It all feels a be token to me. Like the big oil companies are just letting the leash out a bit, before yanking it back. Obviously helped by Trump and the other deny'rs.
Yes I do. I thought they were fun things. Little did we know that we went backward in time to diesels.
Yeah, you are right. But it's a bit inevitable now. The curve of adoption has gone too far. In just a few years time, seeing an EV on the road won't even be a novelty anymore. Incidentally, Trump is on the road to Impeachment, and his approval rating is once more on a downward track. He's making the next President a Democrat more of a reality each day. But it isn't the USA that is going to make all this happen. China is by far, the biggest car market in the world, and they are starting to adopt the electric vehicle like they can't get enough - which they can't, at the moment. And they have a lot of car companies in China. BYD [Build Your Dreams], Nio, BAIC, Geely [who own Lotus and Volvo] FAW Group, Dongfeng - these are all fairly large car companies with big plans on EVs. For example, here's a current EV BYD SUV. And they are extremely well made, competitively priced and very high tech too:
I suppose that when trolleybuses were in vogue most electricity was generated in coal-fired power stations, so the overall carbon footprint was still quite high. By the way, there are an estimated 400,000 electric buses in use today, 99% of them in China. It’s estimated that 1,000 electric buses removes the need for 500 barrels of diesel every day, whereas 1,000 electric cars displaces 15 barrels per day.
@fatletiss Perfect gift for yourself and Jr?........looks great to me. https://www.cnbc.com/video/2019/05/...-inside-look-at-new-star-wars-theme-park.html
If you mean the launch of electric buses, they are typically coming in the UK in dribs and drabs. While Europe and especially China are going over to electric buses and big leaps, the UK is dipping their toe in the water. London has a few BYD electric double deckers. I was hoping Southampton might start getting some in after the recent Clean Air move, but as usual - all talk.
Exactly. Funnily enough though, those Trolleybuses emitted way less CO2 and pollution than the diesels that replaced them, even though the power being generated was by coal. The electric motor has always been pretty damn efficient. And the FF engine has always been pretty damn inefficient.
I have nothing against Hybrids providing one can realistically use them completely electrically, if the owner wants to. What's the electrical-only range? Bear in mind that Hybrids really are interim only vehicles. If you keep one too long it might have almost zero resale value.
Probably not. Lexus are Toyota, of course. Toyota currently has almost zero access to good Li-ion batteries. All their current Hybrid models use NiMH [nickel metal hydride] batteries which is way old technology [check that Lexus]. They recently signed a deal with Panasonic to provide a new high-tech battery source. Toyota are currently masking this lack of batteries by saying there is no demand for EVs, which is patently untrue. Actually, it's beneath a company of Toyota's stature to outright lie like this. I'd expect it of Ford and GM, but not Toyota. But they are getting desperate, because they are being left behind. So, all that I've said about Toyota is the same for Lexus. Saying all that, Toyota are going to announce an all-electric car in September. Don't know why they're bothering - after all there's no demand.
Just checked up on that 2019 Lexus UX Hybrid. As far as I can see, it is a non plug-in hybrid. which makes it a total waste of time. It's an SCH [laughingly called a self charging hybrid]. It's 20 year old Toyota tech and is actually misleading these days, as it is being advertised as 'green' and it is nothing of the sort. There are better vehicles out there. Kia Niro EV is an all-electric SUV which costs less and is considered a really good car. Much better performance, way better economy. Better on-board tech. Toyota [Lexus] being left behind. If you can find a plug-in Lexus, check the range.
We need to find alternatives to lithium ion batteries as they have limitations in terms of discharge and recharge speed and battery life, plus of course the fact that lithium has to be mined, which in itself has a significant environmental impact. At the moment a Spanish company Graphenano is developing a graphene polymer battery which could power a car for 800 km, or 500 miles, between charges, has a much higher energy density than Li-ion, and can be discharged and recharged 32 times faster than Li-ion. Best of all it doesn’t exhibit memory-effect, the bane of all rechargeable batteries hitherto, which means the life of the batteries should be way longer than lithium. It’s called Grabat, and here’s a short video:
I have never bought a new car and will never be able to afford one. My present car is the most expensive I have ever bought at 4K....my previously most expensive car was £750. I'm hoping my little Kia will see me out.....but should it not, I will want to buy a second hand car for about 1-2K. I doubt I am alone, so just a bit of perspective. I'll join in on having an electric car when second hand ones appear at that price.
