Reply #19: I know. [View All]

I'm not a novice. I'm a mechanical engineer. Which may or may not mean much. But I studied this stuff in school. And I even know someone who was one of the designers of that electric car that Ford built as a prototype back in 1989. But aside from that, what I'm getting at is that to simply produce a car it takes around 10% of the energy that the car will use in it's lifetime. It's a fairly small improvement, at this time. Now if we were all hydroelectric, or photovoltaic, then we'd be making a big difference. And I know I shouldn't be so critical since any improvement is good. But I'm looking at the bigger picture. The car is only a fraction of our global warming problem. Energy production, manufacturing, major transportation are all big contributors. To be honest, we could make about as big a difference with our cars by simply not driving them. There's a lot of frivolous activity going on with automobiles. It's an interesting subject. And we're up against a calendar.


And I'll admit that the 10% number that I quoted may not be realistic with electric cars. I know it is with internal combustion. But there is a significant difference between the two. Electric cars don't have hardened and ground valves and blocks and transmissions.

And another thing. This is why I am trying so hard to fight this sense of euphoria that consumers get when they discover potential solutions. There is a very strong tendency for people to not want to change. To continue with the lifestyles they are used to. And it's the very lifestyles we live that is going to have to change. Not necessarily the mechanisms by which we live them. I say that because of one thing. Population. Even in terms of electric cars running off a grid that is fully renewable, we have big problems. There is a much more serious bigger picture than most people realize. We simply cannot have, nor is it healthy in a multiplicity of ways, billions of cars. Rubber tires, bearings, glass, body parts, the energy to produce them, ship them, batteries. If you truly see the whole picture, then your head hurts. I think we had our last chance around 1970. I don't think we're going to pull out of this. But I could be very wrong about that. I was just listening to a discussion this morning (on a London based radio show, of course), where they believe we will have time to change our course.