electric cars

[ArrestMeRedZ]

Jeff, what you said is true, but it doesn't explain the big Paradise fire last year, or the huge wine country fire the year before. The problem isn't one wet winter and spring and growth from that.
Infrastructure must be upgraded, no question. Maybe this means putting money into only those green projects that are economically feasible rather than every one that comes along. Lines must be maintained and undergrowth kept trimmed. Some property owners may not like it, but there are easements, and the needs of the many....
And last but not least is the forests must be maintained. Going natural is not the answer unless we are willing to put up with massive fires on a regular basis. If they aren't started by power lines, with all that fuel they will be started by something else.

Interesting the Kincade fire broke out because of a PG&E mistake even after they shut off power to a massive area.

 

[555]

Would underground lines be affected by earthquakes?
They cut the power to gently suggest evacuation. Better than the panic of entire towns trying to leave at the same time.

 

[JeffKeryk]

Originally Posted by ArrestMeRedZ
Jeff, what you said is true, but it doesn't explain the big Paradise fire last year, or the huge wine country fire the year before. The problem isn't one wet winter and spring and growth from that.
Infrastructure must be upgraded, no question. Maybe this means putting money into only those green projects that are economically feasible rather than every one that comes along. Lines must be maintained and undergrowth kept trimmed. Some property owners may not like it, but there are easements, and the needs of the many....
And last but not least is the forests must be maintained. Going natural is not the answer unless we are willing to put up with massive fires on a regular basis. If they aren't started by power lines, with all that fuel they will be started by something else.

Interesting the Kincade fire broke out because of a PG&E mistake even after they shut off power to a massive area.

The new growth complicated the problem.
What gets me is people making simplistic statements like, cut the trees.
Don't people understand this is a huge, multi-billion dollar problem?
There is no easy answer, but PGE is negligent. Everyone in CA hates PGE, but for most of us there is no alternative.
Their infrastructure is crumbling.

 

[JeffKeryk]

Originally Posted by 555

They cut the power to gently suggest evacuation. Better than the panic of entire towns trying to leave at the same time.

Friend, this is a ridiculous statement.
PGE cut the power to avoid power line started fires.
This is also to protect them against the massive fines and lawsuits due to their negligence.
They are already bankrupt.
Entire areas are evacuated; the freeways are clogged.
2 major hospitals have been evacuated.
The news stations state for affected areas, "Get out now. You are in danger."

 

[Blueskies123]

If you live in rural areas a 600-mile range might be necessary but the vast majority of people drive less than 35 miles a day. All of those people could easily manage on a 200-300 miles charge range.
Per EPA:
The EPA's range is used as the advertised figure for electric vehicles that are sold in the US. The 310-mile range is an estimate of the number of miles the vehicle should be able to travel in combined city and highway driving from a full charge. That's 131 miles per gallon gasoline-equivalent (MPGe) for city driving, 120 MPGe on the highway, and 126 MPGe combined.

All those city dwellers could save a lot of money driving a car that gets the equivalent of 126MPG.

 

[PimTac]

Originally Posted by Blueskies123
If you live in rural areas a 600-mile range might be necessary but the vast majority of people drive less than 35 miles a day. All of those people could easily manage on a 200-300 miles charge range.
Per EPA:
The EPA's range is used as the advertised figure for electric vehicles that are sold in the US. The 310-mile range is an estimate of the number of miles the vehicle should be able to travel in combined city and highway driving from a full charge. That's 131 miles per gallon gasoline-equivalent (MPGe) for city driving, 120 MPGe on the highway, and 126 MPGe combined.

All those city dwellers could save a lot of money driving a car that gets the equivalent of 126MPG.





True but the majority of city drivers leave the city to visit relative and friends or go on vacations where the range comes into play.

 

[PimTac]

"Please read what I posted. Clearing goes on all the time. Is there enough? Of course not.
The problem is in the old, neglected infrastructure.
Then we have a decent rain followed by warm summer and the wooded areas grow.
Trimming cannot keep up."




Put the thousands of eligible prisoners to work. The hard labor will do them good.

 

[user52165]

Don't underestimate the arsonists - the're out there, more than we want to admit.

 

[Snagglefoot]

Originally Posted by OVERKILL
Originally Posted by Snagglefoot
Originally Posted by OVERKILL
Originally Posted by Snagglefoot
Here is a Tesla S at a small charger at a coffee shop down the road. Currently the Tesla website shows a 373 mile range and 2.4 sec 0-60 mph.


Keep in mind, to get that 0-60 time, you have to order the P version. This adds an immediate $20,000 to the price. Not that the Long Range, which starts at $109,000CDN is any slouch, it does 0-60 in 3.8 seconds.

And if you charge it in the GTA, it's nuclear powered!

LOL! yep, Pickering and Darlington FTW.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptlhgFaB89Y

 

[sdowney717]

People who will set up the price structure for charging electric cars, will know how much they can force you to pay for X miles. They will compare it to what people are used to paying for gasoline and charge similarly or a little less, and people will just pay as they have not much other choice if they are away from home or work. I do not believe they will charge a very small amount and only seek to make a little bit of profit off of providing this charging service.

 

[Job]

Tesla uses a special plug but has adaptors. The others use pretty much standard ev plugs. Fast charging current style batteries is proving to degrade them faster. Range given is only an estimate based on conservative use in moderate weather. New batteries are being developed which like most electronics means the old will seem out of date when that happens.
I don't understand why people are concerned what other people are driving. because it's not their business any more than what house they buy or what sandwich. Prius hate etc is such nonsense.

 

[Fawteen]

Originally Posted by edwardh1
Maryland planning on 5000 charging stations in next 5 years.
are they a standard connection for all electric cars?
how fast do they charge (know it varies
what does it cost to use a charge station
they mention 50 KWH how far will that get you?

Doesn't Maryland have a really antiquated electric grid? And don't they import a large percentage of their current electrical needs from other states generating electricity from fossil fuels? Sounds sort of foolish to push an already overstressed grid even further. And environmentally it makes little sense when the majority of electrical generation is still done by good old fossil fuels.

Sounds more like another state that pushes hard for electric cars, but their current electric grid keeps getting shut off because of incompetence.

Originally Posted by jazztrumpet216
while ICE technology is right about at its limits.


Now that's a classic myopic line that I've been hearing for the last 20 or 30 years.

Originally Posted by Snagglefoot
The charge rates vary and it is now standard etiquette to limit your charge time to 20 or thirty minutes.


So now you also have to follow "etiquette" and limit the amount of time you're plugged into a charger? Makes as much sense as pulling up to a gas pump and only putting a couple gallons in because someone else is waiting and the station only has one lonely, single pump.

 

[billt460]

Originally Posted by PimTac
"Please read what I posted. Clearing goes on all the time. Is there enough? Of course not.
The problem is in the old, neglected infrastructure.
Then we have a decent rain followed by warm summer and the wooded areas grow.
Trimming cannot keep up."

While that all sounds good, California is not the only state that has old power lines where trees grow, and the wind blows.

 

[E365]

Originally Posted by billt460
Originally Posted by PimTac
"Please read what I posted. Clearing goes on all the time. Is there enough? Of course not.
The problem is in the old, neglected infrastructure.
Then we have a decent rain followed by warm summer and the wooded areas grow.
Trimming cannot keep up."

While that all sounds good, California is not the only state that has old power lines where trees grow, and the wind blows.


Serous question. Can you provide an example of another large, inhabited area with the same extremely dry, 75+ MPH winds in hard-to-access mountainous terrain such as they see with the Santa Ana and Diablo winds?

Current NWS forecasts are 80 MPH gusts in the mountains and hill.

https://forecast.weather.gov/showsi...t=38.4381&lon=-122.7125#.XbYOBCVlDDs

From the National Weather Serves. "IMPACTS...Any fires that develop will likely spread rapidly."

 

[barryh]

On the question of under ground high voltage transmission cables. It can be done at a cost but the real problem is it's environmentally very unfriendly.

The losses on long cable runs are much higher than overhead lines due to the capacitance of the cable. I've worked with 11KV underground cables and seen the energy lost in line charging current. At several hundred thousand volts used for long distance power transmission, the losses are huge and severely limit the cable length. At these voltages It's really a non starter except in very special circumstances.

 

[PimTac]

Originally Posted by billt460
Originally Posted by PimTac
"Please read what I posted. Clearing goes on all the time. Is there enough? Of course not.
The problem is in the old, neglected infrastructure.
Then we have a decent rain followed by warm summer and the wooded areas grow.
Trimming cannot keep up."

While that all sounds good, California is not the only state that has old power lines where trees grow, and the wind blows.





That is not my quote.

 

[Snagglefoot]

Once people understand that charge time is not linear with total charge, just the nimrod geeks will park their car for hours on a public charger, and once the nimrod geeks get their lights punched out once or twice, people will behave and not hog the chargers.

 

[Cujet]

Originally Posted by jazztrumpet216
Please find an area in the country where electricity costs $.50/kWh yet gas only costs $1.75/gallon. I'll wait.


As always, there are factors unconsidered. 1) The published KWH rate is not the invoice total. Taxes, distribution charges and other fees conspire to raise the price. My local power is 12c/kwh. However, the additional tax n charges raise it to 20c. Furthermore, any use above 750kwh per month increase the base cost to 17c/kwh.

And, I'll bet few EV owners look at how many KWH the meter spun vs. the dash display. Much loss there. You may get 16Kwh out of your Volt battery, but you paid for 20-22 to charge it.

https://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?276689-Cost-of-Electric-vs-Gas

https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/evtech.shtml

Energy efficient. EVs convert about 59%-62% of the electrical energy from the grid to power at the wheels.




Gas is $2.25 today.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Originally Posted by CT8
Originally Posted by Pelican
Once the electric companies have you on their hook you'll be longing for the time when gas was $5 a gallon. Often they don't have enough electricity for the household A/C, imagine if all the cars were plug-in electrics.
We are going electric, no doubt on that, but the answer is NOT the plug in, it takes too long, but the hydrogen fuel cell and Toyota already has cars sold in California.
Greta said that if we could [censored] into the tank we could all operate on gas, but then they'll gouge you on vaseline. There ain't no free lunch.

So true. I am still waiting on the Hydrogen revoloution.


Will not happen. It's even worse than electricity because the tanks bleed off hydrogen over a period of days.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Originally Posted by atikovi
Originally Posted by JeffKeryk
How do I gas up my ICE cars get gas if there is no power?
If you had a solar battery storage you would have power, right?
I am not sure who is creating disasters, beyond PGE.


Don't they have backup generators for when the power goes out? And the whole power lines causing fires issue could have been prevented if they put the lines underground.



Below ground cabling is approx 10x more expensive and has it's own issues. Ain't gonna happen. PGE just needs to upgrade their transmission lines.