[RABAUKE]

I know there are a bunch of EV vs ICE threads already, but the National Post here in Canada have been giving a lot of ink (sorry, I'm an old guy) to these issues lately and I just read these articles and thought I'd share, they seem reasonable without a lot of running off alarming.....

http://driving.ca/auto-news/news/mot...ng-gas-engines

http://driving.ca/auto-news/news/mot...ng-gas-engines

[mkoesel]

He's making way too much sense. Someone stop him!

While I make light of the situation, level headed thinking like this is far too uncommon. We need more sensibility and less gut reaction, all-or-nothing type of thinking.

That being said, there are a couple important factors that he didn't address with his articles which I think will have an impact on how things actually play out.

First, the battery may go away sooner than we think in favor of the fuel cell. Yes, that brings its own set of issues and problems to tackle. But with charging times being a major impediment even in future generation, fully-optimized forms as he points out, the switch to a different power source could gain a lot of momentum next decade.

Secondly, the self driving vehicle may reduce the fleet sooner and more drastically than we are expecting. Again, that change obviously has plenty of drawbacks and challenges that need to be overcome. However, there is a great deal of money being spent on this technology, and that expenditure will mean a reduction in the size and cost of the e-fueling infrastructure necessary to keep the future fleet of cars going down the road.

I completely agree with him, though, that PHEVs and range extenders are the answer for now. I suspect that all this headline-making, fast-forward, overzealous, legislation being passed today will eventually give way to a set of rules more along the lines of what the author of these articles suggests.

[SYT_Shadow]

great read.

Ah but it's better to live in lala land

[eluded]

General Motors has committed to no ICE. Once the next battery technology breakthrough happens, which is about 10 years away, you will see a lot of momentum.

Cheaper batteries, double the capacity, twice as fast to charge vs current technologies. That will get things moving? In addition for some reason some of the manufacturers are focusing on hydrogen fuel cell again. They seem to be serious. Why so serious? I'll be too old by then to care and everything will be self driving. Will be awesome to get out of the nursing home in my self-driving car to go pick up hot chicks.

[RABAUKE]

Originally Posted by eluded

General Motors has committed to no ICE. Once the next battery technology breakthrough happens, which is about 10 years away, you will see a lot of momentum.

Cheaper batteries, double the capacity, twice as fast to charge vs current technologies. That will get things moving? In addition for some reason some of the manufacturers are focusing on hydrogen fuel cell again. They seem to be serious. Why so serious? I'll be too old by then to care and everything will be self driving. Will be awesome to get out of the nursing home in my self-driving car to go pick up hot chicks.

I know what you're saying (especially about the hot chicks) but I think between what these articles are saying and the loss of revenue (taxes) from fuel sales I don't know how the infrastructure can get in place. Ontario is pushing green energy and cutting hydro usage due to the cost to produce electricity in the future. There is something like 60 major hydro electric dam projects coming in Canada in the next few decades, will this meet the demand of EV's? We are already paying the highest rates for electricity in North America and nearly the highest in the world I believe.......

Toronto will have huge problems especially in the core of the city. Toronto Hydro came out a few years ago and stated that if 10% of the cars on the road were EV the grid couldn't support it. Plus, many people use street parking, how do you plug in when your car is a block away from your house, and you never know where you're going to get a parking spot. I know problems can be solved and many will but I'm still not convinced that this change will happen as quickly as some of the predictions. At this point in time I don't think I'll ever own an EV.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by RABAUKE

I know what you're saying (especially about the hot chicks) but I think between what these articles are saying and the loss of revenue (taxes) from fuel sales I don't know how the infrastructure can get in place. Ontario is pushing green energy and cutting hydro usage due to the cost to produce electricity in the future. There is something like 60 major hydro electric dam projects coming in Canada in the next few decades, will this meet the demand of EV's? We are already paying the highest rates for electricity in North America and nearly the highest in the world I believe.......

Toronto will have huge problems especially in the core of the city. Toronto Hydro came out a few years ago and stated that if 10% of the cars on the road were EV the grid couldn't support it. Plus, many people use street parking, how do you plug in when your car is a block away from your house, and you never know where you're going to get a parking spot. I know problems can be solved and many will but I'm still not convinced that this change will happen as quickly as some of the predictions. At this point in time I don't think I'll ever own an EV.

There is a way to solve the problem quite easily...

Stop believing that driving an electric car will save the planet.