I didn't leave out transmission losses, I specifically mentioned them. In the US the energy loss from electrical transmission is about 6.4% overall (down from about 9% in 1960), so not exactly devastating.
The environmental impact of generation is, of course, worst-case with filthy coal. Supplement it with hydro, wind, solar, nuclear and you have a much better scenario. With gasoline, you don't really have a choice - burn some planet-killing hydrocarbons or walk.
As for the battery, that is a problem. But much less than you might think. Li-Ion batteries are ridiculously easy to recycle and as for the weight you must remember that an electric car has very few moving parts. No engine block, no transmission (no pun intended). No need for a carburetter/injection system, clutch, fuel tank, oil sump. All these parts add significant weight to an ICE car as well as being points of failure.
Not sure where you got that 2x weight figure from. Are you aware that a Nissan Leaf weighs 3,354 pounds? A 2012 Toyota Camry weighs 3,190 pounds, or 5% less than the Leaf? That's not cherry picked BTW, just what I could find in limited time. If you can find a reliable source for that double weight claim, please direct me to it.
I fail to see how hazards to line workers comes into this, given that every town in the US already has electricity so far as I know. Perhaps you're referring to the fact that your national grid is extremely poorly maintained and in desperate need of an upgrade *regardless* of whether there is an increase in load due to electric vehicles.
No, the fact of the matter is this is Slashdot, News for Nerds. Most of us here already know these things, or at least have the gumption to do a little research so as to avoid mouthing off claims that are just plain wrong like you did.
The point is for you to go away and learn a bit for yourself, then you'll be more qualified to contribute to this discussion. It's no good us spoon feeding you now, is it?
Right, which immediately removes all the supposed power-saving advantages of e-ink. My reader, a $50 Android tablet, also has a night mode, and redshifts at night so as not to cook my eyeballs.
Plus I can still watch telly on it if I really want.
Tablets peaked about two years ago, when you could get a decent tablet with a high-but-not-insane resolution touchscreen (and S-Pen in the case of Samsung) and you could beam the screen contents to any miricast-compatible TV, projector or dongle.
Now, as more useful features are being removed, there is very little compelling reason to upgrade.
1. No effective labour laws. Factory workers apparently don't need breaks, reasonable pay, sick leave, annual leave, accident insurance.
2. No effective environmental laws. Turns out that countries that are happy to turn their own back yard into toxic sludge are more likely to get manufacturing contracts than countries that aren't quite so happy about the idea.
In short, the west has decided to change manufacturing into Somebody Else's Problem.
Note I said "effective". There are apparently laws that protect both workers and environment in China, but they are completely ignored and not enforced so may as well not exist.
Personally, I stay away from products bearing the "Made in China" warning wherever possible, even if it involves paying a bit more.
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Can I charge my Leaf there, or is this massive vendor lock-in?
Ahem... "steam engine".
The fee itself "will be charged incrementally and cost less than the price of filling up a comparable gas car."
I should bloody well hope so!
In other news, the fees for charging a cell phone will cost less than the price of filling the coal tender behind a stem engine.
Interesting. Do you judge every philosophy by the personal habits of its founder?
Nothing says "useless pedantry" like mistakenly expanding acronyms inline.
"Send me a GIF." "You want me to send you a format?"
"Okay, how about a JPEG." "But I don't know the whole group personally."
Not really. Users who cannot submit almost certainly cannot fork the project.
He's screwed.
Sounds a lot like what they're doing to Minecraft. You can play the Windows 10 version, but then can't play with anyone else.
I didn't leave out transmission losses, I specifically mentioned them. In the US the energy loss from electrical transmission is about 6.4% overall (down from about 9% in 1960), so not exactly devastating.
The environmental impact of generation is, of course, worst-case with filthy coal. Supplement it with hydro, wind, solar, nuclear and you have a much better scenario. With gasoline, you don't really have a choice - burn some planet-killing hydrocarbons or walk.
As for the battery, that is a problem. But much less than you might think. Li-Ion batteries are ridiculously easy to recycle and as for the weight you must remember that an electric car has very few moving parts. No engine block, no transmission (no pun intended). No need for a carburetter/injection system, clutch, fuel tank, oil sump. All these parts add significant weight to an ICE car as well as being points of failure.
Not sure where you got that 2x weight figure from. Are you aware that a Nissan Leaf weighs 3,354 pounds? A 2012 Toyota Camry weighs 3,190 pounds, or 5% less than the Leaf? That's not cherry picked BTW, just what I could find in limited time. If you can find a reliable source for that double weight claim, please direct me to it.
I fail to see how hazards to line workers comes into this, given that every town in the US already has electricity so far as I know. Perhaps you're referring to the fact that your national grid is extremely poorly maintained and in desperate need of an upgrade *regardless* of whether there is an increase in load due to electric vehicles.
No, the fact of the matter is this is Slashdot, News for Nerds. Most of us here already know these things, or at least have the gumption to do a little research so as to avoid mouthing off claims that are just plain wrong like you did.
The point is for you to go away and learn a bit for yourself, then you'll be more qualified to contribute to this discussion. It's no good us spoon feeding you now, is it?
Your homework:
Google internal combustion engine efficiency.
Google electricity generation efficiency.
Google world power transmission loss.
Come back here with your answers, along with a conclusion, when you're done.
If you want to bias your results to soften your defeat, be sure to only consider coal generation.
For extra credit, research the following:
Vehicle emissions per kWh
Coal power plant emissions per kWh
I don't know, but you can be sure the energy dispensed through them will not come from the Middle East.
^ This.
Again, there was no mandate, just an indication of preference.
Non. Binding. Referendum.
To be fair, many other tech sites are joining in these days. Mostly on account of both Apple and Microsoft having gone totally batshit loco.
Slashdot just did it before it was cool.
Well on a geological time scale, yes.
However if one triggers a quake that would have happened some time in the next hundred thousand years then there is some culpability, no?
I doubt anyone would debate such semantics should someone dig too deep at Yellowstone...
Interesting. Can you please link to the policy where he states that?
Thanks.
Okay so tablets do use more power when the screen is on, so the tablet needs to be charged once a week rather than once a, what, month for you?
Tell me again how you can watch multimedia content on your crappy Kindle. Or surf the net without waiting half a second for the screen to refresh.
Does your Kindle auto-scroll? Honest question.
Do you like beer and pizza?
Right, which immediately removes all the supposed power-saving advantages of e-ink. My reader, a $50 Android tablet, also has a night mode, and redshifts at night so as not to cook my eyeballs.
Plus I can still watch telly on it if I really want.
Unless you like to read with your head on a pillow at night. Hard to see a paperwhite screen there.
Tablets peaked about two years ago, when you could get a decent tablet with a high-but-not-insane resolution touchscreen (and S-Pen in the case of Samsung) and you could beam the screen contents to any miricast-compatible TV, projector or dongle.
Now, as more useful features are being removed, there is very little compelling reason to upgrade.
Fibreglass melts rather than burns, but it still leaves a big open cavity for fire to spread.
China has two major advantages:
1. No effective labour laws. Factory workers apparently don't need breaks, reasonable pay, sick leave, annual leave, accident insurance.
2. No effective environmental laws. Turns out that countries that are happy to turn their own back yard into toxic sludge are more likely to get manufacturing contracts than countries that aren't quite so happy about the idea.
In short, the west has decided to change manufacturing into Somebody Else's Problem.
Note I said "effective". There are apparently laws that protect both workers and environment in China, but they are completely ignored and not enforced so may as well not exist.
Personally, I stay away from products bearing the "Made in China" warning wherever possible, even if it involves paying a bit more.
Sadly, all products using the name "Hoverboard" are counterfeit at this point in time.