Will Electric Vehicles Be Viable? When?

[Andres125sx]

Plastics are used in computers, mobiles, cars, buildings, clothes... banning plastics, any plastic, would make first world collapse

[izzy]

Plastic can be recycled or made of biomaterial?

that's so right, there's a concept called the 'circular economy' where some plastics can be taken right back to the original oil and re-used exactly the same way as the first time round. Mercedes sponsor Ineos is into it and https://plasticenergy.com/technology/

you can start to imagine if there were only 2-3 billion of us or something like that, with electric vehicles and all the solar and wind energy, homo sapiens could actually be a sustainable species sharing the planet instead of an infestation ruining it!

[Just_a_fan]

you can start to imagine if there were only 2-3 billion of us or something like that, with electric vehicles and all the solar and wind energy, homo sapiens could actually be a sustainable species sharing the planet instead of an infestation ruining it!

What do we do with 5 billion corpses? And who gets to be in the 2 billion and who gets to be a corpse?

Only joking - humanity blew through the 2 billion mark sometime ago and is now racing towards 8 billion so sadly the sustainable population has been left behind.

Being practical, of course, the 5 billion corpses could be put in to digesting processes to make power and fertilisers etc. That would at least be useful rather than sticking them in holes in the ground with headstones - which is a total waste of land.

[izzy]

you can start to imagine if there were only 2-3 billion of us or something like that, with electric vehicles and all the solar and wind energy, homo sapiens could actually be a sustainable species sharing the planet instead of an infestation ruining it!

What do we do with 5 billion corpses? And who gets to be in the 2 billion and who gets to be a corpse?

Only joking - humanity blew through the 2 billion mark sometime ago and is now racing towards 8 billion so sadly the sustainable population has been left behind.

Being practical, of course, the 5 billion corpses could be put in to digesting processes to make power and fertilisers etc. That would at least be useful rather than sticking them in holes in the ground with headstones - which is a total waste of land.

yes 5 billion at 5 litres of blood each... 25 billion litres with all that nutrition, you could bring deserts to life! i hadn't thought of it like that

but seriously it needs a 300-year plan, which we're not gonna get with elections every 4 years. An Age of Empathy, with gene based contraception instead of hormonal that hasn't really made any progress since the Rolling Stones were young, and a change of attitude from this ridiculous thing whenever the birth rate drops like in Russia or Japan oh thrice woe what about the economy and an ageing population and congratulations whenever someone has a third child

anyway (feeble token on topic) electric cars are a start

[Just_a_fan]

I see that Samsung are developing a solid state battery that they are claiming is 900Wh/L. That's 3 times what Tesla's Model 3 battery gives. That suggests that such developments will increasingly reduce the range issue for more users.*




* Yes, there'll always be the people who need to be able to drive 1000 miles there and 1000 miles back in 2 days but the reality is that they are not the majority user group.

[hollus]

Or you could cut 300 kg and a lot of bulk from the current model 3. Or multiply by 3 the range of the cars falling short in range right now.

[Big Tea]

Plastics are used in computers, mobiles, cars, buildings, clothes... banning plastics, any plastic, would make first world collapse

With out plastic just getting electricity to houses and workplaces would be very difficult. Very old wiring was cotton wound, and imagine the land area that would need for that today, and for clothing and fabric. There would also be far more pollution and waste just due to electronic controllers. Probably impossible to make or use most modern hospital equipment and pharmaceuticals too.

On the whole plastic is far more beneficial than not not having it, it was the use that needed a rethink. Just things like wood for spoons and stirrers, paper for straws and bag etc will half the misuse as these uses seem to be the sort of thing that can not be recycled (easily)

[Just_a_fan]

The argument about plastic is funny, in one way. With plastics, we have a use for oil that has potential for long life and/or recycling and is generally safe in use and storage. With the internal combustion engine, we have a use for oil that is one time only, has limited life (unless stored carefully), isn't safe unless used/stored in particular ways.

Using oil to drive a car around is just about as wasteful an exercise as one might devise. It's perhaps not surprising that using oil to drive cars around was effectively using a waste product back in the day. Today, for many in Joe Public Land, oil is all about the car and everything else is a "nice to have".

[Andres125sx]

Plastics are used in computers, mobiles, cars, buildings, clothes... banning plastics, any plastic, would make first world collapse

With out plastic just getting electricity to houses and workplaces would be very difficult. Very old wiring was cotton wound, and imagine the land area that would need for that today, and for clothing and fabric. There would also be far more pollution and waste just due to electronic controllers. Probably impossible to make or use most modern hospital equipment and pharmaceuticals too.

On the whole plastic is far more beneficial than not not having it, it was the use that needed a rethink. Just things like wood for spoons and stirrers, paper for straws and bag etc will half the misuse as these uses seem to be the sort of thing that can not be recycled (easily)

Exactly

Anycase I was not defending the use of any plastic, there are a lot of plastics wich are very harmful both for our health (when in contact with food or drinks) and environement (trash, microplastics...). Only that there are others wich are not. We only need some proper regulations at the respect to limit those wich are harmful, and start recycling as much as possible

[hollus]

A couple of posts have been removed before they became many more.
Plastics could be considered to be borderline relevant to cars in an indirect way.
Now, overall world population is not, and it drifts into politics and soon would drift into climate change...

A token effort to stay on topic and not discuss world politics in every thread would be greatly appreciated. No, we do not want every discussion subject in every thread, I hope the reason is obvious?

[Brake Horse Power]

Or you could cut 300 kg and a lot of bulk from the current model 3. Or multiply by 3 the range of the cars falling short in range right now.

Good points. In addition the purpose eventually is to have a positive (less negative) impact on the environment. So how much energy is needed to produce these batteries is also a very relevant question. Also reducing weight of the car is a very good point.

[henry]

Lower weight would reduce tyre wear and hence PM2.5 pollution.

[Andres125sx]

Lower weight would reduce tyre wear and hence PM2.5 pollution.

And cars will be faster, with better maneuverability, will brake is less space, and will consume less energy.

But if we take this too seriously, then SUVs, at least those that cant go off-road wich are a vast majority, should be banned, as they weight and pollute too much for no reason

[Andres125sx]

A couple of posts have been removed before they became many more.
Plastics could be considered to be borderline relevant to cars in an indirect way.
Now, overall world population is not, and it drifts into politics and soon would drift into climate change...

A token effort to stay on topic and not discuss world politics in every thread would be greatly appreciated. No, we do not want every discussion subject in every thread, I hope the reason is obvious?

Not sure if there was some posts after mine that motivated your action, but many of us will be gratefull if you moderators are a bit loose in these dates, when many of us are confined at home and need any possible distraction

[Just_a_fan]

Lower weight would reduce tyre wear and hence PM2.5 pollution.

And cars will be faster, with better maneuverability, will brake is less space, and will consume less energy.

But if we take this too seriously, then SUVs, at least those that cant go off-road wich are a vast majority, should be banned, as they weight and pollute too much for no reason

THe problem with banning things that you don't like / see the point of, is that very quickly most things get banned. There's always something that someone doesn't like / see the point of. After all, there's no reason why you have to have the car type that you prefer: you could make use of a public bus...