From: bqueiser@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Brian J Queiser)
Subject: Re: impact is dead
Organization: The Ohio State University
Date: Wed, 30 Dec 1992 18:44:10 GMT

Larry.Mc.Donald@ofa123.fidonet.org writes:
> bqueiser@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Brian J Queiser) writes:

>> There are people that believe in EVs no matter what the price.  They
>> are the true "eco-freaks," blinded by some passionate fixation to save
>> the planet at any cost.  I'm sorry for being so inflammatory, but my
>> comments weren't necessarily aimed at this audience.

>   Horseshit.  If your comments weren't aimed at this audience, why
>did you post them here?

Maybe the expression, "monkeys always look" is applicable here.  Can I
not refer to the crowd outside rec.autos?

>   People won't accept EVs because they have been brainwashed
>into thinking they can't be used.

Brainwashed by oil companies, auto manufacturers, and Hitler, right?
Yep, they're all in on it.  Right now they're shelving those high-capacity
batteries next to those 100 mile carbs.

>                                           Most EVs have a range of 100
>miles or so. How far do you travel to work?

25 miles one way.  That includes dropping my wife off at work.  With
travelling and misc. driving, I average 22,000 miles a year.

>                                             I drive a total of 6
>miles a day, to work and back.

You should walk.  Or bike.

>                                Yeah, I can see where I'd need a
>300 mile range, in case I got lost.  My IC car costs about $2 a
>day to drive. When I had an EV, it was about $.25. Plug it in
>once a week and that's it. How about forgetting about the
>ecological reasons to drive an EV and consider just how much
>money you'd save?

How do you figure your IC car costs $2 to drive 6 miles?  Do you get
4 mpg or something?  What are you driving?  A Diablo?  Gasoline at
$1.25/gal and a car that gets 20mpg costs only $0.38 a day; still greater
than $0.25 (if we can believe that) but far less than $2.  A Geo Metro
would cost you only $0.15 a day.

>   The only reason I don't drive it now is I had to move to a
>apartment that has nowhere I can plug it in. When I get back into
>a house (soon, I hope) I'll have an EV again.

>   I wonder if there is a single person who is against EVs that
>ever owned or drove one?  Uninformed opinions are sure easy to
>come by...

I've driven a golf cart many times.

And if you think my opinion is uninformed, you are seriously mistaken.
You also have no right to assume so from your safe terminal across the
country.  I read the Columbus Dispatch and The Wall Street Journal
daily.  I read at least 6 car magazines, 7 trade journals, and 3 society
magazines a month.  I read this newsgroup.  I talk to other professors,
students, and engineers.  If you had half a brain in your head, you'd
also realize that I listen to the likes of you.  I think I'm a decently
educated, and fair person, as are the rest of us in this newsgroup.  None
of us are above learning and accepting something as fact, but all of us
require a complete, systematic analysis of subjects like EVs.

All I hear from proponents of EVs is how efficent they are, how cheap they
are to operate, how they reduce or eliminate emissions, and how stupid the
rest of us are for driving ICE vehicles.  Your "80%" EVs are a fantasy when
you look at the efficency of power plants, transfer lines, substations,
and current battery technology.  EVs may be somewhat inexpensive to operate,
but so are good old push-rod V8s.  There is extreme debate over whether
EVs reduce emissions at all, some believe they could actually aggravate the
problem or just transfer it somewhere else.  EVs don't remove the old
clunkers from the road that are spewing out the majority of the crap anyway.
Fossil fuels will last us much longer than most think because there's
reserves that haven't even been tapped yet and some geologists think that
the oil/gas may actually be able to replace itself.  Even if they don't,
there's the possibility of widespread solar power and alternative fuels.
Don't forget about cold fusion or smaller, safer fision reactors.  Given
time, all these things will develop nicely.  Today's engines burn cleaner
and give us better and better mileage.  What we need are better urban road
systems, less traffic, and better public transportation.  We don't need
knee-jerk reacting, ill-informed, lobby motivated, desperate politicans
telling us or our companies what to do.

You and others may have differing opinions on these subjects, and you
certainly have the right to have them.  You can also go out right now and
buy a stripped out Fiero or Festiva that has been made into an electric
car.  But before you force a manufacturer to sell 2% (or whatever) of their
vehicles as zero emission (which right now, essentially means electric powered)
you better make damn sure it's a good idea.

I say it isn't.

That's my humble, informed opinion, which is always open for revision.

Regards,

Brian

bqueiser@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am the engineer, I can choose K.
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Department of Engineering Mechanics
Ohio State University
Columbus, OH
Newsgroups: rec.autos