Electric conversions, are they happening now?

[MikeG]

Bean Burrito power! Taco Bell will rule the world....

 

[DILLARD000]

One other thing

Liquid fuel conversion to usable energy in vehicles is awful, gasoline is about 25%, 30% on some newer engines, so $3 gallon of gas only gives you $1 worth of energy to push you down the road, $2 is used to heat up the engine and air around the engine
Diesels are a little better, 40%, but still abysmal

Electric motors and batterys are way more efficient, pushing 80%

Thing is electric motors are not a source of power, they're simply a different kind of transmission, like LocomotiveTractionMotors.
So a better efficiency comparison would be a 200hp rated electric motor to a 200hp rated mechanical tranny.

 

[RonD]

80% of the energy in the batteries are converted to pushing you down the road
25% of the of the energy in the gas in the tank is converted to push you down the road

 

[DILLARD000]

What about energy lost between the PowerPlant (Boiler~Turbine~Generator~PowerLines) & ChargingStation, then conversion from AC to DC?
Taking all that into consideration would be a better comparison of ICE to EV.

 

[fastpakr]

So a better efficiency comparison would be a 200hp rated electric motor to a 200hp rated mechanical tranny.

Was that supposed to make sense?

 

[DILLARD000]

Was that supposed to make sense?

Yes.
Electric motors are a different type of transmission, converting input power Volts+Amps to output power at given RPMs+Torq.
Mechanical transmissions convert input power RPMs+Torq to output power at another RPMs+Torq.

 

[Dirtman]

Sure go ahead, knock yourself out. If you're convinced, spend $20k to convert your vehicle from ICE to EV.
Loose 200+ miles of range, loose the ability to drive CrossCountry without fear of not finding a 3hrLongChargingStation.
Pretend charging KiloWattHours don't cost anything & don't produce polution at the power plant where they originated.
Pretend BatteryPacks last forever & don't need a $10k replacement in 2~3 yrs with the old toxic one going to the land fill.
Sure go ahead, knock yourself out.

Your basing these limitations on NOW. EV's are an evolving science as well as the sources to power them. Yea I think anyone in my town with a Tesla is pretty dumb since our power still comes from a coal plant so, you're charging it on an even filthier power source than gasoline.

But 20 years from now who knows. Battery tech has come leaps and bounds in a few decades going from EVs that had a range of 50 miles at best to 300+ miles. Charging times went from 12 or more hours to 30 minutes. It's important to look at how the science is growing not get stuck in the mindset of how much it doesn't work right now.

We went from the first object launched into orbit to walking on the moon in 12 years, less than 63 years before that the first airplane took flight! EVs are coming, granted much slower than our aerial pursuits because lets face it oil runs the world and we aren't currently in a cold war arms race over who can make the best electric car. But EVs will be the future, and not just a hippy trend. They are dumb at the moment but not forever. There will come a time where we, or more likely our grand children look at modern ICE engines like we look at steam powered cars...

 

[fastpakr]

Yes.
Electric motors are a different type of transmission, converting input power Volts+Amps to output power at given RPMs+Torq.
Mechnical transmissions convert input power RPMs+Torq to output power at another RPMs+Torq.

Fascinating. And utterly ridiculous.

 

[fastpakr]

Your basing these limitations on NOW. EV's are an evolving science as well as the sources to power them. Yea I think anyone in my town with a Tesla is pretty dumb since our power still comes from a coal plant so, you're charging it on an even filthier power source than gasoline.

For what it's worth, we're down to less than 25% of electricity coming from coal now.

 

[Dirtman]

For what it's worth, we're down to less than 25% of electricity coming from coal now.

Nationally or in your area? My area is still 100% coal. Though they are planning a new nuke plant sometime in the future and shutting down the coal plants...

 

[DILLARD000]

For what it's worth, we're down to less than 25% of electricity coming from coal now.

That is a good thing, coal\lignite is a very nasty fuel, both at the mine, in transit & at the power plant.
We agree to disagree on other things.

 

[fastpakr]

There are things we can disagree on (opinions about what team we like).

And there are things that are simply dead wrong and patently ridiculous.

 

[fastpakr]

Nationally or in your area? My area is still 100% coal. Though they are planning a new nuke plant sometime in the future and shutting down the coal plants...

On a national scale.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)

www.eia.gov

 

[Dirtman]

On a national scale.

See now heres the thing, they shut down a nuke plant to the south of me, and 3 coal plants within 50 miles within the past 5 years yet haven't built anything new yet. Either we had a surplus of power for no reason or our power grid is on the brink of disaster. They seem to be closing coal plants faster than replacing them which is making me nervous. I hate coal power but you can't simply close them all without replacing them. So we are cutting back on coal and numbers look good but.... uhhh... whats powering my house now?! Luck? If I plug in this new alexa will I shut down the eastern seaboard?!

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Nationally or in your area? My area is still 100% coal. Though they are planning a new nuke plant sometime in the future and shutting down the coal plants...

Is nuke better?

See now heres the thing, they shut down a nuke plant to the south of me, and 3 coal plants within 50 miles within the past 5 years yet haven't built anything new yet. Either we had a surplus of power for no reason or our power grid is on the brink of disaster. They seem to be closing coal plants faster than replacing them which is making me nervous. I hate coal power but you can't simply close them all without replacing them. So we are cutting back on coal and numbers look good but.... uhhh... whats powering my house now?!

They keep adding onto the coal plant near me. No idea what they are doing to the capacity but the thing is a lot bigger than it used to be.