The Forum > General Discussion > Electric Cars
Electric Cars
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Posted by Josephus, Tuesday, 2 April 2019 3:26:36 PM
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The SA power grid is NOT based on wind. Natural gas is the main source (60%). A small amount comes from diesel-powered stations and, when unreliable wind and sun lets us down, we rely on interstate interconnectors - coal-powered.
Posted by ttbn, Tuesday, 2 April 2019 3:54:32 PM
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It was such a damn shame that when the Libs saw off car manufacturing in this country that we didn't take a run at supporting the manufacture of electric cars.
The US government subsidy of Tesla ran into billions of dollars and a loan of over $400 million from the Department of Energy was paid back in 3 years. We had no such visionaries here. The Libs just wanted to do away with all subsidies so the farmers of the Nationals could sell their produce overseas all the while sending a substantial manufacturing skillset to the scrap heap. Well that chance seems to be blown thanks to typical neanderthal thinking, some of which is on display here. Posted by SteeleRedux, Tuesday, 2 April 2019 5:26:31 PM
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The more electric cars that we have in service means that the new car market will decline, electric cars do not wear out.
I have seen electric motors that have been in use for over 100 years and apart from a couple of skims of the commutators and replacement of brushes nothing much has been done to them. On my small lathe I have a 1/3 hp, repulsion induction motor that's probably over 70 years old, it was second hand when I bought it 60 years ago and it has had nothing done to it since I've had it. The yearly new model will be a thing of the past. Posted by Is Mise, Tuesday, 2 April 2019 6:56:42 PM
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Belly,
"It worked, for a while, progress can not be stopped once no doubt, people sniggered when told whale oil would no longer light street lamps" Be careful what you wish for. We've reached the first time in history where the rich and powerful no longer need a large labour force. They have the technology for robots and AI. I hear AI can now diagnose patients better than doctors. Human beings are becoming obsolete. Human beings have reached the pinnacle of their usefulness. Which is why I've always advocated for a system that safeguards human usefulness. 'Socialist base-level employment' to make use of the 5% capitalism needs to prevent wage growth. 'The job you have when you don't have a job'. Posted by Armchair Critic, Tuesday, 2 April 2019 7:25:48 PM
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Struth, there's so many ridiculous statements on this thread it's difficult to know when to start!
But I suppose I'd better start by saying I'm NOT of the opinion that there's an urgent need to shift Australia to electric cars. IMO Air pollution concerns mean there's quite a strong case in Sydney, but in the rest of the country it's far from compelling. Most of the posters in this thread seem to think there's a huge technical obstacle to overcome. They seem not to have noticed that the grid is being upgraded anyway, and there's currently a huge investment in solar and wind farms and a general consensus that the grid will need to (and will) be upgraded whatever happens. But more alarmingly, they've also failed to notice that contemporary EVs aren't like the underpowered short range EVs of the late twentieth century (or in Hasbeen's case, the early twentieth century). The technology has moved on! To get some idea of the reality, try reading http://reneweconomy.com.au/better-off-walking-to-dubbo-the-melt-down-at-sky-news-over-ev-targets-84630/ I see the usual promoters of nuclear power are again baselessly dismissing the capabilities of renewables while relying on heroic assumptions about the cost of nuclear. As usual the stupidest comments belong to ttbn, who this time seems to think electric cars would result in us using bullock wagons for freight! I see he also disputes a claim that wasn't made. What the SA power grid is currently based on does not alter the fact that wind power was used to restore the grid after the statewide blackout. Whether the windfarm had batteries for this purpose or just used a type of generator that didn't require active excitation I don't know, but the fact remains that you can start a grid with wind power and our state did. BTW ttbn, your "60% gas" figure is either a bit misleading (because it excludes behind the meter solar) or old. It's more like 50% and falling rapidly. Posted by Aidan, Tuesday, 2 April 2019 10:00:39 PM
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The problem remains if we leave coal in the ground we wont have the bitumen to surface the roads.