Why, fuel-cells, of course! Using fossil fuels to extract and refine it, continuing our "oil addiction" (I heard W say it). They're here already. Not to mention they require around FOUR TIMES the energy to move u down the highway as an EV. Plus they won't work in colder climates (can u say frozen water, I thought the stuff falling from the sky was dangerous in winter) Oh, wait, this post is 20 years too soon.

Sorry about that...hey, EVs are here now with some substantial range and charging improvements. They can cover 80-90% of all Americans driving everyday. Oh, but most have been crushed because there was no market. And existing grid capacity during off-peak times is just going to waste. Man, we are a stupid species sometimes.

We were in Europe last year and paid equivalent of $6 per gallon for diesel on a two week trip. We had a rented VW Golf TDI (which got 48 mpg by my figures). The traffic was just as bad or worse than here. The main difference in France, anyway, was lots more scooters, and diesels outnumber gas cars 10-1 (by my figures). The human animal is an amazing creature. Somehow you will cope with changes such as gas prices increasing. There are alternatives. My Prius is one, but America, the new world, seems reluctant to give up their gas hog cars and develop alternatives. There are lots of alternatives, big ass SUVs are not one of them. Hybrids are a start in the right direction. Maybe full EV or Fuel Cells some day too.

Yeah go EV! you wont have to stop for fuel and pay for gas, BUT you will pay alot more for your electricity at home as most power plants still run on oil & coal fossil type fuels

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusguy04 @ Apr 5 2006, 07:32 PM) [snapback]235637[/snapback]</div>

Puleeeaaase. Of course you'll pay for the energy you use instead of gasoline. But were you aware that you'll pay about 1/5th of what you're paying for gasoline at $2.50/gallon? If your electricity bill goes up $50 because of your EV, that means you'd be saving $250 on gasoline. For most, that's a happy thing. You also have the option of making your own power, unlike with gasoline. And you realize that the average gas car uses as much electricity as my electric car? (read that one again, please). My gas car uses no more electricity than a 25mpg gasoline car. It takes GOBs of electricity to make gasoline. But we mostly just ignore that source of pollution since the gasoline is so much worse than the electricity production. Ironic, eh?

Most power plants do NOT run on oil. About 60% of the grid is currently coal yes. And coal is nasty... but it doesn't drive around, and can therefore be more easily contained. And most importantly, it is 100% domestic energy feedstock. Nobody controls our access to electricity in the US. Were does your oil come from, and where do your purchase dollars go?

Sure, there are some negatives in using electricity instead of gasoline, but don't for a minute think that they're significant as compared to the negatives of continuing to use gasoline.


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(finman @ Apr 4 2006, 07:35 AM) [snapback]234665[/snapback]</div>

What the hell? I thought I'd accidentally changed my username. Well said!

I guess you could mount one of those windmills on the roof and regenerate your power so you could just keep driving & only have to plug in over nite! Cool, what a concept!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusguy04 @ Apr 5 2006, 08:10 PM) [snapback]235660[/snapback]</div>

Nothing better than perpetual motion! Why bother plugging in ever if all you have to do is move to make power?

OK, so back on track...
That gas costs us more than what we pay at the pump isn't really news to anybody is it?! Just amazes me when I hear people speak of the price at the pump as if that's all it costs us to use.

And here we have the other side of the coin. There are articles knocking hybrids and EV's which members of Priuschat cry bloody murder. Well, here is the propoganda of the other side.

You could add up so many external costs for any source of energy, gas, coal, diesel, hyrdo, geothermal, solar, whatever. I mean where do you draw the line at what external costs to include and which to exclude? It all depends how high you want to artificially inflate the price.

BS is BS, no matter what male cow it comes from.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DocVijay @ Apr 5 2006, 08:44 PM) [snapback]235684[/snapback]</div>

Obviously you are free to think about it like that if you choose. And you are correct that there is no easy answer. Just don't go overboard and dismiss the whole concept that the price we all pay for gas goes beyond the price at the pump. You can't put a price on national security, so even if you total up all the "costs" of domestic electricity and compare it to all the "costs" of gasoline, gasoline still draws the short stick if for no other reason than WE ARE NOT IN CONTROL of it... and our society was built on it, and depends heavily on it.

No propoganda to dismiss there!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(darelldd @ Apr 6 2006, 12:24 AM) [snapback]235708[/snapback]</div>

I didn't. I just said the article was full of BS. Of course I know that the price of gas is higher than what we pay. It's just impossible to come up with an accurate figure as they are saying they do. Also I never said that gas is less than electricity. All I said was that ALL forms of energy have externalities that are not factored into the actual price we pay.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DocVijay @ Apr 5 2006, 09:34 PM) [snapback]235715[/snapback]</div>

Gotcha. I didn't mean to imply that you DID say that gas was less than electricity. Not sure where that confusion came from. Anyway, I think we both understand the realities here.