Tesla unveiled its new Model X all-electric SUV at a Hollywood-style, star-studded unveiling in Los Angeles last night -- and Drive On was there.
There were all the ingredients of a movie-town event: a red carpet, leggy young things in tiny cocktail dresses, top-shelf booze, gourmet fingerfoods, difficult lighting and a techno beat. But in this case, the star moved on four 21-inch cast wheels, the sheen on its skin enhanced by buffed clearcoat rather than cosmetic surgery.
The X has room for seven people in three rows, with the lifted doors easing entry to the rear rows and even allowing a normal-sized adult to stand on the floor (before the door is closed, that is). It holds lots and lots of luggage -- front and back -- in a package that, Tesla hopes, will get the juices flowing for car enthusiasts too.
An X will do zero to 60 mph in a fast 4.4 seconds, Musk promises, unabashedly comparing it to the performance of Porsche's iconic 911, the epitome of the enthusiast's car over its half century of development.
"We want to show that electric cars are in fact better than gasoline cars,'' Musk says.
The new X car won't be in showrooms until 2014, with production slated to begin in late 2013, Musk said. But even so, it's on a fast-track schedule made possible by Tesla's flat-battery platform first used in the Model S, due to hit showrooms by this July.
With two motors, one driving the front wheels and another for the back, the low profile chasis makes it easily adaptable. In the S, you can even order a rear-facing pair of seats in what otherwise is the trunk -- big enough, though, only for children and sub-5-foot adults. (A five-point racing-style harness is required to secure the human cargo back there.)
Tesla, which along with rival domestic startup innovator Fisker have been buoyed by close to half a billion dollars each in federal loans, got a fast start on the new all-electric production car with its Roadster. Tesla claims it can do 0-60 in a headsnapping 3.78 seconds.
The new S and X models will be built in Tesla's Fremont, Calif., plant, a potential boost for the hard-hit state. Depending on how it is equipped, the S can be ordered now for roughly $50,000 to $100,000. No price is set yet for the X but it should be in the same up-scale neighborhood. (Electric vehicles also qualify for tax incentives.)
A beaming Gov. Jerry Brown showed up for the X debut, said he'd take three Teslas and hailed the carmaker as evidence of the "tremendous creativity'' that will lead his state out of its economic morass. Brown mocked himself by using a nickname hung on him in his first political incarnation in the 1970s: "As Gov. Mooonbeam, you know I like rocket ships, and I also like electric cars,'' he said. Tesla's design center is next to a SpaceX rocket-making plant. The startup space transport company and Tesla have taken factory space where Boeing once cranked out jumbo jet components.
An X will do zero to 60 mph in a fast 4.4 seconds, Musk promises, unabashedly comparing it to the performance of Porsche's iconic 911, the epitome of the enthusiast's car over its half century of development. "We want to show that electric cars are in fact better than gasoline cars,'' Musk says.
And then there is this summary from a C/net review:
Quote
...it is a niche car for early adopters. But those early adopters will find a car suitable to drive to work every day while not spending a penny on gas. Engineering types can thrill to the car's statistics, such as the electric motor's 92 percent efficiency, while sporting types will get a kick out of the immense acceleration, if not the cornering. The bottom line is that this car has the most technically advanced power train in a production car today, with greater range and speed than any other electric car on the market.
I bolded the 92% efficiency for a reason. When you consider gasoline powered racing engines - with exotic fuels and all the tricks including super/turbo charging - the mechanical/thermal efficiency of these engines peak at about 34 percent.
Color me extremely skeptical as they still have yet to address their "BRICK" problem.
Quote
Tesla Motors’ lineup of all-electric vehicles — its existing Roadster, almost certainly its impending Model S, and possibly its future Model X — apparently suffer from a severe limitation that can largely destroy the value of the vehicle. If the battery is ever totally discharged, the owner is left with what Tesla describes as a “brick”: a completely immobile vehicle that cannot be started or even pushed down the street.
The only known remedy is for the owner to pay Tesla approximately $40,000 to replace the entire battery. Unlike practically every other modern car problem, neither Tesla’s warranty nor typical car insurance policies provide any protection from this major financial loss.
And to think you got a grip, look at yourself your lips are like two flaps of fat, they go front and back and flappityflappity flap
I've had about eight ... maybe 10 laptops in the last 15 years and you know, I've never had a battery on one of them totally and completely fail.
That said, I'm sure there is someone out there whom, if I had a telsa roadster, would think about sneaking into my yard and arc the battery in an effort to just cost me money thinking such an action justified on political grounds.
Yep, Mo, we got dat libral, said Bubba, his pointed white hood pointing to the southern sky.
And yes, then homeowners - particularly if you had a rider - would cover that eventuality because who really expects to run across such dolts anywhere - especially here.
but if a telsa is likely to transform into a brick, that is probably the most likely reason.... right bubba
Here's an electric car that's inspired by the bumper car design:
Quote
Many of us look back fondly on those days when the only driving we did involved ramming full speed into others - usually as part of a big round of bumper cars. Thanks to a new green city car concept by designer Ayelet Fishman, adults may be tempted to do just that.
The Compact Urban Bump Car (CUB) is an all-electric two-seater built for city driving. Specifically, it comes outfitted with five energy-absorbing bumpers: one for each corner of the car, and one for its rear. The panels are detachable and can be removed as needed.
IMHO, the keys to the electric car taking off are two things:
1) The electric car industry and marketing should focus on the EC being a suppliment to the real car in the commuter role. Cost has to be low. People have to be eccouraged to give up things they don't need in a car that's just for getting back and forth to work. Design a bare bones car that will actually save the customer money instead of adding cost. The EC needs to be within the reach of the not-rich.
2) Put charging equipment at work so the much cheaper current (no pun intended) technology's range is effictively DOUBLED. Give a tax break to businesses that install charging equipment.
I don't know where the numbers lie for the above points, but I sense they're there. Sell me an electric car for <$10000 that has a 25-mile range; let me charge it while it's parked at work; show me that its cost to operate plus its purchase cost saves me money and lets me keep the real car too.
An additional $40000+ EC will buy a god-awful-lot of fuel, even at $4/gal. <<<<<< This is the problem with the electric car.
My opinions do not reflect a command of reasoning but instead, reflect that reason
The Tesla name almost has me sold, I think no better man, than Nikola Tesla, ever existed.
"The rich alone use imported articles, and on these alone the whole taxes of the General Government are levied. ... Our revenues liberated by the discharge of the public debt, and its surplus applied to canals, roads, schools, etc., the farmer will see his government supported, his children educated, and the face of his country made a paradise by the contributions of the rich alone, without his being called on to spend a cent from his earnings." ~ The Chief Author of our Declaration of Independence
I've had about eight ... maybe 10 laptops in the last 15 years and you know, I've never had a battery on one of them totally and completely fail.
That said, I'm sure there is someone out there whom, if I had a telsa roadster, would think about sneaking into my yard and arc the battery in an effort to just cost me money thinking such an action justified on political grounds.
Yep, Mo, we got dat libral, said Bubba, his pointed white hood pointing to the southern sky.
And yes, then homeowners - particularly if you had a rider - would cover that eventuality because who really expects to run across such dolts anywhere - especially here.
but if a telsa is likely to transform into a brick, that is probably the most likely reason.... right bubba
pubby
Now your just being daft. When a laptop battery dies, it doesn't cost you 40k to replace it.
A recent blog post from has highlighted a possible major setback to purchasing a Tesla Motors (Nasdaq: TSLA - News) 100% electric luxury car. In the post blogger Michael Degusta explains that at least five known cases have been reported to Tesla about full battery failure, causing the Roadster to turn into what has been described as a 2,700-pound "brick."The mother of all dead batteries Many of us have experienced a dead car battery: the hassle, the cost of getting a new one installed, and the all-around frustration associated with the process. But after a few hours and roughly $100, the disaster is over and we go on with our lives. When the $100,000 Tesla Roadster's battery dies, not only will the car become immobile after the wheels lock, but getting a new battery installed will cost the owner a cool $40,000.
And to think you got a grip, look at yourself your lips are like two flaps of fat, they go front and back and flappityflappity flap
Tesla's electricity (ac current) was criticized as to costly, and deadly to use, and Thomas Edison's electricity (dc current) almost won over it. Edison spent many dollars in advertising that Tesla's electricity would kill you, and almost proved it by its use in the electric chair.
I'm very glad that Edison's electricity is not what I use in my home, today. Edison was a money hungry fool compared to Tesla. And, things that bear his name, today, is still valuable in my mind.
"The rich alone use imported articles, and on these alone the whole taxes of the General Government are levied. ... Our revenues liberated by the discharge of the public debt, and its surplus applied to canals, roads, schools, etc., the farmer will see his government supported, his children educated, and the face of his country made a paradise by the contributions of the rich alone, without his being called on to spend a cent from his earnings." ~ The Chief Author of our Declaration of Independence
I read a bit more about the telsa brick issue and it appears to be a real issue impacting, at maximum, the first 200 cars the small maker sold in 2009. Seems the battery design was such that if you drove the car to the point the power is near gone and don't charge it for three months the early design batteries don't have a circuit to restart the recharging effort forcing a replacement of the entire battery and logic setup. Basically it is was a faulty design in that it didn't anticipate someone doing something really, really stupid that is noted in big letters in the manual, is a matter of the first owners lecture and is tantamount to saying don't drive your $600,000 Maybach into a brick wall at 100 mph.
Notably, just as there is a telsa 'brick' in need of a $40,000 battery, there is a smashed Maybach that hit a wall at excessive speed.
The newest versions of the roadster include a wireless radio that connects and informs the Telsa folks that a roadster - the communication states which one and its location - has failed its diagnostic and must be charged very soon. Telsa then contacts the owner to plug the dang thing in. The window of opportunity, notably, is about three months before the owner falls into brick territory with the newer designed batteries.
The next generation Telsa and other pure play electrics involve a secondary battery system for the computer that runs off 12 volts and is largely independent of the propulsion power pack.
FYI Smitty: I've done some research and there are numerous kits available that will convert vehicles like 1990 era S-10 pickups, VW bugs, even kit cars based on the VW, to pure plug in electrics using lead acid batteries. They claim ranges of up to 50-60 miles and top speeds ranging from 50-80 mph. Some of the conversions were commercial in that they were for electric utility trucks/meter reading.
Notably, there appears to be a robust used vehicle market for these conversions with prices coming in about two grand more the the conversions - $5-7000 - which is lower than the amount you were saying you would find attractive. Also important is the fact that these vehicles don't seem to be depreciating appreciably probably because of the mechanical simplicity of electric power trains.
I actually think there is a market for a device that would be attached to a car like a trailer. Instead of a drag, this trailer would be a powered device that would provide electric power for starts and stops. If you've ever had a car with a gas mileage computer you know that it is during the stop and go cycle that most cars use the bulk of fuel. At a steady state 55 mph, most vehicles get 20-30 mpg easily - even the gas hogs.
I read a bit more about the telsa brick issue and it appears to be a real issue impacting, at maximum, the first 200 cars the small maker sold in 2009. Seems the battery design was such that if you drove the car to the point the power is near gone and don't charge it for three months the early design batteries don't have a circuit to restart the recharging effort forcing a replacement of the entire battery and logic setup. Basically it is was a faulty design in that it didn't anticipate someone doing something really, really stupid that is noted in big letters in the manual, is a matter of the first owners lecture and is tantamount to saying don't drive your $600,000 Maybach into a brick wall at 100 mph.
Notably, just as there is a telsa 'brick' in need of a $40,000 battery, there is a smashed Maybach that hit a wall at excessive speed.
The newest versions of the roadster include a wireless radio that connects and informs the Telsa folks that a roadster - the communication states which one and its location - has failed its diagnostic and must be charged very soon. Telsa then contacts the owner to plug the dang thing in. The window of opportunity, notably, is about three months before the owner falls into brick territory with the newer designed batteries.
The next generation Telsa and other pure play electrics involve a secondary battery system for the computer that runs off 12 volts and is largely independent of the propulsion power pack.
FYI Smitty: I've done some research and there are numerous kits available that will convert vehicles like 1990 era S-10 pickups, VW bugs, even kit cars based on the VW, to pure plug in electrics using lead acid batteries. They claim ranges of up to 50-60 miles and top speeds ranging from 50-80 mph. Some of the conversions were commercial in that they were for electric utility trucks/meter reading.
Notably, there appears to be a robust used vehicle market for these conversions with prices coming in about two grand more the the conversions - $5-7000 - which is lower than the amount you were saying you would find attractive. Also important is the fact that these vehicles don't seem to be depreciating appreciably probably because of the mechanical simplicity of electric power trains.
I actually think there is a market for a device that would be attached to a car like a trailer. Instead of a drag, this trailer would be a powered device that would provide electric power for starts and stops. If you've ever had a car with a gas mileage computer you know that it is during the stop and go cycle that most cars use the bulk of fuel. At a steady state 55 mph, most vehicles get 20-30 mpg easily - even the gas hogs.
pubby
I like the idea of this new technology, or should I say old technology. Tesla, could have already figured something out had J P Morgan backed him on his last project. But, Morgan was scared to take the risk. I believe had Tesla not given Edison a break on the money he owed him, and Mr. Westinghouse had paid him what he owed him, J P Morgan wouldn't have minded putting in a little of his own capital.
There has never been another electrician that could match Tesla's mastery.
This post has been edited by The Postman: 07 March 2012 - 11:03 PM
"The rich alone use imported articles, and on these alone the whole taxes of the General Government are levied. ... Our revenues liberated by the discharge of the public debt, and its surplus applied to canals, roads, schools, etc., the farmer will see his government supported, his children educated, and the face of his country made a paradise by the contributions of the rich alone, without his being called on to spend a cent from his earnings." ~ The Chief Author of our Declaration of Independence
$100,000-plus Fisker sports car died during Consumer Reports speed testing this week for reasons that are still unknown, leaving the struggling electric car startup with another blow to its image.
"It is a little disconcerting that you pay that amount of money for a car and it lasts basically 180 miles before going wrong," David Champion, senior director for the magazine's automotive test center, told Reuters, on Thursday.
I'm sure Pubby and some other 'anything but oil' folks will somehow try to spin this into not being so bad, but unless they're willing to step up and put their money down, whatever they say is meaningless.
With problems like this and others that have been reported, this car will never be more than an expensive novelty not to be taken seriously.
Who is John Gault? - He's the successful business owner who didn't want to play by the new 'Law of the Land' so he closed up shop, packed up his stuff and left. He was joined by many other successful business owners who did the same. They stayed away until the government begged them to return and repealed the law.
I'm sure Pubby and some other 'anything but oil' folks will somehow try to spin this into not being so bad, but unless they're willing to step up and put their money down, whatever they say is meaningless.
With problems like this and others that have been reported, this car will never be more than an expensive novelty not to be taken seriously.
Standing on the beach after observing two brothers start an engine and saw it spin a pair of big fans, propelling the device forward and ultimately into the air, a grandfather said, "if God had intended men to fly, he'd have give him wings, hurrrump."
Turning, he steps into his buggy, pulls out the whip and says giddy up to his horse. Glancing to his right he's almost hit by one of those new fangled steam automobiles. "Them things will never replace the horse," he said.
Some people seek to discredit every innovation and sometimes they're right. I mean those who said everything would go to eight track tapes were wrong. Of course those things were replaced by cassettes which were replaced by CD's and those were obsoleted by mp3's. So the person who said cassette players are a bad idea, will never catch on were ultimately right but they were also wrong.
My gut is that electric vehicles will make it. Sure they are more expensive right now. But the cost of energy, if converted to the motive power of a gallon of gasoline in a 40 mpg vehicle, works out to about 85 cents a gallon.
Then there is the fuel-cell Mercedes which is also being talked about on pcom. You know that is just another kind of electric car. The fuel cell generates electricity via a chemical reaction instead of it being stored in a battery and released (after having been generated in a power plant.) Still it is an electric vehicle.
Sometimes when I read the rhetoric about petroleum verses electric, I think to myself how the wagon, saddle makers, black smith and horse breeders must have felt when the automobiles started rolling off the line.
I wonder how many wanted to make them illegal or ban them.
I am sure their was plenty of non-sense said about the steam engines too.
Does anybody know if there was horse and buggy lobbyist at the time fighting in Washington?
I even heard some rumors about rockets poking hole in the atmosphere causing the increase in cancer.
You know if God intended for man to fly he would have given us wings.
This was a good one also, scientist are all atheist, you know they are making dinosaur bones out of plastic and burying them because they are all communist from the devil trying to turn people away from God.
Think about all the people that will be out of a job in the military, no more keeping peace in the Middle East to keep the oil flowing.
Yep the idea of alternative energy is going to cause the worse economic disaster ever known.
Alternative energy is the enemy of the American people, pure evil is what it is.
Progress has never brought anything but misery to millions.
Fight the good fight Americans! squash this evil progress, stand up and let your representatives know, we don't want no progress!
Standing on the beach after observing two brothers start an engine and saw it spin a pair of big fans, propelling the device forward and ultimately into the air, a grandfather said, "if God had intended men to fly, he'd have give him wings, hurrrump."
Turning, he steps into his buggy, pulls out the whip and says giddy up to his horse. Glancing to his right he's almost hit by one of those new fangled steam automobiles. "Them things will never replace the horse," he said.
Some people seek to discredit every innovation and sometimes they're right. I mean those who said everything would go to eight track tapes were wrong. Of course those things were replaced by cassettes which were replaced by CD's and those were obsoleted by mp3's. So the person who said cassette players are a bad idea, will never catch on were ultimately right but they were also wrong.
My gut is that electric vehicles will make it. Sure they are more expensive right now. But the cost of energy, if converted to the motive power of a gallon of gasoline in a 40 mpg vehicle, works out to about 85 cents a gallon.
Then there is the fuel-cell Mercedes which is also being talked about on pcom. You know that is just another kind of electric car. The fuel cell generates electricity via a chemical reaction instead of it being stored in a battery and released (after having been generated in a power plant.) Still it is an electric vehicle.
I wish I could afford one right now, myself.
pubby
In context, this argument makes no sense.
How much federal money was thrown at the Wright brothers to invent air-travel? Did the government try to limit other forms of travel to force the issue?
As I said, any comments would be irrelevant unless you were willing to put your own money up for one of these unworkable vehicles. Wishing doesn't cut it.
Who is John Gault? - He's the successful business owner who didn't want to play by the new 'Law of the Land' so he closed up shop, packed up his stuff and left. He was joined by many other successful business owners who did the same. They stayed away until the government begged them to return and repealed the law.
Sometimes when I read the rhetoric about petroleum verses electric, I think to myself how the wagon, saddle makers, black smith and horse breeders must have felt when the automobiles started rolling off the line.
I wonder how many wanted to make them illegal or ban them.
I am sure their was plenty of non-sense said about the steam engines too.
Does anybody know if there was horse and buggy lobbyist at the time fighting in Washington?
I even heard some rumors about rockets poking hole in the atmosphere causing the increase in cancer.
You know if God intended for man to fly he would have given us wings.
This was a good one also, scientist are all atheist, you know they are making dinosaur bones out of plastic and burying them because they are all communist from the devil trying to turn people away from God.
Think about all the people that will be out of a job in the military, no more keeping peace in the Middle East to keep the oil flowing.
Yep the idea of alternative energy is going to cause the worse economic disaster ever known.
Alternative energy is the enemy of the American people, pure evil is what it is.
Progress has never brought anything but misery to millions.
Fight the good fight Americans! squash this evil progress, stand up and let your representatives know, we don't want no progress!
How many of those inventions were paid for by the government trying to force change? How many were come up with by genius inventors working alone or in small private groups on a shoestring budget?
This isn't about fighting the good fight, it's about the government wasting our tax money on unworkable schemes. Invention can't be forced.
Who is John Gault? - He's the successful business owner who didn't want to play by the new 'Law of the Land' so he closed up shop, packed up his stuff and left. He was joined by many other successful business owners who did the same. They stayed away until the government begged them to return and repealed the law.
How much federal money was thrown at the Wright brothers to invent air-travel? Did the government try to limit other forms of travel to force the issue?
As I said, any comments would be irrelevant unless you were willing to put your own money up for one of these unworkable vehicles. Wishing doesn't cut it.
How much tax payer money do you think has gone into research and development for weapons of war? We know there have been multiple failures along the way.
This negative marketing campaign against alternative energy just reeks of cronicapitalism.
If the middle east blows up tomorrow I can promise you that billions would be dumped into research of electric cars and we would be driving them by this time next year.
How much money did we dump into the space program that eventually turned into a capitalist venture with satellites.
Funny thing is when you talk to folks about alternative energy, they want it. When it is talked about in the context of politics they are against it.
People that are in business understand that many times there are 100 failures for one success. There are costly and painful failures along the way.
When did we get so scared as a nation that we won't allow anyone to try out of fear of failure.
I think we are being persuaded that it is a bad thing.
markdavd, on 09 March 2012 - 08:33 AM, said:
How many of those inventions were paid for by the government trying to force change? How many were come up with by genius inventors working alone or in small private groups on a shoestring budget?
This isn't about fighting the good fight, it's about the government wasting our tax money on unworkable schemes. Invention can't be forced.
Yes they can be, the atomic bomb comes to mind first.
How many of those inventions were paid for by the government trying to force change? How many were come up with by genius inventors working alone or in small private groups on a shoestring budget?
This isn't about fighting the good fight, it's about the government wasting our tax money on unworkable schemes. Invention can't be forced.
Furthermore, Langley's 'aircraft' did have government support and was a conspicuous failure.
P.S.
What the Write brothers did was ACHIEVE controlled flight--they didn't really originate their combination of roll-pitch-yaw control. Indeed their wing warping idea for roll control was un-developable. Though an achievement that deserves to be remembered forever, it was a technical dead end.
P.P.S
If the above isn't enough consolation for PUBBY: from the Write brother's spark--their idea--the French are the ones who 'flew' with the aircraft. They optimized the aircraft forms and controls still in use today. Ironically, the airplane was slow 'taking off' in America. I suspect the government's backing of Langley, and his subsequent failure, was a very large part of that.
This post has been edited by smitty: 09 March 2012 - 08:58 AM
My opinions do not reflect a command of reasoning but instead, reflect that reason
Yes they can be, the atomic bomb comes to mind first.
They funded it, but didn't reduce production of other weapons while the bomb was being developed. In fact, IIRC, it was already a proven technology before they started.
Btw - where will all the electricity come from to recharge these great vehicles? IF they worked as promise, and IF they were priced for the average consumer and IF they were reliable, the electrical capacity of the nation would need to be greatly increased.
An interesting fact I just read - to the nearest whole number, can anyone tell us what percentage of the world's electricity comes from wind power?
Who is John Gault? - He's the successful business owner who didn't want to play by the new 'Law of the Land' so he closed up shop, packed up his stuff and left. He was joined by many other successful business owners who did the same. They stayed away until the government begged them to return and repealed the law.
They funded it, but didn't reduce production of other weapons while the bomb was being developed. In fact, IIRC, it was already a proven technology before they started.
Btw - where will all the electricity come from to recharge these great vehicles? IF they worked as promise, and IF they were priced for the average consumer and IF they were reliable, the electrical capacity of the nation would need to be greatly increased.
An interesting fact I just read - to the nearest whole number, can anyone tell us what percentage of the world's electricity comes from wind power?
MD:
You don't know much about electric production and distribution.
First, you do know that electricity - electric current - travels at or near the speed of light. Like light it is dissipated as it is used and ultimately is lost in transmission if it is not consumed.
This means that electric power companies build capacity to meet peak demand - like the time when the temp hits 110 degrees on a Thursday afternoon in August when all the kiddies are at home with momma, papa is at the factory using electricity to process baxuite and every mall in America is hoping their 72-degree innard will pull people off the roads.
They expect the people to drive to the mall in their electric cars powered by batteries that were charged the night before when the electric grid would have otherwise been operating at 44 percent of its capacity.
The electricity for the electric cars comes from the over-capacity already in existence so that we can supply enough juice to cool all us 310,000,000 Americans on the hottest afternoon in August ... because these cars are charged at night in the middle of the night.
The idea is that when it is night and the big factories aren't pulling juice, the homes aren't pulling juice to drop the temperature differential 40 degrees (15 degrees maybe) they electric power producers cut back production. There are not 'big batteries' out there.
As far as the government funding research and development - our history is replete with many examples. Hell the skunk works where spy planes and stealth aircraft and jet engines, rocket engines, etc. were all developed and perfected - some times with rather spectacular failures (fire in the capsule) - is part of history: a proud part.
MD, you can't rewrite history. Please stop trying.
You don't know much about electric production and distribution.
First, you do know that electricity - electric current - travels at or near the speed of light. Like light it is dissipated as it is used and ultimately is lost in transmission if it is not consumed.
This means that electric power companies build capacity to meet peak demand - like the time when the temp hits 110 degrees on a Thursday afternoon in August when all the kiddies are at home with momma, papa is at the factory using electricity to process baxuite and every mall in America is hoping their 72-degree innard will pull people off the roads.
They expect the people to drive to the mall in their electric cars powered by batteries that were charged the night before when the electric grid would have otherwise been operating at 44 percent of its capacity.
The electricity for the electric cars comes from the over-capacity already in existence so that we can supply enough juice to cool all us 310,000,000 Americans on the hottest afternoon in August ... because these cars are charged at night in the middle of the night.
The idea is that when it is night and the big factories aren't pulling juice, the homes aren't pulling juice to drop the temperature differential 40 degrees (15 degrees maybe) they electric power producers cut back production. There are not 'big batteries' out there.
As far as the government funding research and development - our history is replete with many examples. Hell the skunk works where spy planes and stealth aircraft and jet engines, rocket engines, etc. were all developed and perfected - some times with rather spectacular failures (fire in the capsule) - is part of history: a proud part.
MD, you can't rewrite history. Please stop trying.
pubby
Get dizzy often? You can't rewrite physics, so stop trying.
For that to work, nobody will be allowed to charge their car on a hot day and all the excess capacity will need to be ready 24/7 rather than just during the few peak times during the year. The grid isn't designed for that.
If your man Obama gets his way, electrical generation capacity will be greatly reduced in this country, so even he's working to make sure we can't charge the cars he wants us to buy.
As far as government developing those things, it didn't go out an throw billions at companies with totally unproven ideas and demand inventions while at the same time restricting current technology hoping to create consumer demand for non-existent products. Using the space program as an example, Kennedy said we're going to the moon. The government funded the project, but politicians didn't dedicate how it would get done. They got out of they way and let the engineers and physicists decide what could and couldn't be done and how.
Who is John Gault? - He's the successful business owner who didn't want to play by the new 'Law of the Land' so he closed up shop, packed up his stuff and left. He was joined by many other successful business owners who did the same. They stayed away until the government begged them to return and repealed the law.
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