Radio 2 - Discussion on electric cars.

[bob1179]

Just listening to Radio 2 online and it appears they are going to discuss Top Gear and their test of the Nissan Leaf electric car.

I usually switch off when Jeremy Vine comes on as his show annoys me but I think I'll hang on for this as it may prove interesting, no doubt all the lentilists will be out in force but lets hope there is some interesting discussion.

[roachcoach]

They were right on the (TV) show imo, batteries are not the way - fuel cells are required.

[Chrisw666]

I like the idea of them, I just need convincing I could actually use one with the same ease I can use a fuel burning car.

[bob1179]

I have to agree, I can't see battery powered electric cars in their current iteration being viable. The cost of the cars alone is astronomical even with the government discount.

Technology is moving on, but it still has some way to go.

[thinfourth2]

Not even i'm going to listen to radio 2 to here about electric cars

Unless they are using one to drop on that vine idiot

[paulrockliffe]

You need to ignore the 'Government' discount, if the technology is viable and everyone buys one, the £5k discount will cost us all £10k in tax.

You need to ignore the price per mile because if everyone buys one we don't have the electricity generating capacity to cope, so electricity prices will rise a hell of a lot. And it will need to be taxed as if it were petrol.

You need to ignore the green credentials as burning coal to create electricity to charge a battery to drive a motor generates a lot of CO2 and is pretty inefficient.

Problem is if you remove all that from the equation, you're not left with very much.

[BoRED S2upid]

Update us on the debate im sure they will have some proper eco nutter saying electric cars are the way forward when clearly they are not. Im not near a Radio.

What suprised me was the battery packs needed changing every 5 years at a cost of £7000! thats like replacing the engine or your normal car every 5 years utter nonsence!

[Digga]

paulrockliffe said:

You need to ignore the green credentials as burning coal to create electricity to charge a battery to drive a motor generates a lot of CO2 and is pretty inefficient.

The power losses through the distribution system - electricity pylons - are massive too, and rarely factored into these 'cod science' debates.

[bob1179]

I actually work in the power generation industry and I am very aware that currently the UK has barely enough capacity to power itself as it stands today. To increase demand by making everybody drive electric cars would leave us with a very large power generation shortfall.

[BoRED S2upid]

bob1179 said:

I actually work in the power generation industry and I am very aware that currently the UK has barely enough capacity to power itself as it stands today. To increase demand by making everybody drive electric cars would leave us with a very large power generation shortfall.

On windy days we have lots of free energy...

[thinfourth2]

bob1179 said:

I actually work in the power generation industry and I am very aware that currently the UK has barely enough capacity to power itself as it stands today. To increase demand by making everybody drive electric cars would leave us with a very large power generation shortfall.

It would help if we switched off that Vine idiot and Moyles

[CoopR]

There are two (2!) official charging points in the entire north of Scotland. One in Aberdeen and 1 in Inverness

Range of a Nissan leaf = 80-100 miles.
Distance from Aberdeen to Inverness = 104 miles.
Distance from Aberdeen to Edinburgh = 120 miles

Should you buy an electric car in Aberdeen, YOU WILL BE STUCK HERE FOREVER!

[Perra]

paulrockliffe said:

You need to ignore the 'Government' discount, if the technology is viable and everyone buys one, the £5k discount will cost us all £10k in tax.

It's a new technology, the cars are not really mass production. So subsidies are needed. These won't last long.

paulrockliffe said:

You need to ignore the price per mile because if everyone buys one we don't have the electricity generating capacity to cope, so electricity prices will rise a hell of a lot. And it will need to be taxed as if it were petrol.

Everyone isn't going to buy one though are they? And neither will everyone go out tomorrow and get one. It will be an evolution, at an increased predictable rate, this means improvements to infrastructure will be in line with this.

paulrockliffe said:

You need to ignore the green credentials as burning coal to create electricity to charge a battery to drive a motor generates a lot of CO2 and is pretty inefficient.

What's your opinion on Hydrogen?

[Hooli]

CoopR said:

There are two (2!) official charging points in the entire north of Scotland. One in Aberdeen and 1 in Inverness

Range of a Nissan leaf = 80-100 miles.
Distance from Aberdeen to Inverness = 104 miles.
Distance from Aberdeen to Edinburgh = 120 miles

Should you buy an electric car in Aberdeen, YOU WILL BE STUCK HERE FOREVER!

If your stupid enough to buy one we don't want you able to escape south, we've got enough idiots of our own

[bob1179]

thinfourth2 said:

It would help if we switched off that Vine idiot and Moyles

I can sense you don't like Jeremy Vine.

[MX7]

CoopR said:

Should you buy an electric car in Aberdeen, YOU WILL BE STUCK HERE FOREVER!

Perhaps if we classified them as Neighborhood Electric Vehicles, as they do in the US, people would understand that they are not a direct replacement for conventional cars, but can still serve a particular role.

[alangla]

Digga said:

he power losses through the distribution system - electricity pylons - are massive too, and rarely factored into these 'cod science' debates.

Is it any worse (%age wise) than the amount of energy used to drive a train from the refinery to the local fuel depot then a tanker from the depot to the petrol station & back again?

[bob1179]

Perra said:

What's your opinion on Hydrogen?

Unfortunately hydrogen isn't really viable as an energy source, as although it is the most common element in the universe it exists in tiny amounts as a gas in our atmosphere. To take it out of water requires putting in more energy than you get out.

[Scuffers]

bob1179 said:

Perra said:

What's your opinion on Hydrogen?

Unfortunately hydrogen isn't really viable as an energy source, as although it is the most common element in the universe it exists in tiny amounts as a gas in our atmosphere. To take it out of water requires putting in more energy than you get out.

exactly, it's either a very expensive battery or you strip hydrogen out of oil/gas (at which point what exactly have we gained?)

[Perra]

bob1179 said:

Perra said:

What's your opinion on Hydrogen?

Unfortunately hydrogen isn't really viable as an energy source, as although it is the most common element in the universe it exists in tiny amounts as a gas in our atmosphere. To take it out of water requires putting in more energy than you get out.

Shush you! haha

I was waiting for him to tell me Hydrogen Power was the best thing ever since sliced bread. As the people that seem to support Hydrogen also seem to come up with the classic lines of "How is the infrastructure going to cope?" and the old "Where are we getting the electricity from in the first place?", basically fossil fuels will run out, if we do not use an alternative, I'm fully aware they are not practical for everyone, but they are practical for some people, so that's a start.

If someone kind find a way of producing petrol infinitely and cheaper than it is now, I'm all for it, but we have to be realistic.