Would we have been able to produce enough fully electric cars/trucks for the whole nation with the cost of...

Question

the war in Iraq? As of today, that cost is now at $561 billion and climbing.

Answer 1

The pollution that would be caused by producing electric cars would be unfathomable.  We're all better off either walking, riding a bike, or keeping the cars we have until it's absolutely necessary to buy a new car.

Without getting into a political debate, the war in Iraq is ill managed and a lot of that money could have gone to a better cause.  There are too many factors and reasons why we haven't left yet, and it's both part of the Democrat and Republican agenda.

Answer 2

In the first place, if everyone in the world was driving an electric car, we would not be any better off than we are now.

The world does not produce enough electricity to power that many electric cars.

so the price of electricity would be astronomical.

not only for the vehicles, but also for home use.

As far as the money spent to free a nation from a sadistic, dictator, going towards free cars for the world, that would never happen.

just like the millions of dollars that have gone into this presidential election would have never gone into improving the environment.

Answer 3

This war is a waste of money: The only way to win is to kill, kill and kill untill there's no one left to fight. Don't look at people, just overrun territory and lay waste to everyone there. We are not going to do that. We're just going to keep the stare-down until our leaders have the sense to finally c**p or get off the stool. There isn't anything to say clever enough to get everyone to cooperate peacefully.

We could develop better power generation and rework to run more things with electricity, but that still will come at a cost. Individuals will not be polluting as much where they are each, but the extra load on power companies will throw out more heat and waste making electricity to be used. That shifts the problem from one set to another.

Solar and wind power is cleaner. The sun shines sometimes and the wind blows sometimes, but batteries will have to be a heck of a lot better than they are to work as much as we need them to run trucks, trains, ships and cars. Forget flying with them. Hydrogen fuelcells will have to be fed by better supplies of hydrogen as well, for the same reason. There are break-thoughs slowly improving this. Forty years ago a capacitor which could carry the power needed to run a  machine any useful amount of time would have to be bigger than a garbage can- now it can be held in the palm of your hand. It charges up fast and discharges not so fast. That's still not good enough yet. There's so much work to do.

Answer 4

No.  150 million cars times $40,000 (cost of electric car) = 6 trillion dollars.  Electric cars will trickle down, being owned by rich celebrities first until battery technology improves significantly.

The savings in fuel costs just aren't there yet.  The batteries won't last long enough and will be expensive to replace.  And, honestly, I don't think batteries are going to win.  I'm thinking it will be algae that will power cars, it strikes me as the easiest thing to scale up rapidly and leverage existing technology.

As for Iraq's "cost", yes, there will be a lot of hand-wringing about that.  However, much of thoses costs are creating high-paying, highly educational jobs.  The skills gained in Iraq will be an engine of growth in the US when they come home.  Of course, you won't hear about the vast maority of vets who will succeed in their post-military careers.  You'll mostly hear about the rare ones that come home and beat their wife or shoot someone.  In the news, if it bleeds, it leads.

Answer 5

First of all the war is necessary. Why do you want us all to die of lung ailments? Do you realize how much dirty coal they would have to burn if they used all electric vehicles? Do you realize burning coal puts off high amounts of mercury? All those extra lead batteries would be a environmental nightmare as well.

Answer 6

Of course. The two are unrelated (except for the negative effects on the economy of the military spending).

We produce millions of cars every year now.  There will be a gradual changeover in what type of power plant we put in the cars we already produce. Granted, developing the technology fully isn't quite finished--but that's really about all there is to it. People are getting way too worked up about this.

Besides--it's not a matter of "cost." Switching to new technologies opens up opportunities for businesses, new jobs, and economic growth. A lot of investment is required--but there's a big difference--with an investment, you end up with a profit.

Incidentally, if you take look at artcles and coverage in the financial news, you'll quickly see that American businesses have already started. Almost all new capital in the energy/transportation industry is going into alternative technology of one kind or another.

Answer 7

Well, we can't just switch from gasoline powered vehicles to electric vehicles instantly.  It has to be done over time.  As a few of the people on here have said, the world wouldn't be able to produce enough electricity fast enough.  But if we start giving buyers and car makers incentives to make electric and plugin electric hybrid cars, we'll be able to phase them into our supply of autos and be able to get ourselves off of foreign oil.

Answer 8

first regarding the war in iraq, you do realize that most of the cost of the war would have been paid out anyway? soldiers still need to be paid, medical bills still pop up, vehicles still need maintenance and repair, etc.

as for electric cars, perhaps one day they will be viable forms of transportation, but not yet. yes solar and wind power are good things, but dont believe mr pickens fully. wind power is still in it infancy, and it still requires the wind to actually blow. cant produce electricity if the turbines dont run. besides the wind mills are an eye sore in my opinion. i have driven past the ones in california, and they are ugly. there is also no reason to have a wind mill that large. nuclear power, hydro electric power, and solar power are the better ways to go.

Answer 9

Sorry but there is a few technical problems . In an AC system the generators need to be in precise synchronized. If they are not the generators will fight each other. Take 50 wind terbins do U think they can stay in sync.