"Simon Hobson" wrote in message
et...
On Mon, 2 Jan 2006 10:25:56 +0000, Doctor Drivel wrote
(in message ews.net):

And all this will be yesterday's technology
when the new batteries get made
en-mass and cheap enough, then we
will all be electric. Thank God.

Oh no, not the inneficient and environmentally
nfriendly electric vehicle argument again !
Hybrid=good (under the right conditions).

They are indeed.

Electric vehicles bad

er, no.

- yes they look great when you don't
look beyond the filler/charging
point, but that electricity comes from
somewhere and there's a LOT of losses
between the original fuel and the road wheels.

The gripe by environmentalists is that electricity is dirty and inefficient
from power station to point use with latent heat and line losses. True when
looking at heating buildings and hot water, where natural gas can be burnt
at point of use at 90% efficiency (heating your domestic hot water by
electricity is about 30% efficient end to end). However power generation is
now more efficient with energy reclaim measures in place in the newer and
more advanced stations - not to mention wind, solar, hydro etc.
However, the vehicle is another matter. It is more efficient to pour fuel
into an engine at a power station with advanced stack scrubbers, that drives
a genny, that sends the electricity down a line, then into a cars battery
and propel the car, than pour the fuel directly into a current car. 75% of
energy stored in your tank is wasted, while only a few percentage points of
energy is wasted from a battery pack - and the electric car is 100% clean at
point of use, cleaning up cities at a stroke. Electric cars are also
briliant and super quiet to to drive. The only thing that will prevent this
charge towards 100% electric is the vested interest of auto and oil giants
(who want to go hydrogen and fuel cell as well) and lack of political will -
and ignorance too. Interesting times ahead and the back of filthy
agricultural diesels we may see for good