Roll_Tide! asked:
Would electric cars not be worse for the environment? We do not have enough power plants on the grid to plug in that many cars.
Would electric cars not be worse for the environment? We do not have enough power plants on the grid to plug in that many cars.
Tags: Coal | Electric Cars | Electric Prices
March 31st, 2009 at 5:39 am
That’s a very good point. Much of our electricity comes from burning coal, which supposedly causes global warming (I don’t believe it).
Both coal and oil potentially create massive amounts of energy, but the gas used in our cars is very inefficient. Lots of energy is lost to heat and sound, and other things. Coal is usually used to turn a huge turbine and im pretty sure they are somewhat more efficient than engines.
Prices would definitely rise, but it might be worth it if we didn’t have to pay for gas if they go back up past $4 again.
April 2nd, 2009 at 3:06 am
We would need to build more Nuclear, Solar, and wind plants to support them.
Don’t worry. There will not be that many anyway. Cost, Limited range, and charging downtime will never be accepted by most consumers. They are primarily for some city dwellers that have a lot of money.
April 2nd, 2009 at 3:52 am
Prices for electricity would increase if there is a shortage of low cost electricity.
We would need a dramatic increase in our generating capacity if we were to convert 1/3 of the automobile to electric vehicles.
If the electricity is produced by a coal fired power plant the pollution is merely transported to a different location.
Essentially the pollution has been transferred to the coal fired power plant.
The only reasonably affordable way to increase our generating capacity to handle that many electric cars is with Nuclear Power Plants.
We would need to build approximately 200 nuclear power plants to provide the electricity for that many electric vehicles.
If we did add the necessary capacity to handle that many electric cars, electricity prices should not increase at all.
A nuclear power plant produces electricity at a cost of approximately 3 cents per kilowatt hour.
That is approximately the same as the cost to produce electricity using coal.
The cost of electricity produced by solar photovoltaic cells is approximately 10 times that.
the cost of electricity produced by wind is approximately twice the cost of electricity produced by nuclear power.
Electric cars are an affordable alternative to gasoline powered cars.
A full size electric car can travel approximately 20 miles using 10 kilowatt hours of electricity.
Typical electric utility rates are 7 to 20 cents per kilowatt hour, depending on the utility that you are using.
Even at the high 20 cents per kilowatt hour rate, that is a fuel cost of $2.00 to go 20 miles for a full size sedan, which is very competitive with the cost of gasoline.
Although gasoline has came way down in price in the last few months, that is only temporary.
It wil not be long before gasoline is back up over $4.00 per gallon.
Then electrictiy to run a car becomes very attractive economically.
April 2nd, 2009 at 10:58 pm
simple…i don’t get why people keep talking like coal is the only way to get electricity… we’d just find other ways to generate electricity…geothermal, hydro, nuclear, wind, solar…
plus, even if you did drive electric, your still reducing your carbon footprint. a gas car on average emits 8 tonnes of CO2 into the air IN ONE YEAR. okay, imagine, 8 tonnes, that’s a lot. now imagine enough air to make 8 tonnes. not sure about electric cars, but i do know that plug in hybrids use less electricity than plasma tv’s.
April 6th, 2009 at 6:19 am
electric cars would actually improve the efficiency of the grid, especially as we move to a greater percentage of renewables. By allowing the generators to run at optimum efficiency whenever possible and storing that energy around the grid until there is demand,
eg a car like the Tesla with a 200mile range, but only does a typical 20mile commute/journey has a lot of spare capacity that can be sold back when demand is high. this is called vehicle to grid.http://www.udel.edu/V2G/
this makes small distributed generators very effective, you could put solar panels or a wind turbine on your garage for less than some people pay for leather seats, then never have to pay for fuel again.
April 7th, 2009 at 9:10 am
First off, electric cars are better for the environment than gas cars when most of the electricity comes from coal. And in the US, it’s around 50% from coal, so they’re much more environmentally friendly.
Secondly, studies have shown that the current power grid could charge millions of electric cars with no new power plants as long as they’re charged during off-peak hours, with electricity that’s normally wasted. This could be achieved by creating a smart power grid, as many utilities and cities are currently working on.
And part of Obama’s energy plan is to build more renewable energy plants anyway, which will both make the grid (and charging electric cars) greener and supply more energy.
April 8th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
Two government studies have already shown the power grid has plenty of capacity.
It won’t affect electric rates much because electricity is perishable. The market is literally set second by second. At 11:59 pm on a Sunday, there’s very little demand for power. Prices are low and plants are idle. An idle plant is a total money loss. So the operator of that plant will be happy to spin it up for a few pennies a KWH to recharge your electric car, because that’s a much better price than “total loss”.
At 5:00pm on a Tuesday, yes, expect to pay top dollar to charge your electric car THEN. So don’t. Charge at night. Most likely this will be done for you automatically unless you override it.