Charge your Volt at a "Smartlet".

[HoosierRon]

Originally Posted by gerardo_zg

I have a question. What's the main source of electrical energy in USA?

The main source of electricity in the USA is coal from the USA.

Glad you asked! Your question further illuminates our need to get off our addiction to foreign oil and again rely on USA energy supplies.

[jkennedy293]

Now we just have to figure out a way to keep non-EVs out of these spots.

[FenwickHockey65]

Originally Posted by jkennedy293

Now we just have to figure out a way to keep non-EVs out of these spots.

Awesome. Even more parking tickets!

Someone said this a very long time ago on here, but could there be a possibility to use the Volt as a generator if the electricity goes out?

[LARSONEM]

I still don't get the electric vehicle. The North American International Auto Show this year was all about hot plug in cars. We burn coal and natural gas to create electricity for the most part in this country. Yes this gets us off foriegn oil. But what does it do for our environment? We still add pollution to the air and heat to the atmosphere as there are emissions as a by product from burining these fuels. A truely green car, would have the ability to regenerate through braking, minimizing the need to recharge via a plug in alone. We are headed in the right direction, but we aren't there yet and need to keep thinking on a better solution.

[CaptainDan]

Originally Posted by gerardo_zg

I see, so there it goes the enviromentalist argument of electric cars. As for buying oil from people that hates you, I couldn't care less.

This post makes no sense to me.


I realize that you may not care about the "political" aspects of foreign energy dependence, and that's fine. You may not care about the "environmentalist" aspect either. That is also fine. But all he really wanted to know was "why do you ask?" And you ARE rather vague on that.

Your question regarding the source of electric power generation would seem to be argumentative, but you give no argument. He tried to answer your argument not knowing what your argument actually was. I must admit, since you would seem to rule out any environmental, or foreign energy dependence issues, just what reason might be left.

[CaptainDan]

Originally Posted by LARSONEM

I still don't get the electric vehicle. The North American International Auto Show this year was all about hot plug in cars. We burn coal and natural gas to create electricity for the most part in this country. Yes this gets us off foriegn oil. But what does it do for our environment? We still add pollution to the air and heat to the atmosphere as there are emissions as a by product from burining these fuels. A truely green car, would have the ability to regenerate through braking, minimizing the need to recharge via a plug in alone. We are headed in the right direction, but we aren't there yet and need to keep thinking on a better solution.

An electric power plant produces less heat, is more efficient, and cleaner (yes, even if it's burning coal) than the equivalent thousands of internal combustion engines running around.

And most of these hybrids and pure electric cars proposed do indeed have regenerative braking.

So, it would seem that we are indeed "there" and, one would assume, will only continue to improve. We don't need to wait for the perfect solution to come along (if it ever does). It is always the right time to "head in the right direction".

[Saturn69]

Originally Posted by scout62

They had plug in stations at CostCo when the EV1 was around, never saw them get used.

Yes, but GM is planning on making more than 1,000 Chevy Volts (there were only 834 EV1's built, total), they are planning on 50,000 in the first year alone. Also, don't bash GM for the EV1 not being so commonplace. It has a lot to do with us, the Government, battery technology, fuel prices...not just GM. Watch "Who Killed the Electric Car?", it'll show it wasn't just GM but Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Ford who dropped the ball. As did we.

Here are the pre-quals to get an EV1:

1. It was available only at two locations in the entire world.
2. It was not for sale, you could only lease it.
3. An income over $100,000 was required to qualify for a lease.
4. To qualify for a lease, you had to pass a written test.
5. After qualifying, you may or may not be granted a car lease.
6. You had to live within 50 miles of one of the two dealerships.
7. You had to wait a year to get one.

Again, GM is building the Volt, not as a blackmail payment by CARB, but because it makes good business sense to do so. The charging ports will be used this time around.

[member12]

Someone could trip on that wire causing a potential lawsuit or a volt with key marks in the side.



I think it's a good idea still if these smartlets are positioned in the correct places. It might be a better idea to start at public parking garages where people are not parallel parked and there is no foot traffic in front of the car.

Then of course, there is the heat issue and fire hazzards with these batteries....I wouldn't want to park next to a charging Volt until I am sure it won't ignite.

[johnny smallblock]

Originally Posted by gerardo_zg

I see, so there it goes the enviromentalist argument of electric cars. As for buying oil from people that hates you, I couldn't care less.

Imported oil poses the following problems:
1. burning oil is bad for the environment
2. the money spent on the oil leaves America; which is an economic negative
3. as oil resources grow scarce or more expensive, we are likely to be drawn into expensive armed conflicts over supplies, endangering American lives (I'm purposely phrasing this as a future event b/c I don't want to get into a debate about Iraq)

Buring coal does nothing to solve problem #1 (and may make it worse), but does solve problems 2 and 3. And as Meatloaf said...

[Saturn69]

Originally Posted by gerardo_zg

I have a question. What's the main source of electrical energy in USA?

Sigh. Such a tired, old argument. 46% coal. Yes, it can be dirty, but it's far easier to regulate emissions on 10,000 smokestacks than on 320,000,000 tailpipes. And, those coal-fired plants run 24/7, not just when you turn the lights on to go pee at 3 in the morning so in essence, we are wasting that coal that they use at night. There is no perfect solution here, and to bash coal over environmental reasons is stupid in light of the damage that gasoline powered cars do, not to mention the very, very unclean process of drilling, pumping, transporting (Exxon Valdez, anyone?), refining and ultimately burning oil in our cars. Get a grip, don't be namby-pamby. Do you propose we walk? And your comment about not caring about buying oil from people who hate - and have killed about 10K of us so far, since the 60's - is just plain assinine and ignorant of the world in which we live.

[ronald mcretard]

Originally Posted by LARSONEM

I still don't get the electric vehicle. The North American International Auto Show this year was all about hot plug in cars. We burn coal and natural gas to create electricity for the most part in this country. Yes this gets us off foriegn oil. But what does it do for our environment? We still add pollution to the air and heat to the atmosphere as there are emissions as a by product from burining these fuels. A truely green car, would have the ability to regenerate through braking, minimizing the need to recharge via a plug in alone. We are headed in the right direction, but we aren't there yet and need to keep thinking on a better solution.

You have just made the argument FOR electric cars. They help to free us of foreign oil, while spurring the development of alternative energy. And they WILL have regenerative braking, but you can't get all of the energy back that way, just some (see 1st law of thermodynamics). Plus, the environmental benefits are there from the start because power plants are easier to make clean than cars (see CaptainDan's post).

[Saturn69]

Originally Posted by member12

Someone could trip on that wire causing a potential lawsuit or a volt with key marks in the side.



I think it's a good idea still if these smartlets are positioned in the correct places. It might be a better idea to start at public parking garages where people are not parallel parked and there is no foot traffic in front of the car.

Then of course, there is the heat issue and fire hazzards with these batteries....I wouldn't want to park next to a charging Volt until I am sure it won't ignite.

Then perhaps they should walk on the sidewalk and not in the gutter. What the hell happened to this Country? Did IQ's just drop sharply in the last 25 years?

[jwrebholz]

Coal-fired power plants are STILL more energy-efficient than your average internal-combustion engine.

What the EPA needs to do now is close the loophole that allows coal plants to completely remodel their facilities without installing modern pollution controls.

[Hurricane]

Originally Posted by gerardo_zg

I see, so there it goes the enviromentalist argument of electric cars. As for buying oil from people that hates you, I couldn't care less.

Don't worry, the USA is on it!

http://www.fossil.energy.gov/program...ems/cleancoal/

Clean coal technology" describes a new generation of energy processes that sharply reduce air emissions and other pollutants from coal-burning power plants.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the U.S. Department of Energy conducted a joint program with industry and State agencies to demonstrate the best of these new technologies at scales large enough for companies to make commercial decisions. More than 20 of the technologies tested in the original program achieved commercial success.

The early program, however, was focused on the environmental challenges of the time - primarily concerns over the impact of acid rain on forests and watersheds. In the 21st century, additional environmental concerns have emerged - the potential health impacts of trace emissions of mercury, the effects of microscopic particles on people with respiratory problems, and the potential global climate-altering impact of greenhouse gases.

With coal likely to remain one of the nation's lowest-cost electric power sources for the foreseeable future, President Bush has pledged a new commitment to even more advanced clean coal technologies.

As the President said in presenting his National Energy Policy to the American public on May 17, 2001, "More than half of the electricity generated in America today comes from coal. If we weren't blessed with this natural resource, we would face even greater [energy] shortages and higher prices today. Yet, coal presents an environmental challenge. So our plan funds research into new, clean coal technologies."

Building on the successes of the original program, the new clean coal initiative encompasses a broad spectrum of research and large-scale projects that target today's most pressing environmental challenges.

The Clean Coal Power Initiative is providing government co-financing for new coal technologies that can help utilities meet the President's Clear Skies Initiative to cut sulfur, nitrogen and mercury pollutants from power plants by nearly 70 percent by the year 2018. Also, some of the early projects are showing ways to reduce greenhouse emissions by boosting the efficiency by which coal plants convert coal to electricity or other energy forms.

In January of 2003, eight projects were selected under the first round CCPI solicitation, of which two were withdrawn. Of the remaining six projects supported by the first round of the CCPI, three projects are currently in the operational phase, two are in the construction phase, and one is still in the pre-award phase.

In October of 2004, four projects were selected from the second round CCPI solicitation. One project has since been withdrawn. The remaining three projects are in various stages of development. Two of these projects will demonstrate advanced IGCC technology, while the third will demonstrate a neural-network control process for advanced multi-pollutant controls by means of plant optimization.

A third round CCPI solicitation will focus on developing projects that utilize carbon sequestration technologies and/or beneficial reuse of carbon dioxide.

[Hurricane]

Originally Posted by member12

Someone could trip on that wire causing a potential lawsuit or a volt with key marks in the side.



I think it's a good idea still if these smartlets are positioned in the correct places. It might be a better idea to start at public parking garages where people are not parallel parked and there is no foot traffic in front of the car.

There have been outside plug-ins for years in the northern Great Plains for engine block heaters. I don't think this will be much of an issue...

A more important concern is the power consumption required by plug-in hybrids or electrics - I like the idea of "meters" suggested by another poster - neat idea!