Covid19 Spare time

[Donstar]

A hybrid is a respectable compromise although some will argue there are no winners in a compromise.  If given a choice in a 4X4 GM or Ford pickup, my order of power preference is;  EV, Hybrid,  4cyl.   I spent time previously mapping a cross country trip with an EV and I believe there is enough infrastructure "currently" in place to meet my needs.  Local environment plays a significant role in how we embrace EV's. I live in a city and am of a demographic where looking to buy or owning an EV is the norm.  

[richard wysong]

I am not in a position financially to buy anything new but thinking about our annual jaunt down to sunshine land and taking for granted there are ample charging stations along I-95 going electric would add at least 2 more fuel stops and hours of waiting to recharge vs filling the tank from what I have read about battery range of around 300 miles in ideal conditions vs 400 miles in the old Cadidliac over the 1400 mile 2 day drive. Returning from Maine a few weeks ago the dozen or so charging stations on the turnpike at the rest stop were ALL in use by Teslas so if I needed to recharge now I would have to wait for someone else to recharge before I can plug in and then wait for my vehicle to recharge. What can you do in 1 of those places for an hour or more? Electric is fine for local day to day use but until battery technology catches up for long distance use it just seems too inconvenient. There needs to be a better solution which may be hydrogen fuel cell or some sort of regen system to increase the range of EVs

[diyer2]

Well the cost of an EV for short trips just makes no sense. So I keep a gasser for my long trips and use the EV for short ones. 

[KARNUT]

1 minute ago, diyer2 said:

Well the cost of an EV for short trips just makes no sense. So I keep a gasser for my long trips and use the EV for short ones. 

If I was to buy an electric it would be a midsize pickup. The only reason is I could throw my portable generator in the back to ease range concerns. Of course it would have to be cheaper than the gas counterpart. 

[richard wysong]

But we shouldn't have to bring a generator with us. We have the technology to build that capability into the vehicles. Maybe small alternators inboard of all 4 wheels similar to the abs sensors set up or wind turbines . I realize there is no such thing as free energy but something along these lines would greatly increase range I believe

[customboss]

33 minutes ago, richard wysong said:

But we shouldn't have to bring a generator with us. We have the technology to build that capability into the vehicles. Maybe small alternators inboard of all 4 wheels similar to the abs sensors set up or wind turbines . I realize there is no such thing as free energy but something along these lines would greatly increase range I believe

Richard, there are differing setups for application optimization. I suppose at some point the electrolyzer will process water into hydrogen fuel for an IC engine in appropriate applications.

 

Electromotive applications like trains and heavy mining trucks idealize with electricity as main driver. For your Cadillac replacement it might be a hydrogen IC engine. For folks living in cities it might be an  electric primary drive with a micro IC engine as generator.

 

The opportunities are many.  Having hydrogen fueling stations ain't gonna happen for mostly safety reasons and the fact burning hydrocarbons to process it makes it too expensive and dirty. I retired from Cummins in 2014 and was not in on this work in any meaningful way but have been watching Cummins transform themselves from diesel to methane burning to hydrogen. Its encouraging a US company is hitting this hard with not a lot of fanfare. 

Edited January 25, 2023 by customboss

[Grumpy Bear]

Air quality worldwide improved greatly during COVID-19 lockdown. Proof a reduction is not just possible, it's now been done. Adopting Koenigsegg engine tech on existing ICE's would have the same global impact. It such a huge step forward in ICE tech that it is unbelievable no one is jumping on it. Oh wait...that greedy profit thing and no desired shift in whose palms are getting greased. The real point of electrification. Men ruling men. A joke that doesn't get a laugh. Come to think of it; older Honda ULEV-VVT motors of 200* still emit less than CAFE requires for another few decades.

 

I wouldn't know which thread to pull on first. We say clean air. We do greedy profit.  

[Donstar]

"Air quality worldwide improved greatly during COVID-19 lockdown."   Covid serves as a modern day demonstration on what it takes to make global change.  The squawking over the simplest of health measures demonstrated for me how difficult or slow it is to make change.  We can make a huge positive impact on climate on short notice without being forced but too many of us our waiting until we can change with minimal inconvenience!  A couple of days ago I watched a YouTube about a guy who bought an electric tuk-tuk with a pickup type bed.  I think one of these would make for a fun toy.  However the reality is, there is nothing I typically do or places I go that exceed the capabilities of a tuk-tuk!  

[KARNUT]

I saw on motor week yesterday a city turning solid waste to fuel for their refuse trucks. A clean burning fuel. In the early 2000s while we were still driving diesel p/u trucks we were burning bio diesel. In the corner of our shop we had a tank for waste oil and hydraulic oil. We ran a series of filters and made our own fuel. We added extra filters on ours trucks for good measure. Seems to me we’re jumping the shark on electric. Leveling mountains and actually causing more pollution getting minerals. When recycling and natural gas is the answer along with hybrids. My brother has an old city pickup that has a natural gas conversion. It sits for months without being started. He just starts it gets in. It acts like a daily driver. All the above should be our motto. Massive push for electric vehicles isn’t the answer. The push for making gas expensive to make electric viable is not the answer. 

[richard wysong]

An interesting side-note to natural gas vehicles, my friend ended up with the gas cylinder out of a LNG fueled pickup, the thing was about 4' long and around 20" diameter and weighed about 350 lbs. He made a sod roller out of it but found it was made out of an alloy that couldn't be welded with anything he tried. He is a welder in the marine construction business so he knows his stuff. 

[Donstar]

I've been riding my trike for the past few days even though the weather is very cold.  (Investing in proper clothing is key.)  It costs me a lot of money to "rough it" like this but I enjoy the ride.  I am fortunate to have a choice but I know we can manage to maintain a good lifestyle while substantially dialing back the footprint of personal transport.   Yesterday a man at Costco approached me in the parking lot to talk about the placement of my disability parking sticker on my trike.  As all riders do, we talked bikes and he told me about him and his buddies riding down to Sturgis again this year.  This guy is my age and obviously has some physical challenges.  This is a 2,400 mile round trip for these guys. It takes a higher level of planning than a car trip but this is part of the fun for them.  I've mentioned before that in my spare time I mapped out travel plans for cross country (USA and Canada) in a mid range EV.    Travelling by motorcycle or an EV are significantly different than road trips with our Sierras and Silverado's.  However we can still enjoy our beautiful countries by road even though changes in how we do so need to be/are imminent.  I look forward to going all electric as the pros far outweigh the cons to the best of my understanding. 

[KARNUT]

7 minutes ago, Donstar said:

I've been riding my trike for the past few days even though the weather is very cold.  (Investing in proper clothing is key.)  It costs me a lot of money to "rough it" like this but I enjoy the ride.  I am fortunate to have a choice but I know we can manage to maintain a good lifestyle while substantially dialing back the footprint of personal transport.   Yesterday a man at Costco approached me in the parking lot to talk about the placement of my disability parking sticker on my trike.  As all riders do, we talked bikes and he told me about him and his buddies riding down to Sturgis again this year.  This guy is my age and obviously has some physical challenges.  This is a 2,400 mile round trip for these guys. It takes a higher level of planning than a car trip but this is part of the fun for them.  I've mentioned before that in my spare time I mapped out travel plans for cross country (USA and Canada) in a mid range EV.    Travelling by motorcycle or an EV are significantly different than road trips with our Sierras and Silverado's.  However we can still enjoy our beautiful countries by road even though changes in how we do so need to be/are imminent.  I look forward to going all electric as the pros far outweigh the cons to the best of my understanding. 

If you really believe in man made global warming. And don’t mind personal sacrifice. There’s probably trains that are already hitting some of the spots you want to go. Your carbon footprint would be zero. Me I don’t believe in (man) made climate change. I choose the CRV for trips because it’s cheaper without much sacrifice. The research I’ve done with all things considered. Electric vehicles aren’t all that. Hybrids are. The power plants around me are natural gas and coal. Every time I venture past some local wind farms they ain’t turning. 

[Donstar]

I don't treat man's contribution to global warning as a belief.  I thought his was proven several decades ago.  I remember explaining global warming to my dad when he'd leave his new '70 Ford Galaxie idling for 30 minutes while he had his breakfast!  The idea that people are still doubting our impact on the planet fifty years later impedes progress.

[KARNUT]

24 minutes ago, Donstar said:

I don't treat man's contribution to global warning as a belief.  I thought his was proven several decades ago.  I remember explaining global warming to my dad when he'd leave his new '70 Ford Galaxie idling for 30 minutes while he had his breakfast!  The idea that people are still doubting our impact on the planet fifty years later impedes progress.

You’re old enough to know in the 70s. There was an ice age coming! Oh noooo! Then global warming. Now it’s climate change. 20 years ago my brother showed me an article about oil reserves. About the time the experts were claiming we’re running out! Oh no! The article stated old wells were producing again. This was before fracking. Believe what you want it’s a free country. Well for the time being in Canada anyway. Hopefully for a little longer here too. I don’t believe the all mighty world creat a world so fragile. Buy science says so, yea ok.

[customboss]

Exxon before it was combined with Mobil wrote in depth papers on greenhouse gas forming issues from their hydrocarbons. That paper is now available but was published and hidden by Exxon in mid to 1970’s but don’t let facts I interrupt “belief”.