Electric cars... the cons

[xr7]

4500 kilometers of cable? I'm not an electrical engineer but.........isn't there going to be a substantial loss over that distance? Somebody should also make sure the Ever Given isn't anywhere near this when it drops anchor.

 

[Fat Boss]

Sure, there will be some losses. But on a project that big I'm sure they've done their math.

 

[blacksheep-1]

I hope it's extensive enough to give jobs to all those ex pipeline workers and truck drivers.

 

[Mad Hatter]

As one of those dirty unpopular creatures known as a " Hard Rock Miner". I really hope every one goes electric ASAP so we can go blow things up again and make some Copper!

Guess a underwater cable would be much cooler and have less resistance loss. The voltages are super high with over 400kv etc. You can see that several plus 1000km multi Gigawatt lines are being planned around the world.

Indonesia has the monsoons etc so solar power would be to sporadic to make any sense. Australia has lots of sunny deserts to fill up with solar panels... Here in Chile as well.. In the Atacama desert, it rains for a few days every 10 years.

 

[xr7]

I hope it's extensive enough to give jobs to all those ex pipeline workers and truck drivers.

Not being a smart ass, but, somebody has to maintain the solar farm, keep the panels clean. I myself have wonder who's sweeping the snow off the panels in Minnesota. My career would be working on windmills. I'd guess climbing a ladder would help keep you in shape and you also would get very good at using checklists. Don't want to get up there and realize that you left a tool you need in your truck.

 

[blacksheep-1]

or these poor guys..

 

[Sjohnson1800]

All I’m going to say is with everyone being all about solar panels and worrying about the environment. Isn’t it a little counterintuitive to take I dunno 30acres of perfectly fine desert or grass land or whatever and throw a bunch of solar panels on top of it and not think of the wildlife there displacing? Seems a little backwards to me

 

[TymeSlayer]

More to this story...

or these poor guys..

View attachment 64005

From our correspondent from The Netherlands: two wind turbine mechanics, respectively 19 and 21 years old, died because of the fire. One fell to his death and was found on the ground underneath the turbine, the other died from his burns and was found inside the charred remains of the turbine.

A surprinsingly large number of wind turbines are involved in accidents around the world. Most of them are blades falling off, turbines collapsing, or nacelles burning down to a skeleton (400 - 800 litres of burning oil are not easy to extinguish, especially as firemen rarely have ladders long enough for these >100-meter long contraptions). Some human deaths have been reported.

 

[Mad Hatter]

You may not like wind turbines and weeny greeny electric cars (I am for noisy beastly combustion engines all the way), But, the oil industry is a far, far more dangerous work environment then wind turbines. I think the poor guys on the wind mill should be left to R.I.P.

 

[blacksheep-1]

So from what I gather, someone from California needs to advise, that you can no longer get a new house built using gas appliances, it all has to be electric??!!.
So one of the cleanest forms of energy, you can no longer use, but have to be connected to the government regulated grid?
Also, i travelled across country in the hauler from Pa to Long Beach. We stopped at a truck stop that had about 250 trucks in it. There were 3 more of these on each of the 4 corners of the cloverleaf. Over 1K trucks at this cloverleaf alone. That's a crap ton of goods and merchandise that has to be transported, and how is electric going to do that?
Even trains are diesel electric hybrids.
This whole thing sounds like massive government over reach

 

[Mad Hatter]

Trains!!... I guess they will make a come back at last... Its would be great to have high speed rail in the US. The Japanese Shinkansen trains are all electric so geothermal or hydro would really be useful (or nuclear shhh). Imagine ordering you UPS car parts from the west coast and having them at your door next day hahahah, not that likely!! Crazy Californians will not be allowed to sell car parts by then.

More use for copper!!

The one group of guys who will really suffer from the electric car future, is combustion engine mechanics..... Those electric engines will run with zero maintenance till a bearing or some such gives up the ghost. I remember switching to electric air compressors for mining.... What a relief! Dam things would need to be looked at once a year instead of every 200 hours of use.

 

[blacksheep-1]

Trains!!... I guess they will make a come back at last... Its would be great to have high speed rail in the US. The Japanese Shinkansen trains are all electric so geothermal or hydro would really be useful (or nuclear shhh). Imagine ordering you UPS car parts from the west coast and having them at your door next day hahahah, not that likely!! Crazy Californians will not be allowed to sell car parts by then.

More use for copper!!

The one group of guys who will really suffer from the electric car future, is combustion engine mechanics..... Those electric engines will run with zero maintenance till a bearing or some such gives up the ghost. I remember switching to electric air compressors for mining.... What a relief! Dam things would need to be looked at once a year instead of every 200 hours of use.

The environmentalists go nutbags over both, every time someone tries to build a dam, they invent something like the split tailed fart fish that will be driven to extinction in order to cancel the project.

 

[TMSBOSS]

The one group of guys who will really suffer from the electric car future, is combustion engine mechanics..... Those electric engines will run with zero maintenance till a bearing or some such gives up the ghost.

Yes and No. I know several dealership mechanics and they seldom are inside an engine anymore. Many of the Dealership repairs are for electronics, ironically. That pesky automatic closing rear hatch won't close when you touch a button, take it to the dealership.

 

[Mad Hatter]

Tell me about it..... Here in Chile, we are perpetually in drought mode... yet they have very few dams. every time they want to build them... The green NGOs come down from the USA/Canada and Europe to to kill the projects. End result is they can go kayaking with the spring melt and the rest of the year we have no water... Crazy for a country that is never more then 100km from mountians with big snow falls. It all rushes out to sea!! We dont even have your split tailed fart fish to worry about. I'm completly sure that the few lonely Pumas (big Cougars) in the mountains would love to have a back yard pool put in for them.

 

[Mad Hatter]

Yes and No. I know several dealership mechanics and they seldom are inside an engine anymore. Many of the Dealership repairs are for electronics, ironically. That pesky automatic closing rear hatch won't close when you touch a button, take it to the dealership.

Yup, For the dealerships thats true everywhere.... They have not interest or skills to open up an engine. they are just part swappers. and the simpler the better.

 

[bboyle6681]

Hi, i've been lurking on this site for a couple months now and this is an odd place to make my first post but I simply can't resist throwing in my 2 cents. So here is my take on the subject.

No one concerned about clean energy and the efficacy of electric vehicles in that pursuit has a leg to stand on, scientifically speaking, unless they also support switching entirely to nuclear power for all power plants. Wind and solar are not only inefficient and impractical they are actually worse for the environment than coal and natural gas.

If you don't believe this i'd encourage you to watch this ted talk. https://www.ted.com/talks/michael_s...anged_my_mind_about_nuclear_power?language=en

We have technologies that work, that are "clean", and are financially viable right now. We aren't using them because solving the problem would actually be bad for the politicians who supposedly care the most about it. If they solved the problem they couldn't keep using it as a rallying cry to turn out votes on election day.

Now i'm gonna go back to reading the amazing collection of knowledge you have all gathered here and maybe start a build thread as I get my car ready for my first track day.

 

[xr7]

Yup, For the dealerships thats true everywhere.... They have not interest or skills to open up an engine. they are just part swappers. and the simpler the better.

You are correct there are lots of parts swappers and some is because they new little Johnny wasn't very smart so send him to technical school and he can be a mechanic.
Some of the part swapping was driven by the business side and some by the manufacturer. I worked mainly on heavy trucks. Early in my career if a truck came in with an alternator not charging you would take it apart, diagnosis the problem and determine repair or replace. Made repairs lots of times. Then the business side comes along and says, "wait if you fix it and it fails its our problem, slap on a new one or a rebuilt and then its their problem if it fails". Then the manufacturers go with supplying all the rebuilt components. Pull the tranny, slap in a rebuilt and get him back on the road earning more money, reduce his downtime. except a lot of times a repair would have been just as effective, minimal more time and a lot cheaper.

 

[302BOB]

The energy woes we all face will never solve the crisis we face in the very near future.....Our ultimate wake up call will...like it or not.........what ever that may be...............questions are a dime a dozen, answers are priceless......................especially the right ones!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[blacksheep-1]

You are correct there are lots of parts swappers and some is because they new little Johnny wasn't very smart so send him to technical school and he can be a mechanic.
Some of the part swapping was driven by the business side and some by the manufacturer. I worked mainly on heavy trucks. Early in my career if a truck came in with an alternator not charging you would take it apart, diagnosis the problem and determine repair or replace. Made repairs lots of times. Then the business side comes along and says, "wait if you fix it and it fails its our problem, slap on a new one or a rebuilt and then its their problem if it fails". Then the manufacturers go with supplying all the rebuilt components. Pull the tranny, slap in a rebuilt and get him back on the road earning more money, reduce his downtime. except a lot of times a repair would have been just as effective, minimal more time and a lot cheaper.

Back in my day son.... lol
You used to rebuild EVERYTHING, fuel pumps, window motors, starters and even their solenoids, virtually every part on the car was rebuildable, and you could get small parts kits for all of it. Now days, you can't find a rebuild kit for anything.

 

[TMSBOSS]

They have not interest or skills to open up an engine. they are just part swappers. and the simpler the better.

Not sure this is why. If it breaks someone has to fix it. Engines used to be a throw away item in that if an engine made it to 100k miles without a rebuild, it was a smoking, knocking, pile of trash long since needing rebuild. You likely had cleaned or changed spark plugs 20 times by then IF peak performance was important to you. Change a plug lately? The factory used to put a smoking hot (Not Really) 12k warranty on the car. Would you consider buying a new car with only 12k in warranty coverage?? Now they last and last. Clearances are tighter, oil lasts longer, computers control fuel and spark and make changes each crank revolution.
We are the exception regarding engine use, abuse and rebuild cycles.
Mechanics used to hand lay Babbitt in bearing blocks. (How many folks reading this need to google hand laying Babbitt) They didn't stop because of a lack of skill or caring, the industry improved and we moved on. What's the saying "Defecation Evolves" (shiznit Changes). When was the last time a carpenter built a post and frame building using pegs?? Are you willing to pay the cost to build your family home using these techniques?
Don't blame the technician for not repairing things which are not broke or the factory can repair with a greater level of competency simply because of the equipment needed to maintain modern clearances is not practical at their level. After all, who would repair the ever so critical integrated WiFi system and the all critical dual zone climate control and lane warning systems without dealership mechanics??