Intimidating Drivers

[houstonscott]

Hauling batteries around will never be efficient or desirable or clean. You pollute more just happens somewhere else.

HS

 

[greasemonkeyok]

Hauling batteries around will never be efficient or desirable or clean. You pollute more just happens somewhere else.
HS

I don't have any data to back it up, but I agree with HS.

A battery is just a container for energy generated somewhere.

 

[dgl24087]

My only issue with Prius drivers in my neck of the woods is that they seem to all drive in the left lane at 45 mph, especially on I-81.

 

[MossRoad]

I don't have any data to back it up, but I agree with HS.

A battery is just a container for energy generated somewhere.

Ahh, but you don't understand the Pruis. You never plug that model of Prius in. It charges the battery from the engine and regenerative braking as you drive. The battery then gives the electric motor power to help with starts and accelleration, thus saving gas. It attempts to recover as much lost energy and store that in its battery until needed. The model of Prius that we are discussing is all about using that gallon of gas to the fullest potential. And that's why HS is not taken seriously here. He keeps making statements that are not accurate about this model of Prius.

Did you know this about the Prius? Are you starting to understand how it works now? The lightbulb is coming on. The sky is opening up. The angel music is playing and you should be having an ah-ha moment right about now, just like anyone else (me included) who starts to get it. It truly is an efficient car that does not get its batteries charged somewhere else by some other source of fossil fuel. It is a gas powered car. Not an electric car as you and I used to think of electric cars.

I hope that clears some things up for you. It did for me.

 

[greasemonkeyok]

Ok Moss, your observations about the Prius versus a pure electric vehicle are correct. I was seduced by his sophistry.

BTW, a form of the so-called hybrids have been routinely used in this country for nearly a hundered years.

 

[brain55]

If you drive within the proper parameters you can get the most out of your hybrid too. I can consistently get 2 mpg better than my wife in her Camry because I'm more aware of how it works and how to get the most out of it. Slow take offs, coasting more, getting up to speed and backing out of the throttle, using cruise control, etc.

Brian

 

[Midniteoyl]

Ahh, but you don't understand the Pruis. You never plug that model of Prius in. It charges the battery from the engine and regenerative braking as you drive. The battery then gives the electric motor power to help with starts and accelleration, thus saving gas. It attempts to recover as much lost energy and store that in its battery until needed. The model of Prius that we are discussing is all about using that gallon of gas to the fullest potential. And that's why HS is not taken seriously here. He keeps making statements that are not accurate about this model of Prius.

Did you know this about the Prius? Are you starting to understand how it works now? The lightbulb is coming on. The sky is opening up. The angel music is playing and you should be having an ah-ha moment right about now, just like anyone else (me included) who starts to get it. It truly is an efficient car that does not get its batteries charged somewhere else by some other source of fossil fuel. It is a gas powered car. Not an electric car as you and I used to think of electric cars.

I hope that clears some things up for you. It did for me.

Not to get in this... but - Energy is energy. Whether is comes from burning coal or burning gas (which was refined, using energy) you have used the same amount to charge those batteries. Actually more due to resistance, friction,motor, and battery losses. The end result is a net increase in energy use.

 

[dave1949]

Not to get in this... but - Energy is energy. Whether is comes from burning coal or burning gas (which was refined, using energy) you have used the same amount to charge those batteries. Actually more due to resistance, friction,motor, and battery losses. The end result is a net increase in energy use.

Recaptured energy (regenerative braking) is energy too, it just isn't being 100% wasted in the form of heat dissipation.

The ultimate clean and cheap energy source is the sun. When battery technology reaches the point where quick charge transfers can take place, higher storage capacity, etc., batteries charged from solar panels or wind turbines will convert solar energy to motive energy. Battery research and development is not standing still, the costs of climate change are driving this effort, however indirectly.

It is short-sighted to assume that batteries are, or can be, only charged by burning a fossil fuel somewhere other than in an engine. It just ain't so. At current solar PV prices, it is easy to achieve equivalent fuel costs of 50 mpg in an EV. The technology is not even half-mature yet.

 

[dieselcrawler]

This thread got so far off track from the OP.

Reguardless of the brand... being in a small car, or truck (think S-10/Ranger/Tacoma) can feel intimidated.

We have 5 kids and one more on the way if all goes well. We need the seating that our 8 passenger Excursion gives us. We also regularly make use of it's trailer towing abilties. The diesel moter gets better fuel mileage than the equivilently powered gas model and performs well. Bottom line is that a small car doesen't work for us... wife and I both like our trucks and are willing to pay the cost assocciated with driving them.

I have driven lifted big tired trucks for 20 years... not because I am small but because I simply like them. So does my wife. So do our kids. Normal driving in a lifted truck likely SEEMS agressive to drivers in compact vehicles even if it is not blatantly so. I have spent enough time behind the wheel of compacts to know that I prefer the safety of 7000 lbs plus of my trucks when impact with another vehicle is involved.

Bottom line is to each their own... be it vehicles tractors guns or religions...

Take care out there... be safe.

 

[greasemonkeyok]

Recaptured energy (regenerative braking) is energy too, it just isn't being 100% wasted in the form of heat dissipation....

Elevator mechanisms have done that for a long time also. DIscharge on the way up, recharge on the way down.

 

[Midniteoyl]

Recaptured energy (regenerative braking) is energy too, it just isn't being 100% wasted in the form of heat dissipation.

The ultimate clean and cheap energy source is the sun. When battery technology reaches the point where quick charge transfers can take place, higher storage capacity, etc., batteries charged from solar panels or wind turbines will convert solar energy to motive energy. Battery research and development is not standing still, the costs of climate change are driving this effort, however indirectly.

It is short-sighted to assume that batteries are, or can be, only charged by burning a fossil fuel somewhere other than in an engine. It just ain't so. At current solar PV prices, it is easy to achieve equivalent fuel costs of 50 mpg in an EV. The technology is not even half-mature yet.

Didnt say only from fossil fuel.. Was just answering the post I quoted and in that context.

 

[dave1949]

Didnt say only from fossil fuel.. Was just answering the post I quoted and in that context.

Sorry, no offense intended.

 

[Midniteoyl]

Sorry, no offense intended.

Just clearing it up.. no worries.

 

[turnkey4099]

Elevator mechanisms have done that for a long time also. DIscharge on the way up, recharge on the way down.

But there are losses. The recharge never even comes close to replacing the energy that was used.
Some is better than none though.
Harry K

 

[buickanddeere]

Some people don't pious waddle dorks clogging the roads with their environment saving vehicle who are traveling slower than the rest of the traffic.

 

[Midniteoyl]

But people in gas guzzlers traveling slow are ok :thumbsup:

 

[buickanddeere]

Quote Originally Posted by dave1949 View Post
Recaptured energy (regenerative braking) is energy too, it just isn't being 100% wasted in the form of heat dissipation.

The ultimate clean and cheap energy source is the sun. When battery technology reaches the point where quick charge transfers can take place, higher storage capacity, etc., batteries charged from solar panels or wind turbines will convert solar energy to motive energy. Battery research and development is not standing still, the costs of climate change are driving this effort, however indirectly.

It is short-sighted to assume that batteries are, or can be, only charged by burning a fossil fuel somewhere other than in an engine. It just ain't so. At current solar PV prices, it is easy to achieve equivalent fuel costs of 50 mpg in an EV. The technology is not even half-mature yet.

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I don't know why some people think there are still great advancements in batteries yet? There is a max amount of energy that a battery can store per pound of battery and that is it. There is no way to engineer a battery to do the equivalent of pouring 25 gallons of gasoline into a 5 gallon tank.
Rapid charging and rapid discharge is limited by heat. Forget about low cost reliable battery banks that can be rapid charged in the time it takes to pump 20 gallons of gasoline.
Don't go thinking there are technological breakthroughs in solar panels just around the corner either. 10 square ft of solar panels flat on a car roof isn't going to charge very much either. Ever look at the dismal performance of the light weight solar go-karts the students build for cross country races.
Solar panels and wind turbines? Obviously the eco renewable energy wizards do not ask about the impact of solar and wind turbines on the national power grid. Last time I checked people drive in the daytime and park at night. Where is your solar charging? Wind power is unreliable and must be backed up with gas, coal or hydro-electric.
An electric car owned and used by a well paid engineer who owns tools,resides on a rural estate having solar panels and a wind turbine is one thing. Joe above average $45hr living in a small town or city is another matter with an eco vehicle is another. Then there is Joe average $25hr living in rural areas and must travel longer distances on lower quality roads.
If you want clean energy. Use abundant natural gas and convert it to methanol via nuclear steam.

 

[cqaigy2]

This isn't an intimidation thing, but sometimes while at a stop, waiting for traffic to clear, a bigger vehicle will pull up beside you just a little past you as to block your view of on coming traffic. Now i know from experience when driving my truck, i can usually see over most smaller vehicles so i don't need to pull up past them and into their line of sight.

 

[buickanddeere]

But people in gas guzzlers traveling slow are ok :thumbsup:

I'm not fussy for anybody clogging the highway by traveling less than the average flow of the traffic. They are a safety hazard disrupting the flow.

 

[troutsqueezer]

If I had known how much the Prius would wind up bugging a lot of people, I would have bought two of them. That's how I roll.

TripleR nailed it: Sometimes we just see what we expect to see.