So what is the environmental impact of dumping 400 lbs. of batteries into the environment every time you have to change the batteries on your car since their performance erodes over time? Can they be recycled?
I agree. That's a huge question. What happens to the discarded batteries? Is there a system available to recycle or make inert their various parts?
NiMH batteries can be recycled and at least Toyota and Honda have said they recycle dead batteries. In America, Toyota puts a telephone number on the battery and pay a $200 trade in fee to encourage recycling.
There are quite a few of those old Honda electric cars running around Austin -- it's a shame they stopped making them.
Op, what was wrong with these mentioned above? Did their batteries blow up?there are definately electric cars available, I don't understand what the deal is. Are they too expensive
Electric vehicle is crazy expensive. $40k for a Chevy Volt and they still lose money. I see a brighter future for clean diesel than electric. Those european diesels are pretty good. They get over 40 miles per gallon. Biofuels is actually worse for global warming than regular gasoline. With gas, you only get the green house gas emissions. With biofuels, Brazil is burning the rain forest which releases more toxins than the burning of gas. This is in addition to the green house gas emissions from using it in a car. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/08/science/earth/08wbiofuels.html
awesome reply "well I have no idea at all and don't care to find out, but it electric so obviously better!" 16KWH battery .14 cents a KWH plus I bet it needs more than 16KWH to charge a 16KWH battery so figure 20KWH from your grid that is 3 bucks for 40 miles.
Heh, I've seen the figures given for cars on their websites and I remember the savings to be significant. The problem with an exact figure is different cars operate at different efficiency, individual drivers have different driving habits, and different states charge different prices for electricity. Tesla claims it will cost 1 cent per mile if you charge at night, with a **disclaimer saying you need to check with your local electricity provider for exact cost. The THINK city does 126 miles on a 28kWh battery (needing 30kWh) to charge according to wiki and the car website. Using your price of $0.14 per kWh (is this the off peak hour charge? Most people would charge the car at night when they are sleeping) that is 126 miles for $4.20. Over 3cents per mile.
I just looked up the Think on wiki and it uses Lead-Acid (car batteries) I doubt it only takes 2KWH to charge them. my numbers of 16KWH = 40 miles was based on the Volt mentioned earlier in the thread.
^ http://www.think.no/think/content/view/full/493 The site also says they use sodium or lithium batteries. I don't live in the US, so I searched for prices and found this: http://www.eia.doe.gov/bookshelf/brochures/rep/ This is the average price throughout the day, so off-peak is potentially even cheaper (exact price depending on where you live). Charging the battery on these electric cars is significantly cheaper than using gas over the same distance no?
I dunno about what a particular battery needs to charge or whatever but the charger is going to suck more than that for sure. It has to convert from AC to DC.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevy_Volt#Battery I don't know how much it needs to convert either, but it should be much cheaper than the $3 you quoted earlier to charge the Volt for 40miles.
well 10KWH would be $1.50 for 40 miles. Plus like was said earlier these packs are only good for a year with daily use. So add that into the daily cost and it is MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE THAN GAS.
No 10kWh is more like $1 off peak, probably cheaper. And I'm pretty sure the intention is for them to last more than 1 year lol . Tesla says their battery is expected to last 7 years 100,000miles, and warranty is for 3years 36,000miles. Maybe a bad comparison as it is a hybrid, but the batteries Toyota uses last very long. Prius battery warranty is 8-10 years, 100,000-150,000 miles. There has also been a reported case of a Prius Taxi in Queensland Australia topping 300,000miles before requiring a battery replacement.
if this thread was about hybrids you would have a point. They stay charged up and there is no need to plug them in. but it seems to be about electric cars. also if you can find a provider charging less than .10 cents a KW in houston let me know.
Scrap the Prius example and take the Tesla then. 7 years is still a lot longer than the one year you are claiming. We'll have to wait a couple years before we get data on how long the battery actually lasts for Tesla drivers. As for the electricity price I'm just going by the statistics provided by the US government. Maybe it's cheaper in other states? I dunno. And in case it isn't clear I'm not saying buying an electric car will mean saving $ in the long run. I already stated this in my 2nd post of this thread. All I'm saying is the price of the electricity needed to charge the battery is significantly cheaper than the price of gas which was juicystream's question.
It is not significantly cheaper. It is roughly the same as cars with good mpg. A TDI Jetta can go 45mpg without breaking a sweat. What battery does the Tesla use. I can google how many cycles it will last in 30 seconds. We don't have to wait on anything.
