<VV> New tech. The Volt, for one.

[GPARob at aol.com]

I'm sorry, but I've got to comment about the Volt and pollution. I'm a two  
Corvair owner- one is a rusted out electric vehicle. The other is a convertible 
 I bought to put the EV parts into, but fell so much in love with her, that I 
 won't change her out. So, I'm looking for another someday to convert. 
 
ANYWAY.  I also own a Fiero EV, and a Kewet (look that one  up...).  As a guy 
on the Volt list, hoping for one (Actually, I'd prefer an  all electric for 
cheaper, with more range), I've heard some misconceptions here. 

First. a HUGE portion of our electricity production comes from Coal. I  
believe it's 40 percent. 
As EVs charge off the grid normally at night, NO additional power plants or  
infrastructure needs to be built for a long time. Here's what happens.  The  
"Cheap electricity"- Nukes, for example, run full bore day and night. Power  
companies have to cycle up the power production as demand increases- usually 10  
am to 4pm.-- ish.  So, they wind up starting up additional plants- running  
more expensive fuel- be it coal or natural gas. Both are used.  For the  
forseeable future, NO additional power plants are needed, and the demand for  power 
will smoothe out somewhat, enabling power companies to reduce the  expensive, 
and sometimes polluting, start up and shut down cycles.  GM has  used the 
number of millions of EVs.  Find a single guy involved in electric  power 
production that will dispute this. 

A power company guy last  week did the math. If we got rid of EVERY SINGLE 
gas burning car, and went  exclusively to EV, the power companies estimate that 
they'd need an additional 6  percent power generation and transmission 
capability. SIX percent. And, that's  over 10-15 years to get ready for it. 
 
I'm a little suprised to see the argument that power companies  pollute as 
much as cars, and EVs pollute by switching the source to the  plant.  Setting 
the pollution of solar, wind, geothermal, tidal and nuke  aside for a minute, do 
you really think that coal and natural gas plants pollute  as much as a car 
for the same amount of energy used?  Do you think it's  harder or easier to 
clean up exhaust from a moving single vehicle, or a large  scale, fixed location? 

A gas engine car driver forgets that a battery EV  is about 90% efficient.  A 
gas engine car is about 15% efficient, and I'm  being generous. When I drive 
the Fiero or the CorVolt, I have the energy  equivalent of one half gallon of 
gas on board, in twenty old school 6  volt lead acid batteries, weighing 57 
lbs each!!!  That gives me 75mph  capability, and 70 mile range in warm weather. 
yes, it's a  VERY heavy way  to carry energy. But, still, very efficient.  
That's part of why they  pollute so much less. The last argument I saw 
attributed between 10% and 20% the  pollution of a gas engine car, only if the plant 
was burning the dirtiest fuel  possible- coal. (Makes you pause when you see 
those "Clean coal" ads,  huh?)
 
Check this stuff out. It's fascinating.  Like, if you convert water to  
hydrogen, then put it in a fuel cell, and power your car, it takes three times  the 
energy required to just charge the batterys in your EV to go the same  
distance?  Amazing stuff. 

Rob Neighbour
 
 



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