London Being electrified by Smart! Check it out!!

[jonnysan]

http://www.evworld.com/article.cfm?storyid=1369

This is very exciting to me....would be nice to so some testing like this in the US!!

John

[SnakeFarm]

I wonder a) What is the price of a kWh on the charger, b) what is the "cents per mile" figure and c) is there a cleaner way to generate massive amounts of electricity than coal fired generators? If not, we would just be burning fossil fules early rather than later on. Gasoline eliminates two steps of the fuel to work conversion process.

I wonder if more than a few people will be suprised to learn there will be a charge charge pretty close to the cents per mile of gasoline. Throw in the cost of replacing and disposing of (toxic) batteries and you just might find you are spending a great deal more for nothing but the privledge of using an extenision cord rather than a hose.

[jonnysan]

Originally Posted by SnakeFarm

I wonder a) What is the price of a kWh on the charger, b) what is the "cents per mile" figure and c) is there a cleaner way to generate massive amounts of electricity than coal fired generators? If not, we would just be burning fossil fules early rather than later on. Gasoline eliminates two steps of the fuel to work conversion process.

I wonder if more than a few people will be suprised to learn there will be a charge charge pretty close to the cents per mile of gasoline. Throw in the cost of replacing and disposing of (toxic) batteries and you just might find you are spending a great deal more for nothing but the privledge of using an extenision cord rather than a hose.

Not even close!! I had previously posted on here about the conversion.
At todays cost of electricity of approx 12 cents per kwhr and $3 gasoline, the cost per mile for EV is about 3 cents and that's on the high side. If you had your own solar panels or windmill or some other alternative means of charging it would be less once the alt energy systems cost was amortized that is.
The cost per mile of a 25 mpg ICE powered vehicle is around $15 cents per mile at $3 gasoline....and gasoline...not ethanol or some other alt liquid fuel like biodiesel. That's a 5 to 1 advantage for EV and certainly an eye opening difference. As the PPB of crude goes up, this ratio becomes even better and the advantages of plugging in become clearer and more considerable....as long as they don't price the EV's....once they come out....too high.
The plus side of all this is if we use our own electricity generated by American electricity providers, the money spent REMAINS in the US....another big PLUS. And utilities view plug- ins as a real windfall because most of the charging will be done during offpeak hours (at nite) when the utility normally has to throttle down their generators due to electricity usage that wans at nite. They'll be better utilizing their generation capacity in this instance and bottom line will increase substantially. PHEV's and EV's are the most direct route to energy independence in the US and the sooner this is realized by auto manufacturers, the sooner we will be weaned from oil.

John

[SnakeFarm]

Originally Posted by jonnysan

The plus side of all this is if we use our own electricity generated by American electricity providers, the money spent REMAINS in the US....
John

Wow, I think you just converted me. Thanks (I think).

[Gortok]

Originally Posted by jonnysan

And utilities view plug- ins as a real windfall because most of the charging will be done during offpeak hours (at nite) when the utility normally has to throttle down their generators due to electricity usage that wans at nite.
John

I recently heard that power companies become more efficient if they stay at a steady hum...That is, the change from peak to off-peak and back wastes power.

[jonnysan]

Originally Posted by Gortok

I recently heard that power companies become more efficient if they stay at a steady hum...That is, the change from peak to off-peak and back wastes power.

And for many years it has been a built-in INefficiency for them. Being able to capitalize on keeping their generators at near capacity thru the nite while the electric cars charged up would put big smilies on their faces for sure. More new-found income without doing too much of anything really.

Just open up the cash register and put the money in it.....well not quite that simple but close.