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China's E-Buses Dent Oil Demand More Than Electric Cars Do (bloomberg.com)

China's fleet of electric buses appear to be denting oil demand more than electric cars. "By the end of this year, a cumulative 270,000 barrels a day of diesel demand will have been displaced by electric buses, most of it in China," reports Bloomberg, citing a new report published by BloombergNEF. "That's more than three times the displacement by all the world's passenger electric vehicles (a market where Tesla has a share of about 12 percent)." From the report: Despite rapid growth, the impact on the oil market from electric vehicles remains relatively small. Collectively, buses and electric vehicles account for about 3 percent of oil demand growth since 2011, and 0.3 percent of current global consumption, according to BloombergNEF figures and data from the International Energy Agency. Buses matter more because of their size and constant use. For every 1,000 electric buses on the road, 500 barrels of diesel are displaced each day, BloombergNEF estimates. By comparison, 1,000 battery electric vehicles remove just 15 barrels of oil demand.

Still, the EV market's impact on oil consumption is only going to grow. By 2040, electric vehicles could displace much as 6.4 million barrels a day of demand, while fuel efficiency improvements will erase another 7.5 million barrels a day, according to BloombergNEF's May 2018 long-term EV outlook.

148 comments

  1. Or you know, build trolley busses by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No dangerous batteries, no need to poison the planed when batteries crap out, no need to strip mine for the rare earth elements in the batteries

    1. Re:Or you know, build trolley busses by Sique · · Score: 1
      Trolleybusses a) need a temporary shutdown of the roads until the wires are put up, c) need complicated wiring at crossings, and especially at central bus stops, level crossings with streetcars and electric trains and c) are not very flexible when it comes to rerouting compared with diesel busses.

      Purely battery operated busses have the same freedom of motion than diesel busses, and can act as 1:1 replacement, which makes the barrier of entry extremely low.

      --
      .sig: Sique *sigh*
    2. Re:Or you know, build trolley busses by religionofpeas · · Score: 1

      And you can still make quick charge circuit at places where buses stop.

    3. Re:Or you know, build trolley busses by Arnold+Reinhold · · Score: 1

      Trolleybusses a) need a temporary shutdown of the roads until the wires are put up, c) need complicated wiring at crossings, and especially at central bus stops, level crossings with streetcars and electric trains and c) are not very flexible when it comes to rerouting compared with diesel busses.

      Installing Trolleybus wiring isn't particularly disruptive. The wiring on our local trolleybus (MBTA 73) was removed a few years ago for a major road rebuild and later replaced without much fuss. Also battery operated busses have to be taken out of service periodically and parked somewhere for recharging and they have to carry very heavy battery packs, which increases their energy consumption. You are right, trolleybuses are less flexible, but that lack of flexibility can be an advantage in encouraging transit-oriented development.

    4. Re:Or you know, build trolley busses by Sique · · Score: 1
      You can recharge the buses during off-peak hours, e.g. during the night. A standard bus has an average speed of about 20-25 mph, thus during an 8 hrs shift, it travels about 160 to 200 miles. Battery packs with 250 miles capacity thus are mostly sufficient for a city bus.

      It's even less for buses that are only running during peak hours, which normally go from 6 am to 10 am and again between 3 pm to 7 pm. Those buses can drive for 4 hrs, being recharged during noon and be back in service in the afternoon. With some intelligent schedule, you can recharge each bus twice a day without interupting normal operation.

      --
      .sig: Sique *sigh*
    5. Re:Or you know, build trolley busses by cheesybagel · · Score: 1

      The overhead wires are ugly. That alone means they won't be used in a lot of places.

    6. Re:Or you know, build trolley busses by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      Honestly, there is a place for trolleybus and electric bus. This shouldn't be an either/or, this should be a "what works best in a given scenario".

      An old established set of town that is stable (not growing/shrinking or changing much) a trolleybus might be ideal. It's a highly predictable route without much change in demand plus the aesthetic might be better in those locations; especially if tourists around. Tourists love the nostalgic feel of trolley buses.

      Another ideal place for trolleys would be to link an airport with a train station or metro. A short static route that isn't going to change much.

      Where electric buses might be superior to trolleys would be in growing cities, or cities that are undergoing rapid change. Suburbs, places with seasonal changes to transport needs, small towns or for longer commutes- perhaps even intra-city trips where there isn't rail links

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    7. Re: Or you know, build trolley busses by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fuck off Spiderman

  2. nice by zlives · · Score: 1

    good for them.

    1. Re:nice by nonBORG · · Score: 0

      How many extra tonnes of coal are burnt to charge these things? Not that it matters too much as reducing dependence on oil is a multi stage undertaking and probably better to throw extra demand to the electricity grid so it is worth upgrading (financially coal may be better than oil anyway from a national point of view.)

      --
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    2. Re:nice by zlives · · Score: 2

      meh china is also building worlds biggest solar farms.

    3. Re:nice by Zocalo · · Score: 4, Informative

      Some of the largest wind farms too. They have eight of the world's ten largest onshore facilities, including all of the top five. Sure, China still uses a LOT of coal, but they're also provisioning renewable power far, far, faster than anyone else.

      --
      UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
    4. Re:nice by AHuxley · · Score: 0

      China selects the lowest cost of energy. That can be a lot more new coal. Its not all solar.

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      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    5. Re: nice by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That can be a lot more coal, you know, if they slapped massive taxes on solar. But we are talking about China here, not our dear leader Herr Toonces and his land of MAGAnaughts!

    6. Re:nice by stooo · · Score: 1

      That's only the beginning. BEV will capture more over 50% of the bus and delivery vehicle market share in 3 years globally.
      While those crazy European cities are still ordering ICEd busses, what a huge mistake.

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      aaaaaaa
    7. Re:nice by Sique · · Score: 1

      Even with coal plants, the total energy efficiency of electric cars is better than for diesel cars, as the coal plant doesn't experience that many partial-load situations as a diesel car (it's different with trains, as they travel longer distances without stop and don't experience that many traffic-jams with stop-and-go). And with each clean-up of electricity generation, all electric cars automatically get that clean-up too without any additional work on the cars themself, while each progress in clean-up for diesel cars is postponed until the cars are replaced or retrofitted. Also, technology to carbon sequestration or similar can easily be built into coal plants, but not in diesel cars. Thus it directly helps electric cars, but not diesel cars.

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      .sig: Sique *sigh*
    8. Re:nice by religionofpeas · · Score: 1

      The stop-and-go driving from city buses also benefits from regenerative braking, whereas diesel motors are at their dirtiest when pulling away from a stop. As an extra benefit, electric buses reduce particulate pollution in populated areas.

      And, if the battery is big enough, you can do most of the charging in off-peak hours, allowing plants to run at higher efficiency.

    9. Re:nice by cheesybagel · · Score: 1

      A lot of European cities already have electric (for shorter routes) and natural gas buses (for longer routes).

  3. And the petrodollar? by Krishnoid · · Score: 3, Informative

    By 2040, electric vehicles could displace much as 6.4 million barrels a day of demand, while fuel efficiency improvements will erase another 7.5 million barrels a day, according to BloombergNEF's May 2018 long-term EV outlook.

    So what influence will this have at that point and into the future on the value of the US dollar, or that portion of the USD's value as the exchange currency for oil?

    1. Re:And the petrodollar? by rtb61 · · Score: 0

      Well for a start the year of real cost is wildly delayed. It will be far quicker and there will be quite a precipitous fall off at one point.

      There existing fuel delivery market needs a high number of vehicles to function at current retail prices. The fewer the number of fossil fuel consuming vehicles, the greater the impact of the cost of servicing those vehicles become. As service stations get less vehicles through, they have to charge more to continue to be viable and this spreads through the whole system.

      The fewer the number of fossil fuel vehicles the greater the price has to be to service them and service stations with low demand will shut down, spreading them further and further apart, creating greater inconvenience to fuel vehicles. As service stations shut down, so supply costs to them must increase. So the costs of running a fossil fueller will increase even as demand for oil falls off reducing it's price.

      It is real hard for fossil fueller vehicles to compete against electric vehicles refuelled at home overnight, TAX FREE (when you have solar panels and batteries) and as fossil fuel running costs increase and resale become more and more problematic, there will be a real crunch point, a real bad year and if you have not dumped your fossil fueller by them, you will be hard pressed to sell it to junk yard as replacement parts for other vehicles idiots are desperate to keep on roads because they just have to be dicks making noise and generating pollution.

      They are simply lying about the expected crunch date, bullshitting with a smooth transition, which will simply not happen. Just like when the time came, horses were turned into glue, so fossil fuellers will be turned into scrap metal and much closer to 2030 than 2040.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    2. Re:And the petrodollar? by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      you will be hard pressed to sell it to junk yard as replacement parts for other vehicles idiots are desperate to keep on roads because they just have to be dicks making noise and generating pollution.

      Or, you know, because they don't have $30k+ lying around spend on a new EV...and it saves the emissions involved in the production of any new car.

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    3. Re:And the petrodollar? by dryeo · · Score: 2

      A new thing in Vancouver, where many gas stations have shut down as the land is so valuable, is gas delivery. Small tanker trucks driving around in the night, filling up peoples cars. Price is comparable to the gas station as well.
      Industries adjust.

      --
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism
    4. Re:And the petrodollar? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      A new thing in Vancouver, where many gas stations have shut down as the land is so valuable, is gas delivery. Small tanker trucks driving around in the night, filling up peoples cars.

      That's cool in cities, but it won't help people living in the sticks. They're too spread out, and their vehicles aren't conveniently parked along an orderly street. And those are the people who are going to get screwed over. They have the furthest distances to go to get to where they're going, they have the most power outages, and they have the fewest filling stations already.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    5. Re:And the petrodollar? by dryeo · · Score: 1

      Yes, it'll awkward for them. Get large quantities of diesel delivered if wealthy enough or burn something they can make themselves such as wood.

      --
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism
    6. Re:And the petrodollar? by stooo · · Score: 1

      USD is doomed.
      Oil as a transportation fuel is doomed.

      --
      aaaaaaa
    7. Re:And the petrodollar? by Barsteward · · Score: 1

      Buying a second hand EV will be a good place for many to start.

      --
      "The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
    8. Re:And the petrodollar? by knorthern+knight · · Score: 1

      > The fewer the number of fossil fuel vehicles the greater the price has to be to service
      > them and service stations with low demand will shut down, spreading them further
      > and further apart, creating greater inconvenience to fuel vehicles. As service
      > stations shut down, so supply costs to them must increase. So the costs of running
      > a fossil fueller will increase even as demand for oil falls off reducing it's price.

      So, instead of 3 gas stations on the street corner near me, there might only be 2. Big deal.

      --

      I'm not repeating myself
      I'm an X window user; I'm an ex-Windows user
    9. Re:And the petrodollar? by knorthern+knight · · Score: 1

      > That's cool in cities, but it won't help people living in the sticks. They're too
      > spread out, and their vehicles aren't conveniently parked along an orderly street.

      Note that the GP post mentioned gas stations were shutting down because of land costs in cities. This forcing of shutdowns does not apply to rural stations.

      --

      I'm not repeating myself
      I'm an X window user; I'm an ex-Windows user
    10. Re:And the petrodollar? by tarks · · Score: 1

      Fuel efficiency cannot have any effect in 2040 given that we need to be carbon neutral worldwide by 2030 at the latest

    11. Re:And the petrodollar? by mukinrestak · · Score: 1

      With that excellent 2nd hand battery life right?

    12. Re:And the petrodollar? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Note that the GP post mentioned gas stations were shutting down because of land costs in cities. This forcing of shutdowns does not apply to rural stations.

      All of the other issues still apply, so yes it does. Maybe slightly later.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    13. Re:And the petrodollar? by imrahilj · · Score: 1

      I don't see this as a problem, but as a solution. Why should people be living all spread out? Everything is more efficient if you cram people into walkable cities.

    14. Re:And the petrodollar? by imrahilj · · Score: 1

      Heat death of the universe is coming, universe is doomed!

    15. Re:And the petrodollar? by Maxo-Texas · · Score: 1

      It wasn't that long ago that people in the sticks regularly bought a barrel (about 60 gallons) of gasoline at a time.
      That might return.

      --
      She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
    16. Re:And the petrodollar? by Beyond_GoodandEvil · · Score: 1

      Why should people be living all spread out? Everything is more efficient if you cram people into walkable cities.
      Pray tell, where shall you obtain the food to feed all those people living in those efficient walkable cities?

      --
      I laughed at the weak who considered themselves good because they lacked claws.
    17. Re:And the petrodollar? by imrahilj · · Score: 1

      In the cheap farmland made available by the bulldozing of the suburbs. You don't need many farmers out there to feed the city - you could move your farms closer to the city if the cities were more compact, which would result in less waste.

  4. Bussed on the cheek by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

    Gas or diesel buses are, themselves, better than the equivalent number of cars, although I wonder if that considers average ridership on buses. They may be better than 20 cars, but not 2 for an almost empty bus.

    --
    (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    1. Re:Bussed on the cheek by jrumney · · Score: 2

      I would guess that the impact here is influenced by high public transport use and low private car ownership in China compared to Western countries. More buses = more impact when you reduce their emissions. Possibly also, China may be upgrading from an older bus fleet, which is more polluting than the newer buses that are common in Western countries.

  5. Remind me again why we need to be environmentalist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What's the point when the only thing that moves the needle is getting some dirty buses in China off the road?

  6. Buses are bigger than cars, move more people.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm glad to see linear scaling still works, even in a backwards autocratic ethnostate cabal like China...

    1. Re: Buses are bigger than cars, move more people.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Backward autocratic ethnostate? Oh, right, the USA. Silly me, took a moment.

  7. In other news... by ch-chuck · · Score: 0

    Demand for power plant coal is up some - which is easier to control pollution actually .

    --
    try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
  8. Republican faggot is confused. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But then, that's what Republican denialist faggots do best - deny something exists, implausibly and stupidly.

  9. How does this work? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When do you charge them back up?
    As far as I know there is no electric car that can drive for a whole day without charging.

    1. Re:How does this work? by AHuxley · · Score: 0

      Coal power. Then work out the range needed. Then more coal power.

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    2. Re:How does this work? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2018/jan/29/natural-gas-killed-coal-now-renewables-and-batteries-are-taking-over

      Huxsterr you pathetic illiterate faggot, lol.

    3. Re:How does this work? by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      Coal is in use and still selected for new energy production all over China AC.

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    4. Re:How does this work? by Barsteward · · Score: 1

      Bus drivers need lunch/tea/piss breaks and they always go back to the depot at some point on their round trips journeys

      --
      "The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
    5. Re:How does this work? by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      Ours don't. They stop in front of a coffee shop on their route and keep going. Do go back to the depot would be a long trip for one break.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    6. Re:How does this work? by shilly · · Score: 1

      You have to be a special kind of stupid to answer a question about "when" with an answer about "how" -- and even more stupid to get your "how" answer wrong.

    7. Re:How does this work? by shilly · · Score: 1

      For EVs, charge is mainly dependent on the miles driven, not hours driven. Buses are typically fairly low mileage.

      For example, in Shenzen, the deputy general manager at Shenzhen Bus Group says: "Most of the buses we charge overnight for two hours and then they can run their entire service, as the range of the bus is 200km per charge"

      https://www.theguardian.com/ci...

    8. Re:How does this work? by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      Ours don't. They stop in front of a coffee shop on their route and keep going. Do go back to the depot would be a long trip for one break.

      I hope they at least go inside to pee... and don't pee in front of the coffee shop. That would be rude.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    9. Re:How does this work? by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      Let's just say, I don't ever recommend anyone move here.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    10. Re:How does this work? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Bus drivers need lunch/tea/piss breaks and they always go back to the depot at some point on their round trips journeys

      Nope. Drivers can be switched out at a transit station, while the bus keeps on going. The driver doesn't have to go back to the barn.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    11. Re:How does this work? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hope they at least go inside to pee... and don't pee in front of the coffee shop. That would be rude.

      Of course they do. Where do you think this is-San Francisco?

  10. Makes sense, busses use much more fuel than cars by laird · · Score: 1

    Makes sense - a bus gets typically 6 miles per diesel gallon, 5 for gasoline, compared to a car's average of 25 mpg, and the duty cycles of busses is typically 25% or more, vs consumer-owned cars that are typically around 5% utilization, so busses burn about 5x as many gallons per mile driven, and are driven about 5x as much of the day, so each bus converted to an EV would equate to 25 cars converts to EVs, so electrifying busses is a very efficient way to reduce gas consumption. And I bet fleet owners like it, too - EVs have much lower operating costs and lower maintenance costs, which are a big deal for fleets.

    On the flip side, globally there are over 900 million cars on the road, vs perhaps 100 thousand busses, so there's a lot more fuel consumed by cars than busses, so while each car has less impact, they outnumber busses by 9,000:1, so converting all of them to EVs would have a lot more impact.

  11. Or you know, improve the batteries, derp. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Battery tech isn't standing still, Einstein-san. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium%E2%80%93air_battery

    1. Re: Or you know, improve the batteries, derp. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The other thing....this is making the assumption that the buses are replacing cars when they are only replacing more dirty buses.

    2. Re: Or you know, improve the batteries, derp. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      line power requires no down time to recharge, you autistic sperglord

    3. Re: Or you know, improve the batteries, derp. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Relaxing a bus is a lot more valuable than replacing a car.

    4. Re: Or you know, improve the batteries, derp. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Relaxing a bus? Sounds kinky....

  12. Need to assess oil displacement per capita by presidenteloco · · Score: 2

    Conventional diesel buses are already much more efficient than cars.
    A bus emits approximately 1/6 the CO2 per passenger kilometer as does a single-occupant ICE car.

    From that perspective, electrifying cars should give more ghg reductions, in a population where most people are using cars.

    In China, the car use is probably not that high yet, as a proportion of population, so it makes sense that busses are having a bigger oil displacement there. That is not replicable to other car-centric places like USA.

    --

    Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
    1. Re:Need to assess oil displacement per capita by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Wrong, actually China has similar vehicle numbers per working capita. You "probably" don't know anything real about this, or how the numbers actually work - it's about rates of actual adoption, not fantasy optimal lab efficiency, derp.

    2. Re:Need to assess oil displacement per capita by presidenteloco · · Score: 1

      Wait, did I say per working capita?
      No, I believe I didn't.
      I said per capita, which means per person with a head.
      USA 833 moter vehicles per 1000 people.
      China 173 motor vehicles per 1000 people

      I know how numbers work pretty well.

      Per capita is the only fair way to assess GHG emissions policy and progress.

      --

      Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
    3. Re:Need to assess oil displacement per capita by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    4. Re:Need to assess oil displacement per capita by jrumney · · Score: 1

      As of 2012, China's level of motorisation was at approximately 80 passenger cars per 1000 population, a level last seen in the United States in the year 1920 [1].

    5. Re:Need to assess oil displacement per capita by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      citing wikipedia is a sign of unintelligence

    6. Re:Need to assess oil displacement per capita by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In California, there are around 100,000 buses registered for operation as opposed to 14.5 million cars... that's a 1:145 ratio... using the articles own math, there is more barrels of oil to be saved on cars than buses... the article is based on a 1:33 ratio.

    7. Re:Need to assess oil displacement per capita by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, you are wrong. Whether you work or not, you utilize resources, and therefore add to the emissions problem.

    8. Re: Need to assess oil displacement per capita by Malc · · Score: 1

      China has been developing so quickly that quoting 2012 figures is pointless as they will be hopelessly out of date.

    9. Re:Need to assess oil displacement per capita by stooo · · Score: 1

      The thing is:
      USA 120 -> China 2012
      USA 1950 -> China 2020
      USA 1980 -> China 2030

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      aaaaaaa
    10. Re:Need to assess oil displacement per capita by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Not just CO2, it's the soot and other particulate matter. In the UK you can be walking down the steer and a diesel bus pulls up and sprays you with soot, makes your clothes stink and your skin feel grimy. It's disgusting.

      That doesn't happen in many Chinese cities any more.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    11. Re:Need to assess oil displacement per capita by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      First you have to convince everyone in California to buy a vehicle that will only be used around their house.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    12. Re:Need to assess oil displacement per capita by hawk · · Score: 1

      >A bus emits approximately 1/6 the CO2 per passenger kilometer as does a single-occupant ICE car.

      That depends *entirely* on how full the bus is . . .

      The last report I saw locally came out to them emitting more per actual passenger.

      hawk

  13. .. will be renamed to electro-dollar by gDLL · · Score: 1

    .. or e-dollar

  14. Great! More fuel for my plane by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Filter error: You can type more than that for your comment.

  15. China is the global EV leader by Jzanu · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is the true reality of the world. China is the EV leader because it is not tied to the fantasy of AI and self-driving as pre-requisite for emissions reduction. The solution that can be and has been implemented now is to use these EV busses with trained drivers. Then dozens of passengers have greater security and can do anything for leisure or productivity while riding to their destinations.

    1. Re:China is the global EV leader by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Take your meds and go to bed Elon, you have to be in court tomorrow for another SEC violation.

    2. Re:China is the global EV leader by AmiMoJo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      They didn't muck about either. None of this "I need to drive it for 12 hours straight without stopping" or "oh but my cabin in the wilderness with no electricity is range+1 km away, so EVs are totally useless and I need the fossil" rubbish, they just got on and built the vehicles and the massive batteries. The biggest anyone else does is 100kWh, BYD has had busses with 450kWh in mass production for years now.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    3. Re:China is the global EV leader by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Then dozens of passengers have greater security and can do anything for leisure or productivity while riding to their destinations.

      For example stand in an up right sardine like position and sing glory to the emperor?

    4. Re:China is the global EV leader by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Busses, of course, are for a very different set of people than cars. Yes, three times this year I've murdered the environment by driving 450 miles up the state. So no, electric car really isn't going to cut it.

    5. Re:China is the global EV leader by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't think its because they're not tied to AI or self driving. Its much more the point that China as a country can make long term infrastructure decisions that our current government and capitalism just can't right now. Not being apologist for all the bad things about the Chinese government, but they can and do afford to take the long view where we're unable to.

    6. Re:China is the global EV leader by gweihir · · Score: 1

      China is not very innovative or fast here. But the rest of the world is an unmitigated catastrophe. In a world of the incapable, the semi-competent is king. How did the West go so wrong?

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    7. Re:China is the global EV leader by randallman · · Score: 1

      I guess you drove the 900 mile trip without refueling? Is it really so terrible to stop for 30 minutes after 3 hours of driving?

      You know how many times I've stopped to "fill up" the last 3 months? 0. I take 10 seconds to plug in at night and start each day full. 0 time wasted as the gas station. No diesel or gas on my hands or shoes or fumes breathed. How is it you can write off EVs based on 6 30 minute driving breaks, but not write off gas cars for 52 trips to the gas station?

    8. Re:China is the global EV leader by Jeremi · · Score: 1

      China is the EV leader because it is not tied to the fantasy of AI and self-driving as pre-requisite for emissions reduction.

      Heh, no. It's simpler than that. China is the EV leader because they have a population of 1.4 billion people and a centralized/top-down system of government that can (to a large degree) simply declare "okay, we're all going to do this now" and coerce the nation into obeying.

      Combine that with some of the world's worst environmental problems, and presto -- you've got a country making a beeline for EVs.

      --


      I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
    9. Re:China is the global EV leader by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You do realize the poeple that make such complaints are all trolls that don't drive a car in the first place right?

    10. Re:China is the global EV leader by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      I view being forced to stop for 30 minutes every 3 hours as a good thing. Don't want to be hit by someone near the end of their nine hour driving shift and half asleep.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    11. Re:China is the global EV leader by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      You probably shouldn't have a license if that's a case.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    12. Re:China is the global EV leader by shilly · · Score: 3, Informative

      Because you're seeing only what you went looking for. China is a complex place with more than a billion people. There's lots that's wrong about it, and some things that are right. One of the things that's right is that they are making rapid progress on EVs and renewables. Stop whatabouting, you're getting it all over your shoes.

    13. Re:China is the global EV leader by shilly · · Score: 1

      There's also a cultural thing that most Chinese people are a lot less emotionally invested in ICE cars than Americans.

    14. Re:China is the global EV leader by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Is it really so terrible to stop for 30 minutes after 3 hours of driving?

      Yes it is. It's a safety hazard. You should be stopping every 2 hours.

    15. Re:China is the global EV leader by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I take 10 seconds to plug in at night and start each day full.

      Well bully to you for having the option. Not everyone has a place to plug in at the end of the day. Hell, not everyone with a single-family detached house and a driveway has that option.

    16. Re:China is the global EV leader by mjwx · · Score: 1

      I guess you drove the 900 mile trip without refueling? Is it really so terrible to stop for 30 minutes after 3 hours of driving?

      I've driven 1,200 KM in a single day... total trip of 2,289 KM... Having to stop every 3 hours for 4 hours would definitely be terrible.

      Given some of my trips into the wilderness, after 1.5 hours you run out of charging points because then you're off of grid power and wont get back to it for thousands of KM without turning around.

      You know how many times I've stopped to "fill up" the last 3 months? 0. I take 10 seconds to plug in at night and start each day full. 0 time wasted as the gas station. No diesel or gas on my hands or shoes or fumes breathed. How is it you can write off EVs based on 6 30 minute driving breaks, but not write off gas cars for 52 trips to the gas station?

      Not everyone live in Hipster Central. Where I live I'd need a 30 metre extension cord and to leave my house unlocked and open in order to charge a car nightly. Same as most of the other 218,000 others who live in my town which is 45 mins from London.

      More over, if I a mate called me and asked "hey, I've got a spare ticket to see Roger Daltry playing in Newquay tonight, want to come" I'd hate to have to say "Sorry, my half charged car simply cant make it the 240 miles to Newquay" where as my half filled car could.

      If anything, you've demonstrated that EV's are primarily driven by wankers who've got no idea how normal people live.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
    17. Re:China is the global EV leader by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Username checks out

    18. Re:China is the global EV leader by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 1

      If there's a table with a Nazi and ten people talking to him, you got a table with 11 Nazis.

      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    19. Re:China is the global EV leader by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      There's also a cultural thing that most Chinese people are a lot less emotionally invested in ICE cars than Americans.

      Granted, but only because they don't have them. Point of fact, it wasn't that long ago that they weren't allowed to have them. And in between now and then, they were only allowed to have crap ones. Meanwhile, most of them still can't afford a car...

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    20. Re:China is the global EV leader by shilly · · Score: 1

      I'm sure this was both a sequitur and coherent in your own mind, but I can't make head nor tail of it. What a shame to be missing out on the pearls of wisdom you were undoubtedly dispensing

    21. Re:China is the global EV leader by shilly · · Score: 1

      What I was getting at was that most Chinese people aren't particularly emotionally invested in the idea of cars having to have internal combustion engines to be good cars, by contrast with most Americans, who often are. I'm sure if there had been easier access (political, financial) to private cars for the past 30 years or more, then because those cars would have been ICE vehicles, Chinese people would be more strongly emotionally invested than they are today. But because that's not true, they are on average more comfortable about skipping ahead to EV tech than most Americans.

    22. Re:China is the global EV leader by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 1

      You kissing Chinese ass either makes you a paid shill or a panda-hugger. Either way, fuck off, wumao.

      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    23. Re:China is the global EV leader by shilly · · Score: 1

      Your reading of my post as "kissing Chinese ass" suggests you have an absurdly childish view of the world. So in just three posts in this thread, you've shown your childish, unable to string coherent sentences together consistently, and aggressive to people with opinions you don't like. Time to put the internet down, take a look at yourself, and decide if this is really the best you can manage for yourself. It's not a great look.

  16. Ch-Chuck sucks lying cuck-cock. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2018/jan/29/natural-gas-killed-coal-now-renewables-and-batteries-are-taking-over

    Chucksucker you pathetic stuttering lying faggot, lol.

  17. Oil displacement per rider by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Don't know about China, my large US metro area has well less than 10% recovery rate for riders meaning that 90% of the cost of the bus is subsidized by non bus riders.

    1. Re: Oil displacement per rider by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah? Wait until Toonces gets his way here in MAGAland. You will pay double for coal power and be required to do so by law. Oh, and be sure to be home to sign the mandatory purchase of a brand new POS Chevy Cruze you do not want but you must purchase to keep an Ohio factory open.

  18. Re: Remind me again why we need to be environmenta by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Actually, the world's pollution has been significantly moved by insulation, LEDs bulbs, and pollution controls, even water contamination.

  19. Only a surprise if you use MPG by Solandri · · Score: 5, Insightful

    MPG is actually the inverse of fuel consumption. That is, the bigger MPG gets, the less fuel is consumed. This has the effect of exaggerating people's perception of the effect of high-MPG vehicles on fuel consumption. Most people are surprised to learn that upgrading from a 14 MPG SUV to a 20 MPG SUV saves more fuel than upgrading from a 25 MPG sedan to a 50 MPG hybrid. How can a +6 MPG improvement save more fuel than a +25 MPG improvement? Because MPG is the inverse of fuel consumption, meaning a +x MPG delta doesn't represent the same fuel savings throughout the entire MPG range. Say you drive 100 miles.

    14 MPG SUV = 7.14 gallons
    20 MPG SUV = 5.0 gallons
    2.14 gallons saved per 100 miles

    25 MPG sedan = 4.0 gallons
    50 MPG hybrid = 2.0 gallons
    2.0 gallons saved per 100 miles.

    So +6 MPG @ 14 MPG results in more fuel savings than +25 MPG @ 25 MPG. A +x MPG improvement represents more fuel savings at lower MPG than it does higher MPG. The rest of the world measures fuel consumption in liters per 100 km to avoid this problem. That's a direct measure of fuel consumption, not an inverse.

    This means econoboxes are actually the worst vehicle to convert to a hybrid. They already use very little fuel, so the potential fuel savings by converting them to a hybrid is even smaller. And you're spending a lot of money on a hybrid drivetrain for a very small fuel savings. The hybrid SUVs that environmentalists scoffed at are actually the best personal vehicles for converting into hybrids. Likewise, you get the biggest fuel savings when you convert pickup trucks, buses, and tractor trailers to hybrids or electric. Musk understood this, which is why he produced an electric semi-trailer truck. There are roughly 2 million semi-trucks in the U.S. vs 250 million cars. Yet the semi-trucks consume nearly as much fuel as the cars.

    (The same problem affects hard drives and SSDs. MB/s is actually the inverse of how we perceive drive speed. We think of speed in terms of how long we have to wait for the drive to complete an operation. So those multi-GB/s sequential speeds that NVMe SSDs can hit actually make very little difference. They're so fast the operation is completed in the blink of an eye. It's actually the smallest MB/s speeds which make the biggest difference. If your NMVe SSD can only manage 30 MB/s 4k reads, even a small number of small files which need to be read will easily make you wait for a longer time than hundreds of MB of sequential data. If you want a good SSD, ignore the sequential speeds, get something with fast 4k speeds.)

    1. Re:Only a surprise if you use MPG by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are forgetting something. People that buy hybrids drive a LOT. They are driving 20-30K miles per year, so going from 25MPG to 50 saves a ton of gas just by the sheer number of miles. You don't see SUV users driving 30K miles per year like the hybrid users.

    2. Re:Only a surprise if you use MPG by n3r0.m4dski11z · · Score: 1

      Who the heck knows about your freaky american units. My friends hybrid toyota vehicle gets 4L/100km in the city. I get like 12 or 13. So its 3x more efficient than my 20 year old 170hp gas sedan, in the city.

      Yet another reason that the metric system is far far far more intuitive. Language dictates reality and if you have confusing language, its no wonder americans are so confused about things like the proper size of vehicle to drive. At least i know my car is wasting money, and by exactly how much.

      --
      -
    3. Re:Only a surprise if you use MPG by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 1

      uh!oh! Slowdown cowboy! Highly technical terms like blink of an eye to measure the seek time in the hard disks! What next? Going to use cubits to measure the thickness of paper? Or may be go all the way and express speed in furlongs/fortnight?

      --
      sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
    4. Re: Only a surprise if you use MPG by Malc · · Score: 1

      This has nothing to do with metric vs. Imperial (or pseudo-imperial if youâ(TM)re American), but more to do with people who with people who donâ(TM)t accept change and stick with anachronistic systems. Non-metric people could just as easily use a measure of gallons per 100 miles (or US gallons per 100 miles)

    5. Re:Only a surprise if you use MPG by Barsteward · · Score: 1

      I think that'll depend on personal circumstances. If your daily commute is less than 30 miles per day and you plug in your hybrid every night, you'll hardly use petrol.

      --
      "The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
    6. Re:Only a surprise if you use MPG by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      The great thing about EVs is that those inefficient SUVs like the Model X, iPace and eTron all help to push down battery prices for the more efficient models. Unlike the cost of a larger fuel tank which is pretty minimal, battery costs scale fairly linearly with capacity.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    7. Re:Only a surprise if you use MPG by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Leave it to a European to have the point sail clean over their head. The issue with mpg as a metric has nothing to do with the units and everything to do with the direction of the ratio taken. You'd have the same problem if it were km/L over there, and over here you can get all the benefit of L/100km simply by taking 1/mpg * 1000.

  20. Yeah, but we've got coal! by kimgkimg · · Score: 2, Insightful

    That's now money that they can spend somewhere else instead of on oil imports. Meanwhile we're cutting back on support of renewables and clean energy initiatives here in the US in favor of deregulating coal. This is why we're going to be chasing China's lead.

    1. Re:Yeah, but we've got coal! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Coal is just 4th class solid oil.Some people without $USD have to use it otherwise we would have a 1970's petro cartel oil shock.

      Coal can be burnt less efficiently with less pollution, but this means the buyer is throwing money away/wasting thermal extraction. Coal can be burnt with the rubbish waste stream, but this is rarely done.

      Maybe the coal exporters or host countries can incentivise marginally inefficient burning that saves a LOT of pollution. Again another discount for having ash filters installed (and turned on - not in bypass mode).

      Note 1 bbl of oil produces 0.5bbl of WATER/H2O when burnt. This water vapor is a green house gas added to the system that was locked up underground before. Discuss.

  21. Re: Remind me again why we need to be environment by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yes! Unfortunately, we only implemented those things when govt stepped in and used laws to give people a nudge. Yes, LED lighting would save people money, but governments had to ban incandescents to get people to use them. The same may be true of internal combustion engines. The govt should probably start by banning super small ICEs, like in model airplanes. Then later ban larger ones, like those in weed wackers, chain saws, and lawn mowers. Then in a few more years ban non-electric mopeds, then motorcycles, then cars, etc. In this way, the electric motor and battery tech could be slowly rolled out and improved until everything is electric. And economies of scale will bring the cost of everything down.

  22. Call me when China's emissions start going down by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    By some objective measures. I'm sure they can tell lies right up there with the Russians in the meantime.

  23. But how do they CHARGE the Bus? by p51d007 · · Score: 1

    Coal, water, solar, wind, nuclear? Displacing one, usually means generating up for the other.

    1. Re:But how do they CHARGE the Bus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Coal and nuclear plants, have to be revved up and revved down slowly. If peak demand is breakfast and dinner time, the wind down can be used to charge things on the down hill of the shoulder demand.

      China is so efficient, like the Germans, charging will take place at optimum demand periods that consume what would be wasted. In any case, EV Bus has maximum priority.

    2. Re:But how do they CHARGE the Bus? by stooo · · Score: 1

      The only ones going up these days are solar and wind.
      The others stagnate or drop very slightly.

      --
      aaaaaaa
  24. Huxster you pathetic illiterate faggot, lol. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2018/jan/29/natural-gas-killed-coal-now-renewables-and-batteries-are-taking-over

  25. How the electricity is delivered is not described by Streetlight · · Score: 1

    Nothing in the referenced articles note whether the buses are battery operated or use overhead wires for the electricity delivery. The latter situation might be more efficient as the buses wouldn't need to be take out of service to charge the on board batteries or exchange them. Batteries also add weight to the buses and have a limited lifetime thus the cost of using them vs. overhead cables would increase cost.

    --
    In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. George Orwell
  26. Re: How the electricity is delivered is not descri by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Some electric trucks are made so they're battery can be removed and a fresh one put in. Wow..

  27. Re:How the electricity is delivered is not describ by retiarius · · Score: 1

    Intriguing question, with my hometown of San Francisco (900K folks) having
    a multiplicity of delivery types, all sourced from 100% GHG-free
    power from Yosemite-area hydro.

    We have quaint cable cars, the EM motive force then converted to mechanical force.

    We have light rail and traditional trolley streetcars, both sourced with overhead wires.

    We have surface-only buses which started to be petroleum diesel until 2007,
    then B20 biodiesel until 2015, now renewable plant "green" diesel,
    supplemented with hybrid batteries for regen, and now with bigger batts
    for diesel-free "green zones". Note: These will all shift to pure BEV buses
    starting 2025 when the other buses wear out. So the question becomes -- when this
    transmogrification to battery-electric happens, will the overhead trolley
    wires be torn down? I think that would be very natural due to maintenance
    requirements.

    P.S. Then there is also high-speed BART, now competing with Tesla EVs
    which are growing like weeds in this town. In short, SF is blessed this way,
    so take that, coal country!

  28. Re:How the electricity is delivered is not describ by Streetlight · · Score: 1

    It's been a long time since I visited San Francisco, but, if I remember correctly, many, if not most, of the buses were electric using overhead wiring. They were pretty quiet and there was no smoke coming from a non existent tail pipe. Not sure the input energy source for the cable cars, but I'm guessing electricity. Cable cars are not likely an important transportation source, but they're nice for tourists.

    --
    In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. George Orwell
  29. Re:How the electricity is delivered is not describ by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    It's been a long time since I visited San Francisco, but, if I remember correctly, many, if not most, of the buses were electric using overhead wiring.

    SF has the second-most trolley buses in service in the western hemisphere (behind Mexico City), but they're less than a majority. They have approximately 300 trolley buses, and 500 diesels.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  30. Re:How the electricity is delivered is not describ by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    Batteries also add weight to the buses and have a limited lifetime thus the cost of using them vs. overhead cables would increase cost.

    That depends on routes, and number of buses. The catenary wire system has to be built and maintained. Trains can pick up the catenary wires themselves with a simple scissor lift system, but buses have to be able to move side to side, so the contactor arms have to be connected to the wires manually. I'm sure you could make that system robotic, but at the moment that's not how it's done. (How much would that cost, how reliable could you make it, etc.) It therefore really only makes sense to use trolleybuses where there are many buses making many trips. Modern trolleybuses do have onboard battery, but it's only intended for use in emergencies.

    For trains, you can reasonably use a hybrid catenary/battery system — plugging in when the trains are in the yard, and charging from the overhead lines as system capacity allows, operating from the battery in between segments where you have overhead power.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  31. Re:How the electricity is delivered is not describ by stooo · · Score: 1

    Batteries cost less than wires.
    Also batteries are less ugly.

    --
    aaaaaaa
  32. You are totally ignorant as always by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Look it up.
    Per person America uses more coal powered electricity than China.
    Hint: because America uses so much more electricity per person.
    There is a reason your CO2 footprint is twice that of a Chinese person.

  33. Don't make up numbers like WindBourne just check by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Search engines are a thing now. https://www.statista.com/stati... California by itself has 100k busses... https://www.bloomberg.com/news...

  34. And yet their CO2 is 1/2 yours by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You use twice the CO2 as a Chinese person. Why not clean up your own house first.

  35. Re:How the electricity is delivered is not describ by Barsteward · · Score: 1

    I think you can take it they mean battery operated otherwise they'd not be refer to cars as part of the discussion. Batteries will be recycled and yes, they are heavy - its all been factored into the equations. No need to take them out of service to charge as they all return to the depot at some point during the day especially when the driver has to have lunch and as the battery will not be fully discharged at that point, it won't take long to put enough charge in to finish the day. Once you get the idea that EVs are not run from full to empty like you do with ICE, then it makes sense i.e. put it on charge when you get out of the car (if you can). There are also some countries putting charging plates at each bus stop so it get a charge while passengers do their thing.

    --
    "The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
  36. Re: Remind me again why we need to be environment by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

    LEDs did not save energy globally, people just ended up using more of them.

    --
    Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
  37. "dent" oil demand. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What's that in English? Seeing as the word "dent" appears right after the word "e-buses" and is therefore likely to be taken to mean 'physically crash into and damage'. Cretinous Americans.

    By the way, there is no such thing as 'catastrophic man-made global warming'.

    www.climatedepot.com
    www.wattsupwiththat.com

    1. Re:"dent" oil demand. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Please, the nature and behavior of climate doesn't depend on your economic ideology.

      (let me guess it's libertarian capitalist corporate boot licker strike breaker "fuck you I got mine" let's spend one billion to deny 10 million in wrongly claimed welfare but tax fraud is good)

      The problem with conspiracy theories is they are true. But not too many of them. I propose these statements about a selection of conspiracy theories and I think I can reasonably assert this is the definitive absolute truth :

      - True : the governments of France, UK and the US allied with the terrorists in Syria in order to destroy the country
      - False : the Jews are responsible for 911
      - True : the DNC rigged the primary election
      - False : pizzagate
      - True : Iraqi WMD did not exist
      - False : a gigantic cabal of researchers made up global warming/climate change

  38. Re:How the electricity is delivered is not describ by shilly · · Score: 1

    They're BEVs, not trolley cars.

  39. Call me when America's are not double China's by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Clean up your own backyard first LynnwoodTosser.

  40. Try again LynnwoodLoser by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Try again LynnwoodLoser.

  41. China must have by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Some really crappy non-efficient diesel buses to begin with.

  42. Any environmental benefit? by walterbyrd · · Score: 1

    Maybe we need to have that little talk - you know: about where electricity comes from.

    If the electricity comes from a diesel, or worse yet, coal plant, then I doubt there is any environmental benefit.

    1. Re:Any environmental benefit? by godrik · · Score: 2

      Maybe we need to have that little talk - you know: about where electricity comes from.

      If the electricity comes from a diesel, or worse yet, coal plant, then I doubt there is any environmental benefit.

      While that's a good question I disagree with you. It is a lot simpler to have particle filtering at the plant rather than in many buses.
      Also it makes your energy consumption depend on the grid which gives you a choice of burning diesel, or natural gas, or use a renewable when it is there.

      Of course there is some loss in transport and battery storage, but you have also a gain of efficiency because it is simpler to have one efficient plant than 1000 efficient buses engines.

  43. Re:Makes sense, busses use much more fuel than car by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

    Makes sense - a bus gets typically 6 miles per diesel gallon, 5 for gasoline, compared to a car's average of 25 mpg, and the duty cycles of busses is typically 25% or more, vs consumer-owned cars that are typically around 5% utilization, so busses burn about 5x as many gallons per mile driven, and are driven about 5x as much of the day, so each bus converted to an EV would equate to 25 cars converts to EVs, so electrifying busses is a very efficient way to reduce gas consumption. And I bet fleet owners like it, too - EVs have much lower operating costs and lower maintenance costs, which are a big deal for fleets.

    On the flip side, globally there are over 900 million cars on the road, vs perhaps 100 thousand busses, so there's a lot more fuel consumed by cars than busses, so while each car has less impact, they outnumber busses by 9,000:1, so converting all of them to EVs would have a lot more impact.

    The problem is, whereas communities may be thoughtful and conscientious; individuals are selfish and less thoughtful. It's easier to get cities to flip to electric than people. It has to happen eventually, and the environment will be better for it- but people suck!

    --
    "That's the way to do it" - Punch
  44. Price is set by the most expensive barrel of oil by Maxo-Texas · · Score: 1

    Even a small drop will lower prices significantly because it's the barrel that costs $60 to pump that sets the price, not the billions of barrels that cost $15 to pump.

    This sets up an interesting feedback loop since electric cars are an *awesome* deal at $4 gasoline and $0.11/kwh electricity but not so great at $2 gasoline and $0.11/kwh (much less the $0.28/kwh it is in some countries).

    So plug in electric vehicles (PUV) lower the cost of gasoline thereby making themselves less attractive.

    Of course as internal combustion engines (ICE) lose their network effect, they will become more expensive. Service stations will be less profitable with fewer ICE cars on the road. And I think within 10 years,you'll be looking at some insane ranges for electric cars (like 400-500 miles) which mostly will charge overnight at homes and hotels, and at work, and while shopping. As they become less profitable, gasoline stations will need to charge more per gallon to cover their monthly base costs.

    OTH, at least one electric vehicle company (Audi?) wants to put recharging on a subscription basis with a base cost per charge that is ridiculously high that makes their electric cars much more expensive (about $750 per year) to operate.

    --
    She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
  45. lul wut mate? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh come the fuck on! Most people are not driving the Dakkar Rally and I highly doubt you even are. You drive the entire length of Britain from top to bottom on a regular basis and you aren't a lorry driver? GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE!