I bought diesel the other night for my Lt Truck and the new price is $4.05 / gallon. I live in California and the oil companies were forced to lower
the Sulfur content some years ago. After the legislation was passed the price for diesel became more expensive than
gasoline, even though diesel is way way less expensive to manufacture. I get about 20 to 21 miles/gallon on the highway and there is
no way I could get that kind of mileage out of a gasoline engine.
As far as electric cars go, I plan to get one in the near future. Our local electric company charges us with a tiered system based on
what they think a house should consume in a given area. When you get into the 2nd and 3rd tiers, rates really go up. Thus, it will
be necessary to get electric panels to keep our house from getting into the 2nd and 3rd tiers. Every two or three years
the solar panel drop 1/2 in price so they are becoming more affordable. Instead of paying the local electric company, you could be
making payments to the finance company that helped you buy the solar panels. In my area, the monthly payment would be almost
the same as the utility bill over a 5 year period.
The Nissan Leaf, the Ford Focus Electric, and the Mitsubishi Whatchamacallit all get about 100 miles before a recharge. I'm sure Nissan will
get the software bugs worked out. The GM Volt is different. The gasoline engine comes on to recharge the batteries once you've gone
the 40 or so miles. It is not quite a hybrid as it can be plugged in to recharge and it's full range is over 400 miles if the tank is full.
As far as Lithium goes, half of the world's reserve sits in Bolivia. The rest will be mined in China, Chile, and Argentina. There have been
large reserves discovered in Afghanistan as well. If only a few players control the Lithium, the price can skyrocket when demand increases
for electric cars. Other technologies to store power will have to be developed. Lots of companies are working on a Supercapacitor for use
in automobiles, but that is years away. Supercapacitors could be fully charged in a few minutes. Lithium batteries can take 20 to 30 hours to charge
with 110 v, 4 or so hours with 220 v, and half an hour or less using 440 volts.
Electric cars will work if you have a short commute to work and if you go the solar panel route. As electric usage goes up, so will the electric rates.
Oil companies need the competition if they hope to survive. There is not an infinite supply of petroleum in the ground.
As more electric cars appear on the road, soon gas stations will offer charging stations. The higher voltages will allow the vehicles to be
charged in a reasonable amount of time. The government rebates also help get the initial cost of the car down.
The large automobile companies really don't want to build electric cars because they don't wear out. The electric engine has very few moving
parts, unlike the internal combustion engine that can wear out after 200 to 300 thousand miles. The electric Bart Trains where I live have been in service
since 1972 and are still running. How long will your electric car run? GM, Ford, Chrysler, or any other car manufacture really don't want to find out.
It is worth your time to read more about the electric cars. Tesla says their Roadster costs about 2 cents per mile to operate, but 110 thousand dollars
is a bit pricey. They plan on selling their S model ( 50 grand) in 2012, and another less expensive model (30 grand) 2 years after that. They are making a
mistake.They should skip the Model S and start manufacturing the less expensive model while government rebates are being offered. They are going to
miss their window.
Alright, I have said enough.
Mano
