The number of models of passenger electric vehicles keeps growing, and electric delivery vans are becoming a more common sight on the road. But it’s the lowly bus that’s zooming… Read More
Electric cars being charged by fossil fuels still have major advantages. Those who make generators are incentivized to get as many joules of energy per gallon of fuel. Diesel generators can have some efficiency adaptations that vehicle engines wont often have, such as being designed to run at a fixed speed. Your average car owner wont care about efficiency as much as getting from point A to point B, so the already low efficiency of combustion engines is probably lower on average than what could be theoretically achievable just due to people not maintaining their vehicles. Electric vehicles do not idle, and starting an electric vehicle does not cost extra power. Additionally, stop and go traffic leads to far less loss of energy in cities for anyone driving an electric vehicle.
While I would prefer renewable power for electric vehicles, electric cars can still use fossil fuel power more efficiently than internal combustion engines can.
Nuclear and renewables with battery storage are the two options I hear about frequently. I have solar panels on my house, so am quite aware they don’t produce during the night :)
Nuclear is a great option we should be investing more in rather then coal, oil, or methane gas plants.
Good thing diesel generators power power stations in so much of the world
Depends where you live, 60 percent where I live is nuclear.
Found the baguette lover
I love a nice French loaf, but France is about 6000km away.
Electric cars being charged by fossil fuels still have major advantages. Those who make generators are incentivized to get as many joules of energy per gallon of fuel. Diesel generators can have some efficiency adaptations that vehicle engines wont often have, such as being designed to run at a fixed speed. Your average car owner wont care about efficiency as much as getting from point A to point B, so the already low efficiency of combustion engines is probably lower on average than what could be theoretically achievable just due to people not maintaining their vehicles. Electric vehicles do not idle, and starting an electric vehicle does not cost extra power. Additionally, stop and go traffic leads to far less loss of energy in cities for anyone driving an electric vehicle.
While I would prefer renewable power for electric vehicles, electric cars can still use fossil fuel power more efficiently than internal combustion engines can.
I’d still prefer electric trains however.
You’re absolutely right we should be installing non carbon energy sources to replace diesel.
For backup power. You know they aren’t always running, right? Oil products only produce a bit over 3% of global electricity.
Nuclear and renewables with battery storage are the two options I hear about frequently. I have solar panels on my house, so am quite aware they don’t produce during the night :)
Nuclear is a great option we should be investing more in rather then coal, oil, or methane gas plants.