A little while ago I pointed out a fatal flaw in the logic of proponents of electric vehicles, so-called "Zero Emissions" vehicles, claiming, among other things, that they saved the world from the horrors of the greenhouse effect. "Well golly," said I, "how do they get the electricity to fuel those vehicles? Why, they burn fossil fuels!" Therefore, I jabbed a big hole in the zero emission fallacy. I did suspect though, that they were still better in terms of emissions than regular cars. I didn't have the numbers to nail down a solution at the time, though. Through extensive research, largely on environmentalist websites that conveniently extolled disparate causes and were therefore not interested in concealing information that was damaging to other causes, I have finally nailed down those numbers. Frankly, I was shocked at the results.
First, a gallon of gasoline has roughly 2 kilograms (that's 2.2 pounds) of carbon in it. Assuming TOTAL combustion, it will release about 17 lbs. of carbon dioxide (that's carbon plus two oxygen), but we'll say 20 lbs. for the sake of easy measurement. I have the math to prove it, but I don't feel like putting it all here. Just take my word for it that it's true.
According to Econet, the average kilowatt hour (kWh) consumed creates 1.4 lbs. of carbon dioxide in burned fossil fuels. According to this guy, the writer's car uses about 4 miles per kWh. What's that add up to? Over one and a half pounds of carbon dioxide per mile! My old internal combustion engine gets about 30 mpg, and therefore drops less than a pound of CO2 per mile! Egad! My evil gas engine releases half the greenhouse gas than an electric car! Furthermore, I travel about 15 miles to work. That means that I'll use 8 kWh in a day, which adds up to EIGHT TIMES my normal daily usage of electricity in my apartment, and that's with an electric stove, a computer, and a TV! At 55 cents per kWh, that'll be pretty friggin' expensive, too. EV cars apparently do reduce other emissions like carbon monoxide, particulates, etc., probably due to the economy of scale and ease of filtering these things at large electric plants, but is it really worth the doubling CO2 emissions?
So I've already established that electric vehicles are grossly energy inefficient, but they're also worthless from a commercial standpoint. My mother, whom I shall reiterate is cool for an old broad but who still suffers from spasms of paranoid hippyism, parrots the commonly held belief that oil companies and/or car companies were actively suppressing that technology. Well for whatever reason, they've now decided to stop suppressing that technology and are making a few electric cars. The cream of the automotive crop can be seen on The EVAA site. Go ahead and check it out. I'll wait.
So if you looked, you'll see what I'm talking about. If you didn't, I'll tell you anyway. Only a complete moron would buy an electric car! The BEST they have to offer is the GM EV1, which can handle only 2 passengers (but hey, how often do you need a backseat?). It takes 9 seconds to get to 60 mph, which isn't too bad, but it can only go 130 miles MAX. So what happens when you run out of juice? YOU HAVE TO CHARGE THE DAMN THING FOR 8 HOURS!! I don't know about you, but if I ever intend to, say, visit my parents who live on the other end of the state, I'd rather NOT have to take 3 days to get there.
Given the incredible inconvenience, the increased traveling cost and time, and the fact that the cars themselves will probably be pricier, why would ANYONE want one of those frigging things? One thing they're trying is to market them as city cars, but if the city's got any kind of half-decent mass transit system, they're already useless. I just LOVE the environmentalists ranting that the government should force carmakers to produce electric cars, ignoring the fact that no one (except possibly them) would be dumb enough to buy one. Now hybrid engines are cool, since they allow a car to use a smaller engine to get the same power with the help of an electric motor, thus greatly increasing fuel efficiency. Environmentalists don't like them, though, because they still use gas.
I have too much free time at work.
