| Author | Message | ||
     Airbozo |
Supercaps have replaced the normal batteries for things like Raid controllers and NVDIMMs in computers. They are supposed to have a longer life and are cheaper as well. IBM has been working on backup power sources using super/ultra caps. | ||
| Ratbuell |
I think once the power grid starts getting upgraded to handle widespread EV usage, people will start to see that fuel consumption (fossil, CNG, nuclear, coal, whatever) is going to remain at the same overall levels. Just more on the corporate/distribution side and less on the "at the pump" side is all. Power is power, it has to be generated somewhere, somehow - whether by a distributor/power provider, or onboard an ICE vehicle, makes no difference. Still has to come from somewhere. I don't look forward to the increased power bills / kWh charges once they start upgrading for all the "green" folks and their EVs - that'll be a double-whack to folks like me who don't see myself going electric...ever, really. But, I'll still have to pay increased premiums for my household electric, and I'm sure at-the-pump isn't going to go down... | ||
| Sifo |
Update video on the Tesla repair saga. The short of it is that they are still waiting for parts, and Tesla is non-responsive to inquiries. Watch the video for the details. On the plus side, Tesla is currently in the news for hitting record production goals for Q2 2019. That's a good thing, but if it's at the expense of current owners in need of parts, that's not a good thing. | ||
| Hootowl |
One of the reasons I’m buying a new car is because I cannot obtain a stupid AC hose for my VW. It is internationally backordered, and there is no contract for a supplier to manufacture new ones. I’m just forked. None on ebay either. People sell them, but they don’t actually have them and end up apologizing and canceling. I’ve been trying for three months and driving around Houston with no AC. Tesla is hardly alone with spares issues. | ||
| Gregtonn |
Hoot, Lots of AC shops make their own hoses. If you can't find one there is always this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9UmRueYuyE G | ||
| Hootowl |
Yeah, I have a local shop fabricating something. There are several complex bends. It’s very tight in there. They’ve had it a few days. | ||
| Sifo |
Just curious, what year is the VW. Not trying to convince you the Tesla is a bad buy BTW. I just think informed is better. IMO, they have a lot going for them. I also think they carry a good deal of risk. If your risk tolerance is adequate to let you enjoy the upside, go for it. In the end, cars are some of the worst investments you can make, so just don't expect it to be anything else. | ||
| Hootowl |
It’s old. 2006. Ironically, other than the frame, I can buy every single part for my 1967 chevy truck. Right down to the stickers in the engine bay. | ||
| Ratbuell |
People restore 67 Chevy pickups...they don't restore 06 VW's. Hell...most people have killed off their 06 VWs by now. I've been discovering the same issue with my turbo dodges (89 CSX, 90 Voyager turbo, 91 Daytona turbo). Used to be, you couldn't swing a cat in the junkyard without hitting a dozen of them. Now...all gone. I shoulda stocked up on parts! | ||
| Hootowl |
Yup. I learned that the online junk yards don’t really stock AC hoses and that there are pretty much no TDIs in Houston for me to go pick over. Hopefully this custom part is going to work out. | ||
| Sifo |
I found this discussion of Maxwell's super capacitors and Tesla to be quite interesting. Perhaps Greg already knows this stuff forward and backward, but I certainly don't. It does seem to lend credibility to my ideas that new battery tech will not be an easy retrofit to older models. Given that as fact, when the new tech starts hitting the streets, supposedly without causing a price increase, the used electrics will take a big hit, just for being older tech. Just something to be aware of. | ||
| Hootowl |
Yeah, I know. But you have to pull the trigger at some point. Who knows when the big battery breakthrough will happen? The 3 uses a different battery chemistry/construction than the previous models. Supposed to ameliorate the degradation caused by repeatedly charging the battery to 100%. I’ve seen the curves, and there is degradation, but it’s over 10s of thousands of cycles. There are teslas out there with 300k miles on their original battery. I doubt i’ll have it that long. | ||
| Hootowl |
I sure appreciate everyone’s input. It’s not too late to cancel. In fact, Tesla will fully refund the cost of the vehicle up to 7 days/1000 miles after delivery. But I’ve watched every negative thing I can find about Teslas, and I haven't run across a deal breaker. This thing is not cheap, and I’m not spending this much money on a whim. I think I’m making a good decision for my situation. Keeping the Jetta for long distance. Although I’m likely to only need to drive to the airport in those cases.  | ||
| Sifo |
Like I said, I'm not trying to talk you out of buying. I hope you do. I figure if a guy like you, who isn't a fanboy, gets convinced with the ownership experience, it's got to be pretty decent. The other big unknown I wonder about is when the governments will start taxing electrics for road use tax. They get a nice tax break on that in most areas at the moment. The more electrics that hit the road, the more appealing that's going to become. | ||
| Hootowl |
I think that’s inevitable. They are already talking about a per mile tax, for that very reason. Put ag diesel in your car and see how bent the tax collector gets. I don’t see how electricity is any different. The government looks the other way because ‘green!’ but, yeah, just a matter of time. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Although I’m likely to only need to drive to the airport in those cases. Only until the Dems eliminate air travel. Green New Deal, remember? | ||
| Hootowl |
Electric airplanes! (Not kidding. They’re working on them.) Tower, this is 3451 heavy. Really heavy. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Range anxiety on the ground is inconvenient. Range anxiety in the air? Um.... | ||
| Torquehd |
Lithium<Gasoline<Diesel<Plutonium<Antimatter Elon, please develop Antimatter pickup trucks and sportbikes. Edit. On second thought, Mr. Buell, please study Antimatter propulsion. I'd rather you pioneer that field. (Message edited by torquehd on July 04, 2019) | ||
| Aesquire |
I have seriously been looking at Electric Airplanes. At the light end of the spectrum, I admit. Ignoring vehicles only seen as CGI or still awaiting first flight. At this time, July 2019, the heavy end is a Cessna C-172 trainer type with enough range to take off, fly around the area for a while, and land back at the field. And if "a while" is 15 minutes, can do so several times before it needs to be parked in a Hanger over night to be recharged. And only at fields with chargers for it. Which is...one. Not yet available, but will be by next year, IF the government can figure out what rules to make to allow it. Doesn't quite fit in normal category commercial niche. More successful, and available Now, are a few motor gliders, with electric for take off, climb to, say, 8000 feet, and coast. Twice. ( that's the high end ) That permits a couple of tries at catching lift, and enough juice to slowly cruise home if it's close. Just "under" that are Electric Sustainer types, with not quite enough power to take off and climb to altitude, but enough to keep a very efficient, low drag, SAILPLANE aloft, again, to get you home if the lift stops, ( and it does, usually, when the Sun gets low and the Thermals stop lifting off ) and you are close enough. Battery weight is, of course, the limiting factor/problem. And below that... Ultralights. FAA pt 103 reaaally slow, one seat, very limited by regulation, flying things. not airplanes. They have their own category so the FAA doesn't have to deal with them. Originally, ( and still ) powered hang gliders, Ultralights have evolved into pretty slick little craft, but the rules specify no more than 5 gallons of gas on board, to limit the burn in crash & burn. This severely limits range. Basically the minibikes of aviation. Naturally, Electric power goes to the most efficient, lowest power need, vehicles first. That's why all the real work so far on gliders, and not 747s. I can get an Electric Ultralight. A motorglider designed to take off, shut down the engine, and glide. But. It's about $12,000 for the basic craft, and the engine is another $8000. ( obsolete but low end prices ) The electric motor, that bolts right on is only $5000, with controller & charger. ( the motor is only a little more expensive than the needed aux. parts ) But the battery to get half the range of 5 gallons of gas, is $18,000 and weighs enough more that I can't legally fly it... Because the FAA counts battery weight as aircraft weight, not fuel weight. This is an issue in Pt 103 craft, and Light Sport Airplanes. They have an empty ( dry ) & gross weight limit, respectively. I admit that electric cars go back to the late 1800's and have had more time to develop, if you remember that they sorta skipped a century, so... 30 odd years. But, as noted above, when the battery in your Leaf dies, you pull over, call AAA, and get someone to come out with a generator to charge you back up. You lose time & money, but ditto if you run out of gas. ( less time & money, but hey ) If the battery in your Thunderhawk 9000 dies, you need to be in gliding distance of a safe landing field, have way above average skills, ( or be a Glider pilot ) and a bit of luck, or you join the statistics of people who run out of gas in mid air. ( surprisingly, a Major percentage of fatalities because of that. ) I'm lucky in that I'm in the crowded NE, and there are a dozen landing strips within 20 miles of my house. Only one is legal for me to land on as the rest are private, or restricted, and require permission to use. I'm unlucky in that I'm in the crowded NE, and legal liabilities mean that the owners of private strips are rationally paranoid about letting anyone use them, in part because of neighbors, and in part because of fear of litigation. BTW quiet, Electric Airplanes would help with the neighbors. But they are NOT silent. But...I can get an electric airplane, and fly it out of my yard, and circle it, and land again, but not one that can fly to the airport near my Brother in Law's house, and get home, on one charge. But 10 gallons will get a gasoline engine version there and back, fine. ( I can't charge the battery fast enough, there, to get home in one day, reliably ) so.... just on the edge of impractical. Maybe next year. | ||
| Gregtonn |
Electric airplanes! (Not kidding. They’re working on them.) No kidding. We discussed them here a couple of months ago. Update: https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/air-transp ort/2019-06-16/eviation-completes-prototype-alice- electric-aircraft G | ||
| Aesquire |
Consider the mission. What can an electric airplane do that an IC or turbine equipped airplane not? And what can it do better? This applies across the board for man carrying vehicles, it's just that flying machines vs. Boats & wheeled/tracked ground vehicles have a narrower weight/power performance "window". An electric bicycle "works" if it goes fast enough a normal skilled rider can stay upright. An airplane needs enough excess power to both fly, and climb!, and accelerate to flying speed in a reasonable runway environment. To be functional, it has to do all three, and adding weight to a flying machine almost always takes away performance in multiple ways. So... Quieter operation? It's a main reason for me to reduce neighbor irritation. Multi motor systems? Multi fan lift systems, stability control, and redundancy. ( it's HARD to synchronize multiple IC engines & control them independently as in a multi-copter ) High torque, low RPM applications? Trains, ships. 4x4s? Fewer toxic gas emissions? At point of use. Great for mines. No need for oxygen? Submersible vehicles, mines, other planets. ??????? Please mention more. Downsides are many. On a smaller scale like RC toys or short range murder drones, ( you've seen that video, right? ) electric often "works"... Sometimes a better choice for... Reasons. ( noise etc.) Some because there just isn't a gas engine in that size. Some for multi rotor applications. Etc. | ||
| Crusty |
Cows Genetically Modified to Burp and Fart Less Could Cut Methane Emissions by Half https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/cows-gen etically-modified-to-burp-and-fart-less-could-cut- methane-emissions-by-half/ar-AADR9tZ?li=BBnbcA1 Seriously? You gotta be shittin' me. | ||
| Zacks |
But how do they teste? | ||
| Hootowl |
What percentage of Earth’s atmosphere is methane? Why is it so low? Flammable gases do not long persist is the presence of Oxygen. And from a greenhouse gas perspective, it overlaps with water vapor, so its effects are infinitesimal as a warming agent. These people are delusional. | ||
| Sifo |
They seem to be playing a statistical game too. They claim methane production could be cut in half. I take that to mean methane production from cows. If methane from cows is a small percentage of total methane emissions (anthropogenic and natural) then cutting it in half may be close to meaningless. And from a greenhouse gas perspective, it overlaps with water vapor, so its effects are infinitesimal as a warming agent. I was wondering about that point with methane. I know it's true of CO2. Of course, the "scientists" say that water vapor is a feedback, so you are wrong. Meanwhile, in the real world where we have water vapor in the air, adding/removing greenhouse gases that operate in the spectrum that is already swamped by water vapor will not change greenhouse warming. That's just reality. | ||
| Gregtonn |
So...let me get this straight...GMO plants are bad but GMO cows are good. Also there is this: The team examined over 1,000 dairy cows from the U.K., Finland, Italy and Sweden. Why didn't they examine any Canadian cows? Canadians are said to be very polite so naturally the Canadian cows must burp and fart less. G | ||
| Aesquire |
So...let me get this straight...GMO plants are bad but GMO cows are good. Better phrased, anything that actually works to help mankind is bad, but anything to give evil men more power is good. Not that I'm against low fart cows. However, I think those resources and our money right have been better spent on, say, genegeneering critters to produce insulin. Or algae to produce bio fuel. Or an app that tells you when a politician is lying. (Tough, since voice stress analysis may not work on sociopaths. ) In any event, solving problems is an anathema to evil people/leftists. That would remove the excuses to use hate to manipulate people. See also the Obama economic policy. | ||
| Hootowl |
“Or an app that tells you when a politician is lying.” Already exists. It’s the video recording function of the camera app. You use it to see whether their lips are moving. | ||
| Hootowl |
Part 1 is also interesting. |
