks can't afford an extra car who's main mission will be to make them feel better about themselves.

Keep in mind we didn't stop using whale oil because we became enlightened all of a sudden. Well, it kind of was, in a round about way. It was because kerosene made better light. What the EV makers have to do is enlighten us.

cannabineer said:

Batteries are not the only thing or even the main thing.

The main thing is cheap efficient long-range transport.

Automakers need to sweat distance per kWh. Because the retail price of a kWh ain’t coming down.

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It depends, over time competition might lower the cost per kWh since in a few years it will be easier for small businesses to make and store their own power. If you were running a charge location and restaurant and had the space, the solar or a big wind turbine out back could be profitable and cost you less in grid power putting money in your pocket. Perhaps some might want to offer discount charging like some offered cheap gas, to draw in restaurant or other business.

They look at the market and how far most people drive commuting and for occasional road trips. I figure longer ranges might be popular with some of the charge at home crowd and a 1000-mile range will cover most needs a decade from now. If you drive by most suburbs, you will see more than one car in the driveway, and one is almost always used just for commuting and trips around town.

We might resort to something like this, if the heat and carbon continue to build. It would be a temporary stop gap though the answer is to stop using fossil fuels for energy and to reduce carbon in the atmosphere if we can.

DIY-HP-LED said:

We might resort to something like this, if the heat and carbon continue to build. It would be a temporary stop gap though the answer is to stop using fossil fuels for energy and to reduce carbon in the atmosphere if we can.

Could artificially dimming the sun prevent ice melt?

With methods of so-called geoengineering, the climate could theoretically be artificially influenced and cooled. Bernese researchers have now investigated whether it would be possible to prevent the melting of the West Antarctic ice sheet by artificially "dimming the sun." The results show that...

phys.org

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Bad choice of words. Dimming the sun means reducing solar output. Authors discuss blocking the sun i. e. reducing solar input.

cannabineer said:

Bad choice of words. Dimming the sun means reducing solar output. Authors discuss blocking the sun i. e. reducing solar input.

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Correct, considering the source phys.org

eh i'm still not sold on EVs.....js...i like the tech and where it's going, but the actual infrastructure isn't in place, and i'm not paying some electrician to charge me out the ass to put one in.....

injinji said:

At this point, most EV users charge at home, and know their EV is nothing but a back and forth to work car. Most who have jumped in this early are true believers and have decided the cons do not out weigh the pros.

I'm so green it hurts me to eat a handful of almonds, from worrying about the water I'm wasting. But I know, like most folks, an EV wouldn't work without at least one ICE car in the family. Lots of folks can't afford an extra car who's main mission will be to make them feel better about themselves.

Keep in mind we didn't stop using whale oil because we became enlightened all of a sudden. Well, it kind of was, in a round about way. It was because kerosene made better light. What the EV makers have to do is enlighten us.

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I think America needs a compact car that has good range with new battery technology and can be charged from home with a built in 120V charger. This can give such an EV about a 50mile top up overnight and the average American daily commute is less than that. No need to rewire your house and many people in apartments can use it, it can also fast charge too from home on 220V or at a charging point. People can't afford cars now at least not the bloated offerings they are selling to the more affluent market right now, they can afford them. I think in a few years with the increasing numbers of battery factories and the new types they will be producing, we will see those compact and subcompact EVs that have the range and efficiency to appeal to many Americans.

I think the government should cut subsidies for big kilowatt guzzlers and increase them for smaller more efficient EVs, when they become available. This will put a lot less load on the grid if the EV gets 5 miles per kilowatt hour or more and that should be desirable for the government. China is looking to break into the global auto market and if they can't sell cars here, they will sell the parts to make them to local manufactures who will, or they will assemble them here. If we want trade in minerals with them, then they want to sell cars here and if they do, look for a price war.

DIY-HP-LED said:

China is looking to break into the global auto market and if they can't sell cars here, they will sell the parts to make them to local manufactures who will, or they will assemble them here.

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this line, i hate to say it, but they already are selling parts and manufacturing them.....they've been doing that since the late 90's

DIY-HP-LED said:

Solving The Climate Crisis May Mean Thinking Outside The Earth - CleanTechnica

A new idea has emerged to solve the climate crisis here on Earth -- a giant shade between us and the sun. What could go wrong?

cleantechnica.com

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This is a seriously bad idea. Dimming the sun just puts the brakes on everything that grows, chiefly food. I fail to see how that solves more problems than it causes.

DIY-HP-LED said:

I think America needs a compact car that has good range with new battery technology and can be charged from home with a built in 120V charger. This can give such an EV about a 50mile top up overnight and the average American daily commute is less than that

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1) don’t build to satisfy the median user. That underserves half the customers.

2) A well-built EV will go much farther than 50 miles on 18 kWh ((1.5 kW x 12h). That is an unacceptable <3 miles/kWh.

A proper EV will have recovered 180 miles on that charge. That is based on something a small firm can make right now, and I expect that to improve once the bigs start to compete. It would help if government subsidies reward efficiency and tax any vehicle below say 6 km/kWh.

The consumer should not settle for the current piss-poor average EV numbers.

cannabineer said:

And still it costs more than gas for the same mileage and takes hours at each charger.

The one great economic challenge that EV makers aren’t taking on is how to get more miles per kWh. That would be the single best driver of EV acceptance, barring punitive regulation of ICE vehicles. You get two advantages, each very important:

1) enough range to do more than commute
2) bringing the cost per mile down to parity (or better) with petroleum.

Both are conditions for EVs being an honest solution, not simply one that is made marginally attractive by subsidies.

It sort of sucks to have a commute-only vehicle.

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EV makers ARE taking this on and they're doing okay. Pickups are barn doors no matter what they're powered by. Certain sedans and small SUVs are very efficient. Aptera would set a new bar, IF they ever get the damn things in production. By the way, Tesla got dinged for playing games with their "best in class" mileage claims; turns out they aren't any better than anyone else. See Car & Driver for details.

The biggest issue is vehicle size; Americans feel justifiably safer in big vehicles because they know everyone is driving while staring at their fucking phones.

cannabineer said:

1) don’t build to satisfy the median user. That underserves half the customers.

2) A well-built EV will go much farther than 50 miles on 18 kWh ((1.5 kW x 12h). That is an unacceptable <3 miles/kWh.

A proper EV will have recovered 180 miles on that charge. That is based on something a small firm can make right now, and I expect that to improve once the bigs start to compete. It would help if government subsidies reward efficiency and tax any vehicle below say 6 km/kWh. I figure 5miles per kWh is reasonable milage for a compact car or small SUV. Charging considerations will be a factor in purchases and this kind of EV would be better suited to renters and lower-income homeowners who don't want to rewire their homes or even buy a home charger. You could even setup a cheap solar on the garage or a solar carport with 10 or 20kWh battery to drive for free with such an economical EV.

The consumer should not settle for the current piss-poor average EV numbers.

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I'm being conservative in my estimates of vehicle size and charging on 120V at about 1kWh for about 10 hours at night. Most home circuits can handle up to 1600 watts and there are inefficiencies in the charger and a 1200 watt draw would trip less breakers.

DIY-HP-LED said:

How Toyota's 745-mile Solid-state Battery Has Set The Benchmark For Other EVs

Toyota hasn't been as proactive as other companies in the EV field, but its latest solid-state battery has ensured other EVs have a lot to catch up on

www.topspeed.com

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I cannot find one reference to how many kWh that 745-mile (1200km) battery stores. Can you?

DIY-HP-LED said:

I'm being conservative in my estimates of vehicle size and charging on 120V at about 1kWh for about 10 hours at night. Most home circuits can handle up to 1600 watts and there are inefficiencies in the charger and a 1200 watt draw would trip less breakers.

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I’ll settle for 180 miles from 14.4 kWh; no complaints.

cannabineer said:

I cannot find one reference to how many kWh that 745-mile (1200km) battery stores. Can you?

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i can't, and i just read it......

i love how car companies can boast about things, but when it comes to testing on the ground it's not......

cannabineer said:

I cannot find one reference to how many kWh that 745-mile (1200km) battery stores. Can you?

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I dunno much about it, but we will soon enough, they have claimed a production breakthrough, so we will soon see with independent reports.