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As long as we don't find a battery technology providing as much energy density as gasoline, electric cars will only be a fad with no real economic advantage. R

by wynch 9y ago

As long as we don't find a battery technology providing as much energy density as gasoline, electric cars will only be a fad with no real economic advantage. Regarding climate change and CO2 emissions, electric cars fail too : making the car AND producing the electricity to run it still produces way to much CO2. (most electricity still comes from coal) If I had to make a bold prediction : in the future, individual cars (running on gas or electricity) will be rare !

aeleos 9y ago
The thing is batteries don’t need to have even close to the energy density of gasoline in order to be competitive. As long as cars keep being terrible at actually making use of the energy density of gasoline, batteries won’t need to keep up. However, energy density is a legitimate complain about batteries, but it’s unreasonable to compare to gasoline.
karthikb 9y ago
> most electricity still comes from coal Highly dependent on location. At the end of 2016, CA was is less than 5% usage and 0.2% production of coal powered electricity. Many other places are following as well.
- wynch 9y ago
  Look at the broader picture. I'm talking about world consumption (http://www.tsp-data-portal.org/Breakdown-of-Electricity-Generation-by-Energy-Source#tspQvChart http://www.tsp-data-portal.org/Breakdown-of-Electricity-Gene...) Fossil fuels (coal, gas - on which CA depends for more than half its electricity production BTW) represent more than 60% of electricity produced worldwide.
jhayward 9y ago
> most electricity still comes from coal This is not true anywhere in the US, and use of coal is in decline everywhere.
- wynch 9y ago
  As it is not true in France where I'm from. Still, when you look at the picture at the 'planet' level, taking into account the big 'giants' whose consumption per capita has yet to reach our western standards - say China, India - Coal is STILL the 1st source for electricity worldwide (source : http://www.tsp-data-portal.org/Breakdown-of-Electricity-Generation-by-Energy-Source#tspQvChart http://www.tsp-data-portal.org/Breakdown-of-Electricity-Gene...) It's consumption is deacreasing worldwide, sure...Maybe because resources of coal are in decline ? It's still the 1st resource to produce electricity, with 40% of electricity produced. (electricity is only one part of the energy we consume...)

by wynch 9y ago

aeleos 9y ago

The thing is batteries don’t need to have even close to the energy density of gasoline in order to be competitive. As long as cars keep being terrible at actually making use of the energy density of gasoline, batteries won’t need to keep up. However, energy density is a legitimate complain about batteries, but it’s unreasonable to compare to gasoline.

karthikb 9y ago

> most electricity still comes from coal Highly dependent on location. At the end of 2016, CA was is less than 5% usage and 0.2% production of coal powered electricity. Many other places are following as well.

wynch 9y ago
Look at the broader picture. I'm talking about world consumption (http://www.tsp-data-portal.org/Breakdown-of-Electricity-Generation-by-Energy-Source#tspQvChart http://www.tsp-data-portal.org/Breakdown-of-Electricity-Gene...) Fossil fuels (coal, gas - on which CA depends for more than half its electricity production BTW) represent more than 60% of electricity produced worldwide.

jhayward 9y ago

> most electricity still comes from coal This is not true anywhere in the US, and use of coal is in decline everywhere.

wynch 9y ago
As it is not true in France where I'm from. Still, when you look at the picture at the 'planet' level, taking into account the big 'giants' whose consumption per capita has yet to reach our western standards - say China, India - Coal is STILL the 1st source for electricity worldwide (source : http://www.tsp-data-portal.org/Breakdown-of-Electricity-Generation-by-Energy-Source#tspQvChart http://www.tsp-data-portal.org/Breakdown-of-Electricity-Gene...) It's consumption is deacreasing worldwide, sure...Maybe because resources of coal are in decline ? It's still the 1st resource to produce electricity, with 40% of electricity produced. (electricity is only one part of the energy we consume...)