Are electric cars really the solution?

Question

Undoubtedly the use of electric cars will reduce the use of gasoline but will it really effect the use of fossil fuels. I am not an electrical engineer but I wonder, if a majority of people who drive gasoline power engines were to purchase electric cars, wouldnt the strain on power grid be significantly more every night when we all plugged them in to charge at night thus necessitating the building of more power plants. Some of which will undoubtedly be fueled by coal or other fossil fuels. Thoughts will be read but informed answers will be appreciated.

Answer 1

The fundamental problems with pure electric cars or alternative fuel  is one of energy density and rate of recharge of that energy, availability of recharging stations, battery costs and replacement schedule, powertrain efficiencies and vehicular effiiciencies.

A pure electric car is limited in range and recharge rate versus a fossil fueled car which can have it's energy charge (gas or diesel) restored in a few minutes at a convenient refilling station making long trips possible. Not many people will want to or can buy two cars...one for commuting and one for trips.

Battery packs with higher energy density such as lithium-ion or an ultra-capacitor system or a combination of the two may extend the range somewhat but are still limited by their recharging rates. A pure electric car is just transferring the energy required from a gas engine to a coal-fired or nuclear energy plant although there are some emerging technologies such as plasma-gasification which produces energy from garbage or any matter with little residue or thin-cell solar designs which offer the same electrical output as current silicon designs at 1/2 to 1/3 current costs per watt produced. It's known that the electrical demands of the entire US could be met by a solar farm of 100 miles square.

These new technologies could produce abundant, fairly cheap, reliable energy with little or no harmful emissions, reduce garbage/waste and provide the energy for an increase in electric car use. Range would still be a limiting factor which might be addressed by using ultra-capacitors although there is a safety factor involved with using high currents associated with them.

I imagine hybrids will be the way to go for the near future and development of more efficient---lower cost engines/battery packs/capacitors.

http://www.speedace.info/dr_shimizu_kaz....

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2004/11/...

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/02/...

Answer 2

I have found several different options that will help our dependency on oil, but that is just the start.  While we are making more fuel efficient vehicles (Mercedes-Benz Presents The World's Cleanest Diesel Models http://emercedesbenz.com/Jun08/23_001210... ) (Modular Technologies For A Clean Future Of The Premium Automobile http://www.emercedesbenz.com/Jun08/13_00...  Electricity will not fix the problem either, what are we using to produce the electricity, solar or wind would be great, but we are not investing enough resources in those areas and until we do, electric cars will not fix our problems.

Answer 3

You are correct.  Most of the electricity that would be used by an electric car would also come from a fossil fuel burning power plant.  However, this has 2 distinct advantages.  1 - most power plants are coal burning which is in large supply in the states and thus reduces our dependance on foriegn countries.  2 - It is much easier and cost effective to implement efficient methods at a single power plant than on hundreds of thousands of cars.

Personally I believe the nearest countermeasure is going to be biofuel.  It is renewable, domestic, supports our farmers, and cleaner emission wise than gasoline.  Not extremely cost effective yet though.

Answer 4

there isn't a "the solution."

however, charging them at night would be good.

typically, power use at night is relatively low.

the power company would like that.

however, keep in mind that we're several years away.

my guess is that "the solution" hasn't been thought of yet.

if it has, what seems closest to me is some kind of hybrid (maybe diesel, maybe something better) with which one can run the first 10-20-50 miles on battery alone.

maybe your house will have solar panels and a battery you can charge during the day, and then transfer that charge to your car at night.

Answer 5

Seems like a good point. I have 2 cars that run on natural gas (methane), so I'm doing an end run around both gasoline and electric. It's way cheaper than gasoline and cleaner-burning, too. There's lots of natural gas in this country (USA), so no need to fund terrorists, either. Give natural gas a shot - it exists already, and the carmakers know how to make 'em!

Answer 6

RW, how will it recharge as its pushing itself forward?

Maybe bicycles with a larger pulley system, and four wheels, and a shell could be an option.

Answer 7

Not really, think about how electricity is generated in the first place - not all naturally through the water dam, wind, or even our sun.  The more electricity we need, the more power plants, and what's get emitted ultimately?  Even nuclear plants produce waste that will last for 1,000 years!

Answer 8

NO !!! They have too short of range to be practical.

  Stop the CO2 lie . that is just a step so that plants can recycle the oxygen  for us.

Answer 9

No their just part of the solution. You can also have cars that run on ethanol 85, solar power, hydrogen fuel cells, compressed air. So yes & no.

Answer 10

No, unfortunetly, Electric cars are not the solution. They run on electricity, not gasoline, so thats better, but they are using up sooooo much energy, it's horible, they only go a short distance, for every energy charge they use. it's sad

Answer 11

My idea of a true..100% electric car is this. A car which runs on total electicty...no other engine or motor. The car will have a charging system built into itself so as you drive,the batteries will contiue to be recharged. This car would be equal to the standard car on the market now that is powered by a 4 or 6 cyl gas veh. So,as you drive..the batteries are being self recharged. With this car no fossil fuels are needed and the whole veh may be recycled when its life span has expired. It will be a long time before we see this car simply because the oil kings will kill it from getting into your hands.

Answer 12

They aren't *the* solution, but they're the best option in terms of transportation.

It's true that the majority of our energy production in the US is from coal power plants, however they only make up about 52% of our energy.  

http://www.financialsense.com/editorials...

Other than coal we have much cleaner energy production like natural gas, nuclear, and renewables.

On top of that, studies have shown that even if most of our power came from coal, electric cars would still produce less emissions than gas cars because electric motors are so much more efficient than internal combustion engines (~90% vs. 25%).

http://www.pluginamerica.org/images/Emis...

Plus if we do need to bulid more power plants, we can build renewable energy plants like wind and solar.  We don't need to build more coal power plants at this point.

On top of that, studies have shown that if EVs were recharged at non-peak power demand hours (like overnight), we wouldn't require many new power plants to meet the increased demand.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/03/...

Answer 13

Makes more sense to build a series of moving sidewalks and rolling roadsteads all powered by electricity.