They like to say that they're zero-emissions because they have no tailpipe, but that's not entirely true. I've seen this car's tailpipe. It's down off Harding Street; you can't miss it.
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Saturday, June 21, 2014
Coal Powered Car!
Seen at the corner of Thirtywhatth and What:
Double the smug output because a Th!nk City is not just electric, it's a locavore car! (American market ones were made in Elkhart.)
They like to say that they're zero-emissions because they have no tailpipe, but that's not entirely true. I've seen this car's tailpipe. It's down off Harding Street; you can't miss it.
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They like to say that they're zero-emissions because they have no tailpipe, but that's not entirely true. I've seen this car's tailpipe. It's down off Harding Street; you can't miss it.
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A friend of mine works for TVA.
ReplyDelete3 tons of coal to charge a Nissan Lief.
The owner probably thinks electricity is produced from unicorns on a giant hamster wheel.
ReplyDeleteBuck,
ReplyDeleteThe owner (a University hospital) probably thinks they get great tax breaks and good PR from operating a plug-in fleet vehicle.
Talked to a guy here in the KC metro - also heavily dependent on local coal-fired power plants - who had a Nissan Leaf; he called it his "steampunk car" for that very reason.
ReplyDelete:P
On a more serious note: Once the Obama EPA's new regs on coal power take effect, most of those trendy little electic golf carts will become lawn ornaments, because there won't be enough power in the grid to keep 'em charged. So I hope the greenies enjoy 'em while they can...
--Wes S.
The Coal industry has an incredible political power base. Its also for the most part rather ruthless. Pres. Obama's even spouted the "clean coal" mantra frequently. That stuff's not "clean" its washed with water, creating further long term pollution to make it all shiny. Greed and ruthlessness all in the quest for unlimited electricity...
ReplyDeleteNow that I have the Matrix to reduce my expenditure on dead dinos as its price skyrockets I want to see if I can trade the 2003 Dodge Ram on an all mechanical diesel truck.
ReplyDeleteI can run it on veggie oil pretty easy.
My big argument with "Electric cars are the clean future!" people:
ReplyDelete"Where's the power going to come from?"
'You have an outlet in your garage.'
"But where is the power to charge them going to come from?"
They either can't understand the problem, don't want to, or truly believe that if everyone just freezes a bit in winter and broils in summer it'll all even out...
Around here those things are charged by hydro-electric power... Which means they KILL SALMON!1!!
ReplyDeleteSocialized pollution.
ReplyDeleteTaking smog from the Los Angeles basin and redistributing it to Salt Lake City, Fairbanks, AK and Macon, Georgia.
Having arrived in Indy on Thursday, I was reading the Indy (red) Star and saw an editorial written by some IU prof of some fake* -ology. In it he advocated for the shutting down of the Harding street plant. I sure hope he enjoys shivering in his mudhut in the winter.
ReplyDelete*- Any non-hard science, like sociology, gender/race/ethinic studies and the like.
All the coal powered cars around here must come from the factory with Elizabeth Warren, Obama, and "War is not the Answer" bumper sticker because they all seem to have them.
ReplyDeleteSport Pilot:
ReplyDeleteAre you kidding? Obama's EPA has been shutting down coal fired plants as fast as they can force it to happen. No new ones are allowed to be built. Coal doesn't seem to have any muscle today. And, since Congress almost never rescinds this sort of political action, they're gone. Guess we can stop worrying about overloading the grid, now. We won't have enough power to strain it's aging system.
I wonder when the coal mines will start shipping to China?
And don't forget about all the nasty chemicals and toxic metals that make up the batteries in these things. They don't last forever and disposal is an issue (as are the $ to replace).
ReplyDeleteAw, but no cool steampunk detailing! *pout*
ReplyDeleteThen again, what do I know? I drive a subaru that's lacking the essential Alaskan options. Did you know Subarus came without a roof rack with a kayak, or a cargo net keeping the dog in the back?
Gonna have to fix that...
Coal also puts more radioactive waste product into the air than nuclear. But Big Coal and Little Barry don't want you to know that.
ReplyDeleteTam,I should have looked closer. So unicorns handing out taxes breaks?
ReplyDeleteJust got back from the Farmer's Market, which is in the parling lot of the local mall, proximate to Sears.
ReplyDeleteSears has several car charging stations set up, where the handicap parking spaces should be. (I'll leave that straight line for someone else...)
As we walked byW, Mrs. Drange wondered aloud "I wonder how long those have been there?", and, noting that they were all empty, I added "And how long before they get torn out for negative return on investment?"
FWIW: I have a Nissan Leaf and absolutely love it, like it or not, it's the wave of the future. Also, FWIW, I'm about as right-wing politically as anyone, FAR from a tree hugger.
ReplyDeleteNuclear power is one answer, and believe it or not, electric cars, if they're in widespread use, can make solar and wind power viable. There's no technical reason that my Leaf couldn't be made to put power back IN to the grid, thus smoothing the power from those intermittent sources.
And of course, electric cars can be set up to charge during off-peak times, when the power companies have excess electricity available.
Geeze, even Harley-Davidson is exploring electric power for their bikes. Zero to 60 in about 4 seconds. (!)
For about fifty miles.
DeleteThey need to be nuclear powered.
ReplyDeleteSaw one of those things driving down the road a week or so ago. Didn't realize it was an electric. The styling and big glass back window made me think of a somewhat mid-to-low-end kitchen appliance. Which I suppose is ok if that's what you want your car to be, but for me...it's a big ball of meh.
ReplyDeleteJim, I have no problem with electric cars; I have a big damn problem with the idiots who seem to think that millions of electric cars aren't going to need power generated somewhere to charge the damn things. And refuse to entertain the idea of ANY new powerplants, especially nukes.
ReplyDeleteAlso, saying 'charge them during off-peak times' only works when there are off-peak times; when you've got a bunch of people trying to charge their cars, that's gone. Californicated has been trying to deal with this the last couple of years, the idiots who insisted that 'There must be 'X' percent non-polluting cars by 20-whatever' having finally been awakened to the fact that plugging in that many electric cars to charge is going to screw their grid in various ways.
Firehand,
ReplyDeleteYou'll get no arguments from me. When it comes right down to it, many (most?) of those idiots are really anti-everything... except for them, of course.
In the meantime, with the price of fuel, the thing I bought as a toy is looking more and more like a very wise choice. Costs less than $.04/mile to drive. My VW generally gets used only 1 day/week.
I've not owned a vehicle that was this much fun since the CJ-5, back in 1968. Excepting motorcycles, of course.
So, it's the current day version of this?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BF6YHaHLVrs