Comments on: Electric Vehicles will not solve environmental woes – report

By: ray

ray — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 16:15:06 +0000

Where is the link to the actual UK government report?

I would be very surprised if the UK report actually stated, as this article alleges:

“.. said that hybrids perform better if the electricity comes from coal.”

How could any hybrid perform better, presumably talking about the exhaust emissions, just because the electricity comes from coal rather than hydro-electricity?

By: hsr0601

hsr0601 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 06:55:54 +0000

1. The EV battery is expected to act as a catalyst to accelerate development of sustainable power, specifically as a storage for wind power at nighttime and for solar panel system via recycling. In return, this situation has a chance to bring a solid win-win outcome — rendering EVs affordable.

2. In many cases, power plants like a nuclear reactor maintain operation during night, and EVs could take full advantage of the surplus energy :

With the concept of “V2H” (vehicle to home), the vehicle can supply 100V electricity stored in its on-board lithium-ion batteries to electric appliances in a house.

It is possible to charge the batteries at night, when electricity is cheaper, and use it for home appliances during daytime, Mitsubishi Motors said.

And the company claims that the batteries can provide almost all the electricity used in a normal household throughout the day.

By: lazybones

lazybones — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:36:13 +0000

I’ve contacted the ETA, and they have sent through the original 52 page PDF. Will upload somewhere if anyone else needs a copy.

By: bob

bob — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:18:58 +0000

All this is very interesting. But have been thinking about the recent explosion in cars in India, and China. This is double sided. Initially it will be a MASSIVE environmental problem. But since they’re part of the “new” emerging economies, that’s where we’ll see some interesting innovations for providing affordable solutions to these problems.

Of course that’s assuming they realise there’s a problem.

By: bob

bob — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:12:25 +0000

Electric Rail.

By: bob

bob — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:11:57 +0000

I hope so.

Except if we have to drop to the shops to get a bottle of coke. Might have to leave it sit for a bit before we open it.

By: bob

bob — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:09:34 +0000

It says Hybrids. It doesn’t say plug-in hybrids.

By: John of Perth

John of Perth — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:45:39 +0000

I have been wondering for some time what are the alternatives being presented for the transport/heavy haulage/mining/shipping sector – I cannot see how electric is an option here. Cars represent a smaller proportion of this consumption equation.

By: Car News and Reviews

Car News and Reviews — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:41:00 +0000

The car makers are adapting to the environmental demands. Now it’s electricity producing companies’ turn to follow. They are the next critical link in the chain.

Personally I am very optimistic about electric cars. And I guess the next years will prove me right.

By: lazybones

lazybones — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:52:14 +0000

I would guess the report doesn’t consider the Co2 emissions from producing oil and refining it to petrol. The comparison is probably based only on tail pipe emissions of ICE cars compared to energy production emssions from coal to make electricity for EV’s. This would explain the bizarre comparison with Hybrid cars.