Nissan electric car ...expensive?

But just how many need a car this size for city use? If you need one for general use there are lots of alternatives that beat the pious in every way - including price.

Well, I've been driving one of the alternatives (we won't get into 2nd hand cars at this point) for a couple of weeks and been spending significantly more on fuel than I would have been in a Prius.

Really don't get the hostility - they're a good car - refined, well equipped, and pretty efficient - without belching out carcinogenic particles.

He's been told so many times that torque without revs is useless but just sticks his fingers in his ears and goes la la la.

I can make 1000Nm one handed - just give me a nice big torque wench. I can't pull 40tons for very long or very fast, if at all - that takes POWER.

I've not driven the latest one, but found the Mk2 very average to drive. And on the open road with a full load, not at all economical - especially given the poor performance.

BTW, there's no reason a modern diesel with cat and particle filters should emit much other than CO2. Which of course does the Prius.

Domestic Solar?

But when that's making power the car is 10 miles away on co car park so it only works for night shift workers. Solution, get 2 cars, charge them alternate days?

And here's catch 22 for the alternative energy lobby.

Tidal, shifts peak output a bit later with every tide. At slack water it makes nothing. Slack water will coincide with peak demand at least twice a month.

Wind. No power if no wind. No power in high wind as they have to shut down to prevent overspeed runaway.

Wave power isn't 100% reliable either. I've been to Newquay when it was mill pond flat, just a slight ripple like a boating lake. All the surfers where pissed off as there was no weather all the way to New York so no waves and none expected for about the next week.

A lot more stored hydro electric schemes are needed to balance the variable output to demand load. More than doubles the infrastructure costs and reduces efficiency.

I used to sail the Irish Sea reasonably frequently, in small boats. There are always dead clam days and usually they are preceded by significant storms as has happened this week. Wind turbines will alternate between "shut down because the wind is too strong" and "not generating because there is no wind" on a regular basis through winter and spring. And I suspect that at the equinoxes there will also be shut downs due to violent gusts. All of which means, as you so rightly say below:

And nukes for the base load.

Those pumped storage schemes are going to have to be massive, equal to the installed capacity of wind turbines and with catchments sufficient to run for several days. I can just see, in my mind's eye, the screaming and protesting that will go on when every upland valley is dammed.

I can see us using low voltage lighting LED bulb types off a solar panel/battery storage system in future. Even if it were 15% off the bill.

We are now not able to catch rain water suitable for drinking because of polution. And whats collected in dams is highly treated.

There are arguments now over power generation and something to generate a base load.

The whole energy system has gone crazy and no one has the answer.

These wind farms are very noisy to live near, the wind at night is usually calmer, are they placed in the correct position on top of the hill! hang glider pilots don't seem to think so.

I see many cars on the roads why haven't they developed some type of device which would generate power when cars/trucks passed over them.

Conservation of energy, if it extracts energy from the vehicle then the vehicle will have to generate it.

Them's belched out elsewhere....

In article , Peter Hill scribeth thus

Indeed;!...

A most useful site....

No none of them will have the capacity to fuel the nations transport needs ..

Lets hope the Oil doesn't run out just yet;!...

No worse performance than the new batch of 1.6 diesels being fitted to just about everything of a similar size. But similar economy in the real world.

Ahh, yes, the DPF, because they're not an expensive PITA kludge at all...and such has been the popularity of removing them that the EU has now enforced legislation which effectively makes it illegal to do so.

Yep. In fact, my car has a maximum torque of 3000Nm; should be enough to impress any lorry driver...

(because it needs a gearbox to do anything useful, obviously)

...so can only do this 24 times per second.

You weakling!

Yeah good and well, but the problem with that is that then you need two cars. I.e. Two car purchases, two spaces, two insurences, two maintenance bills. Most not-so-rich people would prefer one car for all the jobs.

Plus most will use a cheap small secondhand car if just used for this sort of thing, and being low use won't cost that much to run in total. An EV may have low fuel costs - but that isn't the only costs of motoring.

Seems to be an urban myth these days - lots of new to 3 year old hatchbacks parked outside houses.

The days of the cheap banger for mum have long gone - most people have 2 nearly new financed cars these days.

Or just rent one for the very occasional times you'll need that range.

Only those with more money than sense.

So those 'most people' you are so lucky to know, need two long range cars.

No necessarily, the fuel is cleaner these days.