Don’t Worry, We’re Fine Just Driving The Way We Are

Yesterday’s post on my drive to Beit Shemesh elicited the following comment from “Morris the Katz”:

Let me know when I can drive 500km without recharging, and recharging takes the same or less time as filling the tank, including using the rest room.

The price of oil is falling, supplies are rapidly increasing (despite the sanctions on Iran), and this trend is likely to continue for many, many years, what with an increase of “tight” oil production in the USA and Canada, huge increases in Iraq, and huge offshore discoveries off the coast of Brazil and in the Gulf of Mexico. And did I forget Israel?

The USA imports 40% of its oil, down from 60% in 2005. That percentage will likely drop to 20% by 2020 or sooner, because of increased discoveries and IMPROVEMENTS TO THE GOOD ‘OL INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE. That’s the percentage of oil the US imported in 1970.

You won’t be hearing “Gentlemen, start your motors” anytime soon on a big scale.

I agree, the US isn’t going to have any significant uptake or impact on EVs in the next 5 or 10 years. The US, as a producer of EVs will once again be eclipsed by the rest of the world. The benefits of clean air in cities will pass the US by. The benefits of combined overnight storage of excess renewable energy will pass the US by. The internal combustion engine has improved in an evolutionary way but call me when it stops getting hot. That’s where most of the abundant energy from your gas goes. The extra safety equipment and weight we’ve put into our cars has more than eaten all those gains.

It doesn’t actually matter where the US gets its oil as (unlike natural gas) there is a proper global market. It helps a bit if you don’t transfer your wealth direct to the Saudis but it gets there all the same.

And just as Americans are coming to terms with driving high revving, small turbo engines with bizarre torque/power characteristics, I’m driving a car that feels like a supper smooth V8 and delivers more torque from standing than a Mustang. You won’t be driving a car smoother and quieter than a $200,000 Merc, BMW or Lexus for less than the cost of a normal family car any time soon if you’re waiting for a fuel efficient 1.2l 3 cylinder engine to help you out.

The need for a 500km range is an illusion. If you fill your petrol car once a week or once a month it makes little difference to you. Plugging in at home takes less thought or effort than a weekly or even monthly trip to fill up. Switching my battery does take the same time (and arguably less effort) than filling up with gas: it’s full service, I drive in, switch and go. Better Place also has nice clean rest rooms.

But all w really need is enough for our normal daily drive +20% and some way to make occasional long journeys (if you don’t have another car). If that includes charge spots at home and work, that’s very cheap to organise because we pump the fuel for electric vehicles to every building in our world already!

Focus on this: I’ve driven 903 miles till last night and the only fuel I needed was delivered slowly via a wire at home or in public parking lots. The switches I’ve made were all (it turns out) for fun.

Only my switch on the way to Jerusalem was slightly different because I had not seen with my own eyes the charging points at the shopping mall. Tonight I’m driving to the same destination in Jerusalem with my whole family and an aunt but this time I wont stop to switch (unless the kids demand it) because I know I’ll be parked long enough in Jerusalem not to need it.

No matter what happens with the global oil market, every step we take to reduce the power of OPEC (which I agree is diminishing for other reasons) is a good step. I also greatly look forward to the point where significant numbers of electric cars have a visible effect on the air pollution that I and my kids breath. Here in Israel it’s a no-brainer to do this.

17 thoughts on “Don’t Worry, We’re Fine Just Driving The Way We Are”

  1. All the ‘Morris the Katz’ types can talk forever about decreasing gasoline prices; however and here is the catch, no one, even the Saudis can say what the price for oil will be in the short, medium and especially long term. They will also continue to belittle the EV and particularly the Better Place concept until its success in Australia during the coming year. Once that happens, everyone will take notice and say simply “why didn’t I think of that first”!

  2. Jim from Iowa

    While I’m pulling for Brian and the electric car in Israel, you have to admit the marketplace doesn’t reward early adopters of new technology. It’s invariably pricey, often times plagued with technical glitches, and with a not insubstantial chance that it will be overtaken by an even better technology tomorrow. The Age of Oil needs to end, but Morris the Katz has some very valid concerns regarding the limitations of what the electric car can do today.

  3. morris the katz is an idiot.

    this country is filled with morons like him

    however…along with electric cars, development should also go into natural gas cars

  4. I’ve been following Brian’s quest for a while now. I think the idea is great and we use our cars mostly on short distances: To pick up the kids, to drive to work (approx 15km each way) and so on.
    The claim of “call me when it does 500km on one charge” won’t help, if you need to recharge (takes hours) only if there are switching stations a long the way.
    In Europe you can drive from southern Germany to Denmark (for example) in 10hrs (approx 800km). With a normal car of today’s age you have to fill it up twice (full when you leave and once on the way). So charging in a no go…
    All I want to say is: For a “once in a while” long trip it’s not worth waiting. I would buy one straight away, if they had “Better Place” cars in the country I live in.
    For long journeys you can always either rent, borrow or share a car. Europe is known for having excellent car sharing companies/programs.

    1. Morris the Katz

      Yes, and you can take the train, too. Or fly. I don’t know where in Germany you live but it has taken me a lot less than 10 hours to drive 800 km in Das Vaterland, or for that matter, the USA. An autobahn-only journey might take me 6 hours, and I’m far from the fastest guy on the road.

      And what about on a cold day (they have those in Germany) when a battery loses its charge rapidly? Moreover, you’d be surprised by all the times you need to go more than 10KM each way, or by all the times you’re stuck in traffic, watch the battery meter go down, down, down…

      1. Cold weather is a big issue. I wouldn’t buy an EV if I regularly drove in cold weather until they start selling cars with ethanol (or even small petrol) powered heaters. That’s clearly the most sensible answer.

        BTW the batteries don’t really loose charge: they just use it making heat that ICE cars get “for free” because 70% of their energy is wasted to make heat instead of push the car along.

  5. One of the benefits of the electric car that I have not heard mentioned yet, is the quiet ride. A road full of internal combustion engines is very noisy indeed! With regards to improvement of range, I believe that improvements in the efficiency and fuel flexibility of fuel cells may also have a positive impact on the range of electric vehicles. For purely battery powered vehicles, why not integrate high efficiency photovoltaic cells into the vehicle’s body? The roof, hood and trunk could supply enough surface area to at least partially charge the battery while the vehicle is sitting all day in the sun. If there’s a question of needing another 10% or 15% charge on the battery to make a longer commute, then why not? Additionally, if the car is parked for a number of days, it may be enough to bring it to 100% charged – not a bad emergency feature.

    1. Lets quash the solar powered car thing. 100m² of the world’s best solar panels, installed properly and moved throughout the day to point at the sun will deliver 15kW. So in a little under 2 hours of peak sun you could fill my car’s 22kWh battery. That would be nice but you can’t put 100m² on a car.

      My car uses between 1-2kW to run the air-conditioner: today’s solar panels would need 10m² to do that. Also a little too much for the bodywork of a car.

      I’m sorry, solar is fine for fixed installations and becoming more cost effective all the time as China is over-producing panels. It can run an iPhone, little more.

      On the noise issue you are 100% correct. Please see my earlier post on the way my youngest child likes the new car!

      1. Brian, you’re right about the area required to charge the car’s battery bank in two hours, it really wasn’t my intention though; it would be enough for the small capacity to add a little to the charge during the day, while the car is not in use and perhaps even to run a small set of fans to ventilate the vehicle while it’s parked so the interior won’t get so hot. If the battery sits for some time without use, it will slowly discharge until, eventually it will be at zero charge, so the small capacity panels could help to stem this leakage. I like the idea of a parking lot that’s covered overhead with panels, like a carport. If each spot had something like six, or eight square meters of panel above it, that would help, and the electricity generated by unoccupied spots would added to the potential of the entire parking lot. So, at a minimum,each vehicle could have something like eight square meters worth of panel for the purpose of charging, it wouldn’t fill an empty battery in two hours, but it would add something. A half full lot would charge the battery faster, and so on. Of course, if the efficiency of the cells increases, this would also improve matters. Personally, I like the idea of using fuel cells, because chemical potential is an excellent way to store energy.

          1. The roof panels on the Prius and Leaf do little more than top up the starter motor battery or help power the radio. They have nothing to do with the traction battery (the big one that makes the car go).

            1. According to the Toyota website “The Solar Powered Ventilation System uses an electric fan to draw outside air into, through, and out of the cabin once the inside temperature reaches 68° Fahrenheit. It will lower the cabin temperature to near the outside ambient temperature to help make the cabin more comfortable when reentering the vehicle. It must be turned on prior to leaving the vehicle and cannot perform cooling such as with an air conditioner.”

  6. Perhaps the greatest damage the environMENTALists have inflicted on mankind is their having put ordinary people off the truths of our environmental predicament by burying it under a load of kookery and repulsive ideas (not least their Wannsee Conference approach to anything having to do with population issues).

    I don’t need the case for clean air to be made with words—the argument is pressed into my nose once a year, on Yom Kippur (though of course that is not the purpose of that day, just a side effect). But let it be understood that the coming of the Electric Vehicle Age is dependent on the improvement of battery and power station technology. In other words, true environmentalism consists in doubling down on technological progress, not the insane Luddism of totalitarian Armageddonites hiding behind their faux-environmentalism.

  7. Morris the Katz

    I’m driving a 2011 BMW 535xi which got 32.5 mpg highway on a recent trip from my house in north central NJ to Washington DC and back. Not bad for a 4000 pound car which does zero to 60 in 5.4 seconds. As this car has an 18+ gallon gas tank, it’ll go over well 500 miles between fillups and has.

    Electric cars have their place in around-town commuting, but are currently useless for any long-distance type driving, or even intermediate-type driving. That means you need at least two cars, one for long trips and one for going to Shoprite and back. The Chevy Volt doesn’t have that problem; it can be your only ride.

    Your experience in which you used up 91% of your battery capacity would have given me or my wife severe range anxiety, and proves my point. Thus electric cars have a long, long way to go (literally) before there’ll be more than a niche market vehicle.

    1. Enjoy the Beemer. I’d probably have one here if I could afford it. I’m sure it doesn’t give you 32.5mpg when you’re going 0 to 60 if 5.4 seconds. The advantage I have of pre-paying my electricity is I really don’t care if I use 15kW or 15.5kW to drive 50 miles. It doesn’t make a blind bit of difference so I can burn out whenever the BMW next to me wants to be embarrassed at no extra cost! And so far nobody has got the better of me up to 60kmh that has tried.

      You don’t use 91% of your fuel because fuel systems in road cars are stupendously poor at telling you how much is left and they can’t use the last drop. My battery is reliable and predictable down to the last 1%.

      My EV is my only ride. I’ll only use a Jeep if I need roll over bad terrain to go to my favourite beach!

  8. Morris the Katz

    No, it got 32.5 mpg going a pretty steady 72 mph. I don’t accelerate from zero to 60 in 5.4 seconds very often; I know my car is fast, and I don’t have to constantly prove it to every shmuck driving a Camaro. Forty years ago, when I drove a Mustang Mach I, it was another story.

    I have nothing against electric cars, and will probably buy one myself when they CAN function as my only ride, although I’ll always have a gasoline (or diesel) powered flagship.

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