1. Tinii wrote 6 months ago

   Would you buy an electric car if you could?

2. 

   clagnut replied 6 months ago

   Nope. I'm not convinced of the benefits to the environment. Obviously there are no immediate emissions from the car, however there are certainly emissions involved in generating the electricity on which the car runs.

   And don't get me started on hybrids... many diesels are more fuel efficient than the Prius.

3. 

   james replied 5 months ago

   Yep. This supplier http://www.stevensvehicles.co.uk for example has good detail on benefits. Obvious to recharge from renewable electric supplier. Hybrids have been inefficient due to being unable to charge externally, so batteries recharged via the petrol engine. In future chargeable hybrids will make sense, for example for carrying trailers or for long trips. Best to share cars among neighbours.

4. 

   doctoral replied 5 months ago

   One also has to look at the overall efficiency of the complete energy cycle of the machine. It is easy to assume that the national grid is an efficient way to transport energy from large centralised power stations to the point of use. However this is far from the case. The same applies to the efficiency of batteries which are not 1005 efficient. Also, they have a limited life; think about how quickly the batteries in your personal gadgets degrade or if you've kept a car for a reasonable length of time how many times you've changed the starting battery, now imagine a battery many tens of times larger, that has to be recycled at the end of its life.

   An electric car may be an efficient and ecological choice if there is excess electricity available that needs to be stored or lost. As James pointed out a renewable energy supplier is essential. However this does not necessarily mean that electric cars for all is a sustainable solution.

   This is a very quick overview on what is a very complicated subject, as are all discussions regarding sustainable living.
   Smart betting is to plan for a limited to no car future.

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