Disadvantages of Electric Cars

George Christodoulou asked: With all the current emphasis on going “green” and protecting the environment, it is no wonder that the electric car has come center focus. Especially now with soaring gas prices, consumers want to know their options. Traditional gas powered vehicles have long been the focus of those concerned with environmental issues, and so invariably inventors and car manufacturers look to improve the technologies available on the electric car. If you are considering the purchase of an electric car, you need to be realistic about their benefits. They’ve come a long way recently but they still have some significant disadvantages, and there are still limitations to their use and wide spread availability. Here are some disadvantages you may want to consider when evaluating if an electric car is feasible for your transportation needs: 1. Electric cars are expensive to own. If you’ve checked into the price of an electric car, you know they are not “low end”. It’s not so much the price of the car as it is the price of the batteries which they run on. If you’ve purchased batteries you know how the costs can add up quickly, and the batteries used in electric cars are lithium-ion, which are expensive. Also keep in mind that eventually the battery packs will need to be replaced, as they have a life of approximately 3 to 4 years. 2. The batteries will need to be recharged. A second disadvantage to an electric car is that the batteries will need to be recharged. This will require advanced planning because you’ll have to allow adequate time for the batteries to be fully charged. Now this might not sound like that big of a problem but if you are thinking of purchasing an electric car then you will need to make an honest assessment of how much you will use your vehicle. An extended or unplanned trip could be problematic if you haven’t had time to fully recharge the batteries. 3. Limits on driving distance. If you drive long distances, an electric car might not suit your needs, so you will need to consider how far you plan on driving your car. Most of the electric cars have limits on how many miles they can go before needing a recharge. Electric car maker ZAP recently announced that their electric car could travel up to 100 miles per single charge, but many people drive more miles than that round trip on a daily commute to work. This is definitely a limitation for those who intend to use the vehicle for getting to and from their place of employment. You certainly would not want to run out of batteries if you got stuck in a rush hour traffic jam. 4. Lack of power. Another disadvantage to the electric car is the lack of power, specifically quick pickup. If you do a lot of interstate driving there are going to be times when you will need to accelerate quickly to merge into traffic. Electric cars have come a long way in recent years but still have to overcome a few more obstacles before becoming widely embraced as a solution for many consumers. Water 4 Gas Read more on Disadvantages of Electric Cars… Subscribe to the comments for this post? Share this on del.icio.us Digg this! Post this on Diigo Post on Google Buzz Add this to Mister Wong Share this on Mixx Share this on Reddit Stumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUpon Share this on Technorati Tweet This! Get Shareaholic

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Disadvantages of Electric Cars

BMW Megacity EV

BMW and the German Chamber of Commerce invited me to a dinner about BMWs electric future last month at Stanford University. BMW Group owns MiniCooper, BMW, and Rolls Royce. Although they didnt lend me a Rolls Royce to take friends to dinner in Napa Valley, they did let me take the MiniE for a spin. Read more on BMW Megacity EV… Subscribe to the comments for this post? Share this on del.icio.us Digg this! Post this on Diigo Post on Google Buzz Add this to Mister Wong Share this on Mixx Share this on Reddit Stumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUpon Share this on Technorati Tweet This!

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BMW Megacity EV

History of Electric Vehicles – Timeline

The past decade has been the most significant ten-year period for EVs since the first ten years of the 20th century, when 38 percent of cars in 1900 were charging up, many with the aid of Thomas Edison-designed electric technology. Read more on History of Electric Vehicles – Timeline… Subscribe to the comments for this post? Share this on del.icio.us Digg this! Post this on Diigo Post on Google Buzz Add this to Mister Wong Share this on Mixx Share this on Reddit Stumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUpon Share this on Technorati Tweet This!

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History of Electric Vehicles Timeline

Go Off The Grid With Alternate Home Energy

Home power usage is one of the primary issues of folk today. The fact is, everyone needs electricity to power our lives. We need the level of civilization that may be offered by electricity. However , the majority think that the price paid is simply too much for the amount of electricity they get to consume. In the actual spirit of humanity, people did what they usually do whenever theres something that does not absolutely satisfy them about life : they trail-blazed. Alternative home energy has been on the roll ever since people have made designs efficient enough to make them feasible. Folks may think that alternative power is simply a current development, but in reality alternative home energy has been around even before electricity was discovered. Consider these varieties of alternate home energy if you are enthusiastic about off the grid green energy for your house : 1. Wind power – recently windmills are employed in houses to run tiny generators. These generators produce and store electricity to be utilized in running small home appliances. But windmills have been around for a long time. If you have a look at the word “windmill” at green lifestyles websites like http://offthegridhomeenergy.com you will realize that this type of alternative home energy device was employed for a purpose aside from producing electricity. Yes, the windmill was indeed, used to mill grain. As you may well know, grinding grain my hand is very difficult work. So so as to make life handier and the production of flour better, windmills were used to turn the large grinders. Seeing as how this was so effective, it was inescapable that the windmill develop into the 21st century in order to be used as a power source. 2. Solar energy – many individuals think about this type of alternative home energy as something that’s technologically advanced. In a way, utilizing the power of the sun to supply electricity is. But this alternative home energy has already been used for a long, long time. Think about this word for a second : clothesline. Aha, you get it now, don’t you? Yes, we’ve been using solar electricity to dry our garments for God knows how long. Think about that spin dryer or hair-dryer you have and think how much electricity it uses to do a role that the sun has been able to do for a while albeit at a slower pace. This alternative home energy is harnessed today for a range of jobs. Some use it to heat their houses, others use solar electricity to heat water, and other people use solar power cells to power little appliances and save a little on that electricity bill. The potency by which we are now able to convert solar electricity into electricity is of such a degree it is possible to power a whole house! Now, isn’t that amazing? 3. Hydropower – this sort of alternative home energy employs water currents in order to turn turbines to run generators. Once more, this is not really a leading edge technology. Like windmills, waterwheels were often used to utilize the power of a nearby river in order to grind grain into flour. 4. Biogas – This is another choice home energy source. Biogas is produced naturally through the decomposition of different biological material. By using biogas instead of the common LPG, home owners can cut back on their heating bills. As you can see, there are a lot of different sorts of alternative home energy. What you need to do is explore these options and discover which type is the best for you to use. You have also been informed as to how we have used these power sources in the past and how they are being used today. Sadly, some of the techniques of harnessing these different alternative home energy types may yet appear unrealistic to the common homeowner. Nonetheless as technology continues to develop, you may be certain that the utilization of alternate energy will be more effective. By using alternative home energy, you do 2 things : you save on your costs and you assist in the creation of a new world. You see, alternative home sources of energy do not produce any damaging effects to the environment. By employing these sources, you harness relatively free energy. Some of the people may say that the devices used to harness these sources might be too pricey, but in the long term, you may finish up saving so very much more than you spend. Read more on Go Off The Grid With Alternate Home Energy… Subscribe to the comments for this post? Share this on del.icio.us Digg this! Post this on Diigo Post on Google Buzz Add this to Mister Wong Share this on Mixx Share this on Reddit Stumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUpon Share this on Technorati Tweet This!

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Go Off The Grid With Alternate Home Energy

Electric Car Kits – Are They a Good Value?

Virgil Sandberg asked: If you are thinking about a homemade electric auto, is an electric car kit your best course of action? When you do a electric?vehicle conversion the first thing to think about is what kind of car you need. Remember that you will be driving this car around, so you want it to be in good shape, just by putting an electric motor in a car will not make it look better. It does not have to be new, just in good condition, a sound car with a junk motor is a good candidate. Any gas auto can be converted, but the best for conversions are your lighter more streamlined ones, a small truck is a great choice. A good homemade electric car manual will guide you through this process. An electric car kit will generally contain the following items: o D.C. motor o Adaptor for transmission o Controller to regulate speed o Circuit Breakers & Fusible links o Amp & Volt Gauge o Battery box o Miscellaneous parts like cables, connectors and so on. o A conversion manual An electric car kit is convenient as they give you all the parts you need to do a conversion. The drawback to buying an electric car kit is that you can get all these parts yourself, they are widely available, and you can get them yourself at a fraction of the cost. A good manual will have links to low cost suppliers and even information on free sources. A key point to remember is that while an electric car kit gives you the parts, you still have to do all the work yourself. Another point to think about is the cost, most kits are going for over $10,000 while a good manual will show you how to do the whole conversion process for around $500-600. The choice is yours pay several thousand to have your parts bought for you, or get them yourself and save money. Since you have to do the work yourself anyway, I choose the less expensive way for a homemade electric auto Solar Power for homes Read more on Electric Car Kits – Are They a Good Value?… Subscribe to the comments for this post? Share this on del.icio.us Digg this! Post this on Diigo Post on Google Buzz Add this to Mister Wong Share this on Mixx Share this on Reddit Stumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUpon Share this on Technorati Tweet This! electric vehicle

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Electric Car Kits Are They a Good Value?

Geothermal Heat Pumps 101

Phillip Rye asked: It seems like about three million of you have asked me to explain how a geothermal system works. Well, maybe not three million, but it’s a bunch of you and I’m honored that I have the opportunity to do it. Now you’ve probably already figured out that I’m not smart enough to be real technical, but I do have some common sense. So I will use a common-sense approach to explain how the most efficient heating and cooling system available today can help you. Actually you could get the Oct. 25, 1948, issue of Life magazine and get a great explanation. That’s correct, 1948. Geothermal units are not new, but it has only been in recent years that they’ve gained in popularity. It just takes awhile for adults to embrace new ideas, especially if they cost more money. Notice that I said adults. When I show high school students how you can spend $50 more per month on installing a geothermal unit and save $75 per month on your utility bill, they simply say “cool.” No discussion or argument. They would take it in a minute. OK, OK – here’s how it works. All energy comes from the sun. Mr. Sunshine has provided a lot of BTUs for a lot of years and Mother Earth has absorbed and stored that energy. A closed-loop geothermal system simply removes those BTUs from Mother Earth in the winter and gives them back in the summer. At depths of five feet or more, the earth temperature remains close to 57 degrees, as evidenced by a cave’s temperature. This temperature varies only slightly across the United States. There are two basic ways to install a geothermal unit. If digging a trench is difficult or if space is limited, geothermal contractors drill holes into the ground vertically to install small-diameter polyethylene pipe. If digging a horizontal trench is feasible, the pipe is installed in a horizontal trench. A very small pump then circulates water from the earth to the geothermal unit and back to the ground in the closed-loop pipe. Actually, geothermal is not the best name for this unit. A better name is ground-coupled heat pump or water-to-air heat pump. As you learned in my last newsletter, a heat pump doesn’t create heat, it just moves heat from one location to another using a compressor. Example: A window air conditioner blows cool air inside and hot air outside. If you turn the air conditioner around, it will blow hot air inside and cool air outside. As it circulates 57-degree water in the winter, the geothermal unit, using the compressor to remove heat from the water, provides 105-degree air into the house. As the water goes back to the ground loop, it immediately starts absorbing BTUs from the earth. In the summer, a reversing valve simply reverses the process and the compressor pumps BTUs into the ground loop. The water returns to the earth and immediately starts cooling off again. It’s all about heat transfer. Here’s another example — a blacksmith heats a horseshoe to red hot. To cool it, he doesn’t wave the horseshoe into the air. Instead, he simply dips it in water. It cools off a lot faster and takes a lot less energy. I have been responsible for the installation of thousands of geothermal units and I have had no disappointed customers. My wife and I have had geothermal heating and cooling for 18 years and we simply would not have any other system. Geothermal gives good hot air in the winter and really cold air in the summer and uses less energy than any other central heating and cooling system. So don’t be a tightwad. Buy the best there is – you, your family, and your house deserve it. Solar power Read more on Geothermal Heat Pumps 101… Subscribe to the comments for this post? Share this on del.icio.us Digg this! Post this on Diigo Post on Google Buzz Add this to Mister Wong Share this on Mixx Share this on Reddit Stumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUpon Share this on Technorati Tweet This!

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Electric Car Conversion – What Are the Benefits of the Electric Powered Cars?

Ronen Hersh asked: Converting your car to an electric car could not be easier these days, more and more people are converting their car to run on electricity, and that way they save lots of money on gasoline.When converting your car to work on electricity, you will not feel any change in your car behavior, your car will be even better then what it was, so you can be sure that no damage will happen to your car. It is very easy to convert your car to work on batteries; in fact, anyone can do it, including you! Building you electric powered car is a matter of a few hours, in the worst cases, it will take you a day or two, but this happens only in rare cases that you don’t have all your time for building your car, if you do have the time to work on it, you will do it fast and easily, if you have all the tools you need for it. Now you don’t need the fancy hybrid cars that cost lots of money, you can build your own electric car conversion kit, and install it for yourself, what’s easier then that? Building an electric car conversion kit is not that expensive, now anyone can afford it, basically, if you buy an electric car it will cost you thousands of dollars, and building your own will not cost you more than a few hundreds, so of course it’s better to build it on your own. When you get your electric car ready, you will be able to drive more than 100 miles for one charge, and the charging will take approximately 30 minutes, and you can drive and drive, until the next charge. So I hope you understand the advantage of using an electric car conversion, you will save money, time, don’t hurt the environment, and have lots of fun! Solar Power for homes Read more on Electric Car Conversion – What Are the Benefits of the Electric Powered Cars?… Subscribe to the comments for this post? Share this on del.icio.us Digg this! Post this on Diigo Post on Google Buzz Add this to Mister Wong Share this on Mixx Share this on Reddit Stumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUpon Share this on Technorati Tweet This!

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You Decide – Weighing the Pros and Cons of Geothermal Energy

Darren W Chow asked: There has been an ongoing debate pertaining to the pros and cons of geothermal energy. Before we can begin to discuss the advantages and disadvantages, we need to have a clear understanding of what exactly geothermal energy is. 4,000 miles below the Earth’s surface is incredibly hot. It is thought to be over 7,000 degrees Fahrenheit. While this temperature is extremely dangerous and must be avoided, if you were to drill about 3 or 4 miles below the Earth’s surface, you can find a hot rock that is far less dangerous, and it is at only 300 to 400 Fahrenheit. This rock and heat can be used as a constant source of heat but would prove to be very expensive. Now while drilling and using this hot rock can be extremely expensive, there are other alternatives. In some places, only a few hundred feet below the surface there are areas that have combined this hot rock and underground water to produce hot water streams. This is the most economic source of heat below the earth and can be used in a number of ways. The heat can be used to heat homes, businesses and even run large farms or provide energy for greenhouses. The constant source of geothermal energy comes with a number of benefits and a number of concerns. These pros and cons mostly relate to environmental issues, overall cost and reliability. In terms of environmental effects, the impact of geothermal energy has more benefits than disadvantages. Geothermal facilities do not emit any emissions and on the whole, these factories take up far less space than any gas plants that are used for the same process. This is because the facilities do not require any underground pipelines to distribute fuel. Essentially geothermal energy is a universal contributor to a cleaner, safer and healthier environment. On top of the environmental benefits, geothermal plants are not only more efficient but are also very reliable. The system is much simpler all around and there are a lot less problems that can occur in maintaining the facility. There is also no waste disposal and transport of fuel required to run the factory and produce energy. The main con when discussing geothermal energy is the overall cost. The start up cost for geothermal power plants is quite substantial and this is the main argument against the energy source. However the truth is that this initial cost is often compensated for rather quickly as operation costs are extremely low in comparison to other sources of energy. The costs of drilling and maintaining these plants are also decreasing steadily. The technology used for geothermal energy is constantly improving and geothermal plants are becoming more readily available. There is no denying the technology involved and once we continue to lower the overall cost, there will be no limit to the benefits that we can take advantage of through the use of geothermal energy. Water 4 Gas Read more on You Decide – Weighing the Pros and Cons of Geothermal Energy… Subscribe to the comments for this post? Share this on del.icio.us Digg this! Post this on Diigo Post on Google Buzz Add this to Mister Wong Share this on Mixx Share this on Reddit Stumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUpon Share this on Technorati Tweet This!

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You Decide Weighing the Pros and Cons of Geothermal Energy

Geothermal Industry

Loisa Jamora asked: A quick increase in the population of ecological companies has been noticed following the rising product requests of the organic society. Several green businesses assist the environment by making products that lessens our energy demands. Some of these companies offer alternative energy methods like solar energy, wind power and other services by the geothermal industry. Geothermal power production facility throughout the world rose between years 2000 to 2005, involving about 0.2% of the entire world established power production facility. The Ground-Source Heat Pump, more popularly known as the Geothermal Heat Pump or basically geo-exchange, is the quickest rising geothermal appliance these days. It is exceedingly resourceful renewable energy machinery that is widely accepted in both commercial and residential buildings, with more that a million global installations by the year 2005. Geothermal Heat Pumps are utilized for space cooling and heating, including water heating too. This geothermal industry equipment depends on the reality that the ground has a moderately constant temperature all through the year, more humid that the air on top of it throughout winter and colder in summer. Ground-source heat pump methods function like two electrical devices, an air conditioner and a heating system but use about 50% less electricity than most usual cooling or heating systems. Geothermal technology is appropriate for incorporated local energy systems, country electrification and mini-grid purposes, particularly in dispensed generation methods, adding to nationwide network applications. It is being presented as a provincial resource, uniting the use of renewable power resources in conjunction with ecological benefits. Geothermal power is enclosed in the heated ground with rocks and liquid filling the pores and cracks in the earth’s outer layer. It can be collected in two days, straight usage of steam or hot water for room heating or manufacturing use like thermal baths, hot springs, aquaculture and to electricity power plants. Direct little temperature usage take up about double the power facility as is employed for power production. Direct usage of geothermal heat has been observed for already a thousand decades. The main direct use function nowadays are ground source heat pump installations for room heating, currently approximated to go above five hundred thousand and are the topmost in terms of universal facility and third in productivity. Geothermal energy is generated by using any of the fundamental technologies it has. Dry steam electricity plants making use of dry steam methods were the first among the many geothermal industry plants to be constructed. They make use of the vapor from the geothermal tank as it present from wells and course it straightly through turbines or generators to create electricity. These days most widespread types in the geothermal industry include flash steam plants. They utilize water at high temperatures being pumped below high pressure to the generation apparatus outside. Upon reaching the generation apparatus, the pressure is abruptly decreased, permitting some of the heated water to change or “flash” into vapor. Being in the geothermal industry with geothermal power assignments calls for high principal investment for examination, making wells and plant installations, but have low operating expenses because of the low secondary charge of oil. Investment returns are not attained as faster as with inexpensive fossil fuel electricity plants, but longer term profitable benefits accumulate from the usage of this native fuel supply. Solar power Read more on Geothermal Industry… Subscribe to the comments for this post? Share this on del.icio.us Digg this! Post this on Diigo Post on Google Buzz Add this to Mister Wong Share this on Mixx Share this on Reddit Stumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUpon Share this on Technorati Tweet This!

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Geothermal Industry

Homemade Electric Car for Science Project

George Christodoulou asked: The buzz about alternative energy and Electric Vehicle (EV) has revived the last few years because of the clear threat that global warming has become. But for hobbyists and innovators, and lovers of life and earth, electric cars have been the gold standard for quite sometime now. Even more so after losing hope in Detroit, which actually recalled perfectly working and sold out versions of its EV and destroyed it for no apparent reason in the early 90s, even more so. It makes good sense too. The earliest cars were EVs and the managed to make motor vehicle history. Their time was up for no good reason when automakers decided to make cars with the internal combustion engines that require fossil fuel, a limited source of energy. Everything from old Ford Taurus to Opel GT and even full scale trucks has gone electric or hybrid thanks to your owners. You can rest assure though that it takes a lot of time and energy to get it done, but surprisingly not a lot of money. In fact, for what you save on gas after your little science project, the cost of the whole thing will seem negligible. You might want to consider taking help from a friend who lives and breathes engines or a local mechanic if you yourself are a novice, despite your enthusiasm. Just keep in mind that the basic to making your car hybrid is packing it with a load of 12volts car batteries and figuring out a way of using smaller engines that powers it up enough to keep you rolling. And you better have clear diagram on where your wire are headed. But there is more to it than meets the eye. To get a clear idea of what you are doing, you might even want to read up on plans for restructuring your car. Websites such as MotherEarthShopping.com offers them online too. Or you could just Google “hybrid car plan” or “DIY hybrid car” to find other online sources. But if you don’ want to jump directly into gutting your car’ engines, there’ a perfectly rational and satisfying thing you can do: get yourself a DIY electric car building kit. Not only will this give you a great sense of creation satisfaction, it will also help you better understand how electric cars work. Companies like the Robert Q. Riely Enterprise offers a great range of high end DIY kits which allow you to actually make everything from scratch, but with full detailed instructions. You even have your choice of two or four wheelers that you can take for a real spin around and beyond your neighborhood. They make for fun and interesting science projects that will serve a real purpose once completed. Solar power Read more on Homemade Electric Car for Science Project… Subscribe to the comments for this post? Share this on del.icio.us Digg this! Post this on Diigo Post on Google Buzz Add this to Mister Wong Share this on Mixx Share this on Reddit Stumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUpon Share this on Technorati Tweet This!

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Homemade Electric Car for Science Project

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