If you do the math, you'll find you're off by a factor of 5: it's more like 5%. But when you compensate for the weight of the other gas related items: fuel pump, filter, larger tranny, heavier engine, etc., the battery's energy/weight improves.
--------------------------------------------------------- Democracy: Freedom for the Majority. Liberty: Freedom for All. On Sep 29, 2011, at 6:13 PM, Dennis Hale wrote: > We had a leading edge battery development company in the next town over. It > went to Mexico under NAFTA. All the 'Mericans were fired. Starting with the > engineers. I have the shop tables and some of the maintenance goodies in my > shop now. If those promised batteries were going to happen as the politicians > have planned, it wouldn't have all been given away. I hope those politicians > are at least greedy enough to understand this. Oh, and NOTHING further has > happened in Mexico. No surprise there, right? > In the end, NO batteries have been developed that hold even 1% as much energy > by weight or volume as gasoline. This is NOT going to change soon no matter > how many nonengineering types wish it so. Also, a battery is just an energy > storage device, not an energy source. A cell phone is a way lighter mass than > a person to haul around. Golf carts are about as big as batteries really are > effective for. There are some forklifts and of course locomotives that run > electrics, but they are far from what a Miata is, and they are not new or > magic. > During the Carter scare my buddy and I converted a VW to electric power. We > bolted a forklift motor to the transaxle and filled it up with car batteries > until the tires wanted to burst. It sort of ran for about 30 miles, then > needed a couple of days to recharge and was great fun for about a week. We > pretended that we would stick a portable generator in the car to charge the > batteries. Hey, we were 30 years ahead of that! Maybe better yet a third > motor of some sort would be good! Haw about a jet powered freeway merge > system? Then we were back to our "horse and buggy" real cars. Can you show > any real effort on your behalf to justify this lecture/ debate? > Batteries and steam were more popular than gasoline until Mr Ford made it far > otherwise [in spite of very little infrastructure to source gasoline], not a > good debate point for you maybe to cite Ford. > Maybe we all ought to pray for Doc Brown's Mr Fusion box. And Unicorns. > > Dennis Hale > From: Donni Howell <[email protected]> > To: Dennis Hale <[email protected]> > Cc: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> > Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2011 11:34 AM > Subject: Re: Miata electric conversion > > I wish we had email records from back when the "horseless carriage" was > introduced. I'm sure many considered it stupid, since most people that could > afford them probably already had horses. Why bother changing anything, ever? > > There will be battery technology innovation that makes it more viable, and > there will be a Henry Ford (more likely a corporation of one sort or another > of course) that can make it all affordable. I heart the internal combustion > engine and it's glorious symphony of mechanical and combustion noises and > complexity; but it isn't infinitely sustainable. It won't disappear from the > earth for a good while yet, but it will be replaced over time just like all > technological marvels. > > You don't have to embrace it, but change is the only thing you can count on > to stay the same. > > On Thu, Sep 29, 2011 at 1:40 PM, Dennis Hale <[email protected]> wrote: > Will it be so fuzzy happy after "they" figure out that you owe $2500 a year > in "fair" road maintenance tax you're not paying at the pump? Will "they" > just add road tax to all electrical bills? And when "they" delete the $7500 > subsidy to the folks rich enough to play the electric game will it still be > so good to putt along in the truck lanes in a heavy short range sled? Is this > the Miata list or the Toyota Pious list? > Dennis Hale > From: Brian Pifer <[email protected]> > To: Larry Alster <[email protected]> > Cc: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>; "[email protected]" > <[email protected]> > Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2011 10:14 AM > > Subject: RE: Miata electric conversion > > I don’t normally chime in because others have more knowledge and are faster > than I. But I take issue with your assertion that “battery electric cars are > still a stupid idea.” > > Yes, they have drawbacks (limited range & higher initial cost), but they also > have advantages (lower operating cost & less foreign oil dependence). > Current electric cars are not for everyone and you really need a second “long > distance” car for road trips. > > > _______________________________________________ > Miatapower mailing list > [email protected] > http://list.miatapower.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/miatapower > > > > > -- > "It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of > virtue..." > -Queen Elizabeth II > > > _______________________________________________ > Miatapower mailing list > [email protected] > http://list.miatapower.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/miatapower
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