Typical Mileage

[Fifty150]

Nuclear energy may provide an alternative to fossil fuel. Battery technology needs improvement. The biggest setback for electric cars is range and recharge time.  A long range trip is nearly impossible if you drive an electric vehicle for only a couple of hours, only to require 6, 8, or more hours of charging, for another couple of hours of driving.  And in an urban environment, apartment dwellers don't have charge options. I park on the street.  No way for me to setup a charge station in my garage - because I don't have a garage. 

 

The idea is there.  The science isn't.  A solar panel does not convert enough electricity needed to charge a car efficiently.  Electricity can be the future of automobiles, if we could develop the technology for quick battery change or charge.

 

Hydrogen fuel cell, LPG and CNG systems have not caught on due to lack of refueling options.  You run out of fuel, too bad.  No way to find more. Nobody carries it.  I am in a liberal metropolitan area, with environmental tree huggers, and there is only 1 retail E-85 vendor.  Biodiesel is sold by a hippy cooperative that you have to pay to join, and pay monthly dues, to access the pumps.  The local utility vendor has 1 CNG pump.  No way to refuel hydrogen or LPG.

[sKiZo]

... and speaking of Tesla ... wonder if anyone's still playing with wireless"broadcast" power? Seems to me there were hopes of running entire cities with that ...

 

Then again, with all the objections to having a cell tower in the neighborhood, I imagine seeing one of these pop up next door would tend to p!ss off a lot of folk. <G>

 

 

 

[Fifty150]

The dream is still there.  Imagine if "wireless power" were indeed possible.  Why you could put a phone, right on top of a charging pad, and charge it without plugging your phone in.  

https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/best-wireless-phone-chargers/

Now if we could only charge our electric car batteries in a wireless fashion....l.maybe even as we're driving, by driving over a freeway which also acts as a charger for all the cars driving on it.  No way that could ever happen.  Just leave it to the Chinese to develop a solar panel to harness electricity directly on the road surface.  

 

[mrtn]

8 hours ago, Beta Don said:

My 2017 Volt is full electric drive and runs on gasoline generated electricity for long distance freeway driving.  It's a 4,000 pound car and gets 45 mpg or better on a typical drive

 

I was talking about the fuel source for electric cars. If it continues to be produced from oil shale or subsidies then we have not done anything right.

[mrtn]

8 hours ago, Fifty150 said:

The local utility vendor has 1 CNG pump.  No way to refuel hydrogen or LPG.

 

CNG is quite rare over here but more and more cars are popping up, especially taxi fleets with VW factory CNG setup. So the stations should follow the demand soon. There’s one next to my office and there’s always a waiting line of taxis there.

 

LPG is available at every other station.

[Fifty150]

 

 

 

 

Exactly.  The amount of pollution to the environment from producing and delivering those kilowatts of electricity to the end user's electric car, is greater than the tail pipe emission that the car is saving.  We need to produce and deliver electricity in a cleaner fashion, before we operate cars with it.  Not to mention the environmental footprint of producing and disposing of the battery cells for those cars.  I'm not a scientist.  I don't have exact figures.  But if one Tesla has a battery cell which is equal to about 12 of my regular car batteries, then 1 Tesla, in 8 or 10 years, will add just as much battery waste product to a landfill as my lifetime of driving.  If I only drove Tesla, then I would pollute the environment with 10 times as many batteries in the landfill.  And what about the pollution from producing all of those batteries in a Tesla?

 

1 hour ago, mrtn said:

 

I was talking about the fuel source for electric cars. If it continues to be produced from oil shale or subsidies then we have not done anything right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here in The U.S.A., the oil companies have lobbyist who convince our politicians to enact legislation in their favor.  That is why we do not have alternative fuel options available to the public.  Oil companies do not want to lose money.  Alternative fuel stations could be everywhere, if crooked politicians stop taking dirty money from lobbying groups.  

 

 

 

1 hour ago, mrtn said:

 

CNG is quite rare over here but more and more cars are popping up, especially taxi fleets with VW factory CNG setup. So the stations should follow the demand soon. There’s one next to my office and there’s always a waiting line of taxis there.

 

LPG is available at every other station.

 

 

CNG technology is already developed and available, is cleaner, has an equivalent amount of energy per gallon as gasoline so you don't lose performance or mileage, is a lot less expensive, and the infrastructure is already there to deliver the gas via gas lines from your utility.  

 

Just like with solar panels, the US government could offer subsidies, tax incentives, and tax rebates to convert every car on the road to CNG., and for homeowners to install their own fueling apparatus.  The technology is already available with conversion kits.  Legislation could be passed to force auto manufacturers to sell every car as CNG, and require car owners to convert existing cars within a reasonable time limit (perhaps 10 years), with an exemption for cars that are pre-OBDII.  If in 10 years, your 96 Saturn is still running, you'll either convert it or get rid of it.

 

Since natural gas comes from gas lines which are already in place, you won't have to deliver it in tankers.  We won't buy gas from Saudi Arabia.  No more "cost per barrel" impacting the economy, or Saudi Arabia flooding the market at below market rates.  The retail equipment and safety standards are already approved.  CNG could be sold by almost anyone willing to buy a compressor and they won't need a huge underground tank.  More availability means increased competition in the marketplace, which translates to lower retail pricing.  Convenience stores, grocery stores, auto parts stores, department stores........Amazon.com could sell it to you, and you could fuel up at Whole Foods with your Prime Membership.  

 

Automakers can complain about increased production cost, and fear that the clean cars won't sell.  But those are baseless arguments.  U.S. citizens get a tax rebate for buying electric cars and hybrid cars, in order to offset the additional expense.  Tesla buyers get a $7,500 federal tax credit, in California there is a $2,500 tax rebate, and in New Jersey they don't pay sales tax.  You don't see Toyota complaining about how the Prius is hurting their company's profitability.  Chevy is selling a lot of Volts.  And even though the Nissan Leaf is junk, people are still buying it.  

 

CNG is also a finite resource.  But it is a huge step to getting away from petroleum products.  With a step in that direction, perhaps we can then look towards developing a synthetic fuel.  If you allow your imagination to run wild, why can't a synthetic fuel be developed?  Why must we use a natural resource?  

 

 

[HeRodeCBR]

Just was trying to see who may have clues and ideas on making our own stop start Transit Connect is all.

[mrtn]

Yes, but this forum goes haywire at least once a week for sanity maintenance reasons, sorry it had to be your thread ?

[sKiZo]

The core delivery system for natural gas (LNG) is already in place or available in half the homes here in the states. Conversion kits for vehicles and home recharge kits are available. Some LNG suppliers even offer discounts and installation.

 

Then again, no idea what would happen if you were traveling, but I assume any conversion would be able to use different gas types commercially available.

[mrtn]

When mine runs out of LPG it automatically switches to gasoline. 

[Fifty150]

LNG is interesting also.  In my area, I don't see LNG.  We have CNG.  Even though both use "natural gas", the technologies are different.  Kind of like Beta Max vs VHS.  Both of those will not survive side by side.  Although both may be left behind when something better comes along.......same way the marketplace abandoned 12" laser disc was DVD took over the market.  Almost like me, still owning 8 tracks, when even CD sales have all but disappeared in favor of downloading MP3.  

[HeRodeCBR]

Hey Mrtn,

It's Ok. I get up on my soapbox WAY too often as well. I am pleased the topic of alternative energy, in particular Fuel cells came up. Back in '95  being so enamored by it that I invested and lost about 5G in them because of stock market ignorance. Since then I have continued to have faith in Fuel cell technology and recovered my losses on the same holdings four times over. I still believe contrary to Elon, that they are by far the "Holy Grail". 

 

Anyway I will continue my search for the OIl pressure system and starter needed for my gas saving "Auto start" conversion dream.

 

Cheers,  Ciao,  Chuise...!!!

 

Edited July 28, 2018 by HeRodeCBR
spelling and format

[Fifty150]

You may have better luck converting your Transit Connect to electric.   R&D has already been done for the first generation Transit Connect.  You may be able to locate parts still on the market, and apply your own tweaks.  

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azure_Transit_Connect_Electric

[Osco]

All the Initial cost, all that work, no thanks.

I'm retired now and happy with my 24 mpg average in these hills and curves...