Originally Posted by
Cobrajet
Might work for some people, but I will take a three minute refuel that takes me 400 miles over an eight hour recharge that takes me 120 miles any day.
That’s definitely the one outstanding trait that brought me here. I can go three, sometimes four weeks without refueling.
But that’s also why an electric drivetrain would work so well for my situation. I could commute back and forth to work a whole week and then some without needing to recharge an electric vehicle, and that’s with the puny ranges of the early versions.
Current electric vehicle criticism is understandable. Though it seems that criticism is only for not having enough imagination to see that not everyone lives like the critic does.
I don't take many long trips outside the range of today's electric cars. If that happens, I can either use one of our other vehicles, rent one, or use some other mode of transportation. This is said with the understanding that not everyone has the luxury of options.
Originally Posted by
Cobrajet
Originally Posted by
Eggman
Aren't diesels being phased out? Between electric and diesel drivetrains, one is gaining ground and the other is losing.
Yeah, apparently the powers-that-be just discovered that diesels burn fossil fuels, and those fossil fuels pollute. They conveniently forget the strip mines that provide the materials for batteries in electric cars and the mostly coal-fired power plants that charge them up.
So just a quick question - of the two forms of energy you pose here, which do you think has a greater long-term impact - diesel or electric drivetrains? That's a big discussion, probably outside the scope of this forum.
Originally Posted by
Cobrajet
Today's diesels are actually quite clean,
That's an interesting observation. Some regions such as Europe are starting to enforce pollution controls on diesels, but is this worldwide? And aren't the pollution controls contributing to the decline in the diesel market?
Originally Posted by
Cobrajet
but the push is to electric cars powered by millions of solar panels and windmills which are supposedly only going to be put in places that don't piss anyone off.
Yeah, there are local communities that push back on these renewable sources of energy, but it seems they are cutting off their noses to spite their face. Besides, isn't the location of these renewable sources of energy determined by big business interests, who could profit from wherever these technologies can be placed?
Originally Posted by
Cobrajet
I remember the big 'veggie oil diesel' craze of about ten years ago when gas prices went nuts, but I guess people are mostly over it now.
Doesn't used cooking oil foul and clog fuel systems not designed for it?
Originally Posted by
Cobrajet
Add "Dieselgate" into the mix and diesels are looking more than a little passe.
There was a time when diesels looked like the path to better fuel efficiency but the VW cheating scandal along with designs like our Mirage seem to have put that dirty fuel source to bed. But again, not everyone sees it that way.
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View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 49.6 mpg (US) ... 21.1 km/L ... 4.7 L/100 km ... 59.5 mpg (Imp)