Posted by Carl, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on May 3, 2008 at 8:43 pm
a resident,
Have you consulted an engineer about your new-found freedom from oil?
How many solar panels (in square meters, and considering the current efficieny) will you need to power your new Tesla? Are you willing to support nuclear power to drive your new car? Perhaps new dams on wild rivers? More wind generators on wild ridges (killing birds of prey)? More coal-burning power plants?
How much are you willing to pay to be free from oil dependency?
Posted by Green Giant, a resident of the Professorville neighborhood, on May 3, 2008 at 10:51 pm
Food for thought
this is something - these people hate the oil business in the same way radical vegetarians hate human existence.
Dude you would not have a pot to pi$$ in if it were not for oil.
The truck that brought the bread
the fuel for the fork lift to move the bread
The plastic bag on the bread
the ink on the label on the bag of bread
the electricity to heat the oven
the lubrication for the mixer that made the dough
the electricity that runs the mixer to make the dough
the fuel for the tractor to harvest the wheat
the fertilizer for the fields to grow the wheat
the electricity to run the water pump for the fields to grow the wheat
my you oil haters hate life - you need to really think things though.
oil is part of life it is why we don't live in caves.
BTW - I could care less if you drive around town in your little electric car with your nose high in the air. Because I know exactly what type of elitist you really are. As soon as you hit your 120 mile range you will hop directly into your ICE powered vehicle to head off to starbucks.
Posted by Walter_E_Wallis, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on May 4, 2008 at 3:16 am
Baker Motor Vehicle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Baker Motor Vehicle Company was a manufacturer of Brass Era electric automobiles in Cleveland, Ohio from 1899 to 1914. The Baker factory was located on Euclid Avenue.
The first Baker vehicle was a two seater with a selling price of US$ 850. One was sold to Thomas Edison as his first car.[1]
Posted by Walter_E_Wallis, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on May 4, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Nobody killed the electric car - it has survived where it has been accepted for its unique strengths. With the advent of better motors and controls, mechanical and hydraulic transmissions may well be replaced with electrical in the same manner as the diesel-electric locomotives. I visualize a plug-in battery car with a trailer hitch for a generator for long trips. If you wqnt electric cars, demand they be allowed to compete in the market, don't try to improve their chances by crippling the competition, as is done now.
Posted by joe, a resident of Stanford, on May 4, 2008 at 3:01 pm
when the teslas batteries burst into flames in someones garage and destroy a multi million dollar building the bloom will be off the rose for this car permanently.
It will be like the explosion of the hydrogen zeplin in NJ.
Property owners will not allow teslas in their buildings, they will be restricted from using tunnels, ferries etc
The fact is the telsa batteries have a fundamental flaw and we are a good 2 years away from solving that flaw by inventing a new type of battery
Posted by Walter_E_Wallis, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on May 4, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Probably true, Joe. The layperson seldom appreciates the consequence of releasing 200 miles worth of driving energy in 10 seconds. It is more vigorous if it is electrical rather than chemical. I learned long ago to not wear rings and wristwatches when working around batteries.
Posted by Rick, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on May 5, 2008 at 12:20 am
You think batteries are dangerous, how about Hydrogen? A leak in any of the parts of hydrogen filling station or car hoses, pipes would be much worse, wouldn't it?
Fuses in a battery sys could limit the damage if a short occurs. or electronic circuitry to do the same.
A hydrogen filling station or a hydrogen car could be like the zeplin.
Do people who are p romoting hydrogen really know what happens when hydrogen and air or oxygen combine?
Posted by Walter E. Wallis, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on May 5, 2008 at 2:40 am
A piping system safe for natural gas will often leak hydrogen dangerously. A fuse can protect against an external short, but my concern is with the internal short, such as might happen when the battery is damaged. Gasoline is a comparatively safe energy source that we have learned to cope with.
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