UK Wasting electricity with electric cars?

[Bob Geldoff1234]

So over the past few years we have seen the demise of 8 foot fluorescent tubes,50 watt halogen bulbs,500 watt floodlights and making tv standby power even more tiny.
This seems to pale into insignificance when electric cars are needing at least 7kw for 8 hours.
Now I don't know about you but when I'm in the shower for 10 minutes I'm thinking this is costing me a bit at 8.5 kw.So to leave 7kw on for 8 hours is madness.It makes a joke of all the energy savings over the past few years.What do you guys think?

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[Darkwood]

Until we get nuclear fusion as oppose to fission then all energy sources are dirty, even batteries are still dirty given the chemicals and mining needed to source the components but the silver lining is they don't produce pollution when in use and can be recovered and recycled.

The biggest worry for nuclear fusion is going to be the global power shift, this will not be pretty but at least the Arabs are pre-empting these things and that is why they built a totally new commerce and tourist venue Dubai ... they know regular income in their oil wealth is soon to flutter away hence they invested trillions building a whole new city.

Unlimited cheap energy will solve a lot of global issues, bring water to the deserts, food to the starving and probably by accident it will fuel climate change as you cannot simply change the nature of vast swathes of sandy deserts without affecting global weather patterns... fun time ahead if we ever get there.

 

[Lucien Nunes]

Whether any of us will still be around to see large-scale commercial exploitation of fusion is moot, but it will be a good result for whoever eventually makes it work. Electric transport run from a mainly fusion public supply will make every prime mover today look like Baird's mechanical television.

Ultimately then all power sources will be fusion, either our own little reactors here on Earth or the big one 93M miles away that illuminates our PV installations. I remember when I was young, dad telling me about the early fusion experiments with Zeta at Culham. His opinion was that the Tokamak reactor was fundamentally workable but it would be many decades before technology was advanced enough to control it and simulate it. I think his words were 'you can't confine plasma using just a lot keen physicists.' Of course in those days they were going after cheap energy, not clean energy. Green hadn't been invented yet.

 

[Zerax]

Or higher prices for "EV electricity".

Interesting idea... how would you control that ? It's not as easy as policing the use of cheaper red diesel by dipping of tanks.

 

[Zerax]

Please don't say that you don't believe in man-made climate change...

Well... all we know is that the planet is changing... nobody knows exactly why. It's possible that it's due to humans and it's possible that it's another natural cycle, of which we know there have been many in the past. Or it could be due to something that we don't even know about yet...

My suggested solution to this climate change is a worldwide mass cull of humans... if we reduce the population by half from almost 8 billion to nearer 4 billion (what it was in about 1970)... then wait 10 years to see if that makes a difference... we should have a far better understanding. This idea isn't gaining much traction though...

 

[Mike Johnson]

As long as they (whoever) cull those born before 1970 not before I agree. ?

 

[Zerax]

As long as they (whoever) cull those born before 1970 not before I agree. ?

Makes sense... but who's going to look after all the snowflake millennials to make sure they don't hurt themselves ?

 

[littlespark]

My suggested solution to this climate change is a worldwide mass cull of humans... if we reduce the population by half from almost 8 billion to nearer 4 billion (what it was in about 1970)... then wait 10 years to see if that makes a difference... we should have a far better understanding. This idea isn't gaining much traction though...

Already been tried but The Avengers reversed what Thanos did

Big problem with his plan though was that he wiped out half of the population of any living thing.... so for 50% of the number of humans, there was only 50% of the number of cows, chickens, pigs etc etc. to feed them.

 

[Mike Johnson]

Ah back to the bible and cull all the first born.

 

[Mike Johnson]

As long as they (whoever) cull those born before 1970 not before I agree. ?

Its an age thing, I should have said, As long as they cull those born after 1970 I agree, bother I obviously have too much blood in my alcohol stream.

 

[Rockingit]

Weren't the Scandinavians trialing some system at one time that allowed the grid to grab the stored energy of car cells overnight at peak demands instead of turning on more generation??

 

[telectrix]

when half the population have bought electric cars, they will be deemed as not eco friendly. some twot will perfect the hydrogen cell propulsion system, then we'll all have to change over again.

 

[pc1966]

Ah back to the bible and cull all the first born.

If we are going all biblical, can I have the ----- of Babylon please?

 

[telectrix]

If we are going all biblical, can I have the ----- of Babylon please?

beware of the Syth of Illys.

 

[Mike Johnson]

Or the Ides of March.

 

[Soi disant]

Interesting idea... how would you control that ? It's not as easy as policing the use of cheaper red diesel by dipping of tanks.

1) Require local meters to be integrated into domestic charging points.

2) Install household supply meters with enough "intelligence", or capacity for it, to communicate with loads to find out what they are. You could call them "smart meters".

Oh.

 

[Soi disant]

Well... all we know is that the planet is changing... nobody knows exactly why. It's possible that it's due to humans and it's possible that it's another natural cycle, of which we know there have been many in the past. Or it could be due to something that we don't even know about yet...

I'll not bother to ask you what expertise you have in climatology or atmospheric science which gives validity to your decision to disbelieve the huge majority of those who are experts and every single national and international scientific body.

 

[telectrix]

I'll not bother to ask you what expertise you have in climatology or atmospheric science which gives validity to your decision to disbelieve the huge majority of those who are experts and every single national and international scientific body.

i suppose it was human industry polluting the atmosphere caused the last ice age?

 

[Zerax]

I'll not bother to ask you what expertise you have in climatology or atmospheric science which gives validity to your decision to disbelieve the huge majority of those who are experts and every single national and international scientific body.

I tend to listen to all experts, regardless of their opinions, then base my own views on a balanced, blended 'most likely' position. I'm not a fan of listening only to the ones you want to listen to... it tends to give an unbalanced view. You have to note that anyone who publicly gives a view that the media don't want to hear are quickly cast down as 'nut jobs'. Just look at what happened to David Bellamy !

 

[Soi disant]

I tend to listen to all experts, regardless of their opinions, then base my own views on a balanced, blended 'most likely' position. I'm not a fan of listening only to the ones you want to listen to... it tends to give an unbalanced view. You have to note that anyone who publicly gives a view that the media don't want to hear are quickly cast down as 'nut jobs'. Just look at what happened to David Bellamy !

I tend to think that given the near unanimity of those who know more than me, and the total unanimity of every single national and international scientific body, it would be barking mad of me to think that the opinions of the insignificant minority should be given as much weight as the overwhelming majority.

 

[telectrix]

the current fad is CO2 emmissions. OK, so trees absorb CO2 and produce oxygen. photosynthesis. so why are we banging heads producing electric cars, when they're chopping down thousands of acres of rainforest?

 

[justcurioustwo]

Don't know if this has been said before, but electric cars will bring about the death of the Caravan industry.

I am not sure what you mean by “Caravan industry”-?

In the future you will have a charger in your garage. When you come home for the night all you do is plug in your car to a charger. Have a good night’s sleep and in the morning your batteries will be charged and off you go to another day of work.

Caravan transport will just have larger batteries, but the charging process is the same.

 

[Soi disant]

And caravan sites will have charging points.

 

[Moley]

In the future you will have a charger in your garage. When you come home for the night all you do is plug in your car to a charger. Have a good night’s sleep and in the morning your batteries will be charged and off you go to another day of work.

What if you don't have a garage or driveway?

 

[Mike Johnson]

Caravaners tend to travel a bigger distance that most to get to a site worth staying at, therefore will have to break up their travel to accommodate the very low milage they will get towing a van.

 

[Soi disant]

Caravaners tend to travel a bigger distance that most to get to a site worth staying at, therefore will have to break up their travel to accommodate the very low milage they will get towing a van.

My heart bleeds for them.

 

[Zerax]

Actually... Mike could be onto something here.. it's going to be hilarious watching them reverse a caravan around a petrol forecourt to get to the charger point !

 

[littlespark]

I suppose in the future service stations will cater for caravan users by supplying chargers in areas that we can easily manoeuvre into.

The technology will advance so that tow cars can cover much larger distances on a full charge than now.

Or

Certain vehicles become exempt and we can carry on using nice big diesels to tow our caravans.

 

[Moley]

Back in the day when I had a motorhome I used to enjoy the entertainment at camp sites watching people try to manouver their caravans onto the pitch. Then came the awning fitting. Oh, happy days.

 

[littlespark]

Back in the day when I had a motorhome I used to enjoy the entertainment at camp sites watching people try to manouver their caravans onto the pitch. Then came the awning fitting. Oh, happy days.

All it takes is a little practice and some home grown natural talent.

 

[Moley]

And those remote control motorised caravan mover things.

 

[Mike Johnson]

And those remote control motorised caravan mover things.

Now they where fun to watch, why would you spend that sort of money fitting that facility when you can just use the car, not all caravan towers where so incompetent they could not reverse. ?

 

[littlespark]

And those remote control motorised caravan mover things.

Not got one, don’t need one.
I only use Caravan Club sites which are designed to have flat, level pitches and are easy to push caravans around on, if manoeuvring them with the car is tricky.
Caravans have handles.


I see most people’s viewpoint of caravanners are either tv celebrity “travellers” or have witnessed someone without the experience on their first trip having problems with the nuances of touring caravans.
You need some knowledge in the mechanics off towing, and siting a caravan.... the electrical systems concerning the 230v mains and the 12v from the leisure battery. A little knowledge of plumbing... priming the pipe work and draining down properly afterward.... and of course the gas.
I reckon there should be official training given to caravan users to give them the knowledge required.

 

[telectrix]

to give them the knowledge required not to clog up single carriageway, 60mph limit, roads doing 40.

 

[brianmoooore]

it's going to be hilarious watching them reverse a caravan around a petrol forecourt to get to the charger point !

This is a problem I already have, running my cars on LPG. Forecourt designers, both in the UK and across Europe, seem to delight in tucking the LPG pumps into some inaccessible corner.

 

[Mike Johnson]

Give them the knowledge to load the van correctly so the tail does not wag the dog which force's them to drive sooooooooooo slow.?

 

[brianmoooore]

Now they where fun to watch, why would you spend that sort of money fitting that facility when you can just use the car, not all caravan towers where so incompetent they could not reverse. ?

I used to think this about movers, until I managed to obtain one for £20 (non working - brush spring broken on one motor), and fitted it.
The big advantages of these things are a) the ability to hitch the caravan to the car in seconds with absolutely no effort. b) you can position your 'van on sites in positions it would be impossible to get it into if attached to the car. Important on continental sites, where they are intended for 'vans with RH doors. UK 'vans have LH doors, so you need to drive 'nose in' with it. c) I can park my 'van and get it out of its shed at home in a couple of minutes, with no assistance.
Wouldn't contemplate owning a 'van without a mover now.

 

[brianmoooore]

Caravaners tend to travel a bigger distance that most to get to a site worth staying at, therefore will have to break up their travel to accommodate the very low milage they will get towing a van.

I get slightly better MPG towing my 'van a thousand miles or so than I do just driving the car around locally.
With an electric tow car, I could do the same as I do with LPG - an auxiliary fuel tank (battery pack) in the 'van.

 

[brianmoooore]

Give them the knowledge to load the van correctly so the tail does not wag the dog which force's them to drive sooooooooooo slow.?

I know how to load a 'van, and you'll never find me at the head of a traffic queue. My power to weight ratio with the 'van is still better than a lot of the smaller cars on the road.

 

[nicebutdim]

This is a problem I already have, running my cars on LPG. Forecourt designers, both in the UK and across Europe, seem to delight in tucking the LPG pumps into some inaccessible corner.

That everyone thinks they can use as long term parking...

Edit: Thinking back, I preferred LPG pumps located out of the way as otherwise you had to queue for that one pump.

 

[littlespark]

Good to hear someone else with the experience, @brianmoooore

Just about to change my citroen c4 space tourer to an auto ssangyong rexton to stop the “tail wagging the dog” scenario.