" More on electric toy cars today!

There is going to be a test of the Renault/Nissan Alliance electric cars in France.

Folks may not know that Renault/Nissan is the multinational automaker that has committed to the 'Better Place' battery-exchange initiative of which the City of Napa is a part.

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2009/07/renaultnissan-alliance-and-edf-to-test-100-units-of-production-ev-models-in-paris-region-in-2010-new.html

These cars are the production prototype models that will enter full production in 2011.

Hello, local Nissan dealer???

When are you going to have one of these cars in Napa?

My downpayment is waiting!

~Ruff "

" "Are plug-in electric cars the new ethanol?"

By: Timothy P. Carney
Examiner Columnist

July 1, 2009

In the name of “clean energy,” Washington is subsidizing a switch from gasoline-powered cars to cars powered mostly by coal. In pursuit of “energy independence,” the feds may foster addiction to a fuel concentrated in a socialist-run South American country.

Lobbying by automakers, chemical companies and coal-dependent power producers has yielded a slew of subsidies and mandates for electric cars. However promising a gasoline-free automobile may sound, anyone who followed the government’s mad rush to ethanol fuel in recent years has to worry about the clean promise of the electric car yielding dirty results.

Ethanol — an alcohol fuel made from corn or other plants — has been pushed relentlessly on the American people by a Congress under the influence of a powerful ethanol lobby. Touted as a clean fuel, the government-created ethanol boom has contributed to water pollution, soil erosion, deforestation and even air pollution.

The Department Energy estimates that coal provides half our electricity. A recent Government Accountability Office study reported that a plug-in compact car, if it is recharged at an outlet drawing its juice from coal, provides a carbon dioxide savings of only 4 to 5 percent.

If the cleaner and cheaper fuel of a plug-in causes someone to drive even a bit more, it’s a break-even on CO2. GAO co-author Mark Gaffigan raised the question to CNSNews.com; “If you are using coal-fired power plants and half the country’s electricity comes from coal-powered plants, are you just trading one greenhouse gas emitter for another?” "

" kevin-

"Better Place" contracts with renewable energy producers for the energy it will use to charge their batteries. Coal-fired power producers need not apply.

However, even if there were to be some coal-burning powerplants used to charge electric cars the coal would still be creating jobs in America than can not be outsourced.

As to the type of government in charge of the places where Lithium (one type of batter chemistry) is available, I'd like to point out that major oil-selling countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran are religiously-inspired dictatorships.

"Better Place" is a business, NOT government although governments all over the world are involved with supplying the infrastructure to support automobiles such as roads and bridges.

These cars will not require the purchase of a battery so they will be less expensive that ones that do require a custom battery. In short, they solve some 95% of American driver's needs, and even help drive down the cost of fuel for the remaining 5% of drivers.

There is no political reason to be against electric cars UNLESS oil company lobbyists are funding work against their competition.

America is a land of invention and prosperity from invention and technology.

So you'd think that Americans who profess to love America and independence would be celebrating the liberation of American consumers from slavery to expensive transportation solutions requiring an expensive dirty foreign produced commodity with rising prices. Locally produced energy that would create American JOBS and renew American prosperity is the ticket to freedom.

But once again, Republicans want to put their political donors benefits before Americans who want an inexpensive convenient car.

~Ruff "

" An electric car that doesn't require a battery? This will be incredible!

Excuse me if I reserve my doubts.

I have no problems with electric golf carts or whatever. They are fine for old people, or people who don't lead busy productive lives. Knock yourself out... "

" Why is the Obama stimulus program not massively funding infrastructure to supply electric power for cars from huge solar and wind farms?

I see and hear nothing about large scale production of "renewable" electric power. "

" Russ, I think I read there is something like $5 Billion in there to build new power lines... "

" russ- Just because you don't hear about it doesn't mean it's not happening. It's not happening around here, except for Fairfield.

There is enough wind and solar energy available to satisfy ALL the energy needs of the USA including electric cars, and there is technology to make solar and wind 'dispatchable'.

We could generate a huge amount of power from solar roofs the way the Germans do.

There's room to add wind and solar to our grid. The internet has mainframes and tens of millions of PCs which together provide lots of data.

The grid can be modified to work in a similar way. Some big power stations and a host of small point power generation.

kevin- I thought I made it pretty clear that the customer does not have to buy a battery, not that car doesn't require one.

'Battery exchange' service companies will sign customers up and charge to let you use their batteries as a percentage of the miles you drive, much the way that cell phone providers charge you for your calling minutes.

I hope that this makes it clearer to the electric car denial folks that some very smart business brains have already thought of ways to leverage the strengths of current and future energy storage technology.

The battery technology patents that were bought up by the oil companies and kept off the market when they killed the EV-1 expire soon.

As Shai Agassey says there is nothing preventing 'Better Place' from buying better batteries to use as they become available, but the tech is good enough to start now.

~Ruff "

" So regardless, the consumer "buys" the battery one way or another.

As the article says, all we are doing is trading one import (oil) for another (lithium)... "

" kevin- Your view of economics would be very amusing if it weren't so short-sighted.

And the United States imports lots of things, kevin, there is nothing special about lithium that makes importing it a threat to national security, whereas with Middle Eastern oil there are national security implications especially when countries like Saudi Arabia funded the 9-11 terrorists.

The consumer rents the battery in a battery exchange electric car. Just like a consumer can buy a BBQ propane tank and go have it refilled individually, or can take a BBQ propane tank down for an exchange.

I've been having my own BBQ tank refilled and recently priced just exchanging my empty BBQ tank for another a 'full' one.

Guess what? Exchanging tanks is CHEAPER than having your own tank and getting it refilled when it runs out.

Battery exchange electric cars are designed to compete with petroleum-powered cars and WIN on price and convenience.

Expensive petroleum-based transportation solutions are going away.

Hang on to your dino car as long as you want.

~Ruff "

" "Expensive petroleum-based transportation solutions are going away."

Hmmmm, that would put a real damper on shipping, imports, trade. Heck it just might make Japan mad again. remember they have NO natural resources.

Since it will take ten years, according to Barry, to have that infastructure (Alt Fuels), we can still be dependent of foreign oil. We Americans can keep sending $700 Billion to those middle eastern countries that love us so much.

Forget the hughe reserves off the CA coast that would generate Billions into the state, remember that pesky budget thing, create an estimated 750,000 jobs, and ....wait for it........
get us off foreign oil. Just think with all our modern technology it would probably take just a couple of years.

I gues the New World Order of the Central Socialist Government has not gotten that progressive in their thinking yet.

Save the Republic! "

" freeport56- One of Japan's largest car makers, Nissan, is part of the Better Place initiative and provided the car in the demonstration video.

The demonstration battery-exchange station was set up in Yokohama, Japan.

Are you sure you want to pretend that Japan is not interested in electric cars?

I've begun to wonder if Republicans really do understand new technologies at all.

Today I took a picture of a new LED light bulb for sale in a Sacramento area COSTCO. The bulb provides as much light as a 45 watt incandescent bulb but only uses 3.5 watts, less than one old-style nightlight bulb.

Get it yet, Republicans? The old stuff is giving way as the new stuff comes in.

Kodak just quit making film because digital cameras have replaced film cameras. Many movies are now being shot in HD video instead of film because it saves 80% on production costs (and not just the film cost).

~Ruff "