Times they are a changin

9am53 wrote:
“..but that coal would be burning whether I plugged in or not. They would not have to burn more coal to power my car, so looking at it that way it IS a zero emissions vehicle.”

Whether you want an electric car or not, and whether they are a good idea or not, this is rather strange assumption. The amount of energy consumed (demand) impacts the amount of energy required to meet the demand (supply) and therefore impacts the amount of coal burned to provide the supply. Now, I guess if you're looking at this at the molecular level, and suggesting that you are the only owner of an electrical vehicle on your entire power grid, you’re correct. It’s not going to take an extra trainload of coal per day to charge your single vehicle. But again, I suggest looking at the bigger picture and assume that the company that made your vehicle made more than one, and then imagine a large scale migration to electric vehicles and the additional coal needed to meet the demand.

No doubt my opinion may be influenced by the fact that I live in an area with literally millions of cars. Folks in lightly populated parts of the country may not see the same potential increase in electrical energy demand or impact on their power grid. You mention “when I get my house I will have some property, and there are many initiatives going on around here to setup solar fields on peoples property. This would feed into the power grid and I get a check every month, this solar power would likely offset much of the power I need to charge the car.” Based on that I must assume you're in a less populated area than me because around here you couldn’t buy a large enough lot for solar panels to power a single car unless you were rolling in money. Here are a couple examples of land prices:

Price: $8,000,000 $850,000 $99,000
Lot Size: 6.05 Acres 1.14 Acres 0.11 Acres
Primary Type: Land Land Land
Zoning Residential Commercial/Other Residential

650ed wrote:

sparkn wrote:
"It is much cheaper and lower on the carbon footprint to get the energy from a wall socket than a fuel tank."

Nothing could be further from the truth. You need to do some research instead of simply parroting politically correct propaganda. I hate to burst you bubble, but the energy does not come from "a wall socket." Think big picture; think of what it takes to get the power to the battery and what on the other side of that receptacle – no dear, contrary to what you’ve been told, it’s not magic. Consider production of the equipment to mine and transport the coal, the actual mining of the coal, coal transportation, coal burning generator plant infrastructure, power grid infrastructure, and maintenance of all of the above. Then there’s the pollution related to the burning of the coal (Can you say acid rain? I thought you could.) Then of course there’s the loss of the energy you seek to put into your battery as it passes through various forms (heat, rotational force, electrical power, transformation to lower voltages, finally to battery then back to rotational at motor and Lord knows how many other transformations in between. Then of course there’s the fact that energy is lost as electricity travels through power lines (energy in is more than energy out). Bottom line is the closer the energy source is to the energy use the lower the energy loss. Then what do you do with the billions of batteries as they expire? (oh I know, recycle them – more magic that takes zero energy to do, right?)

If that’s all too complicated for you to ponder, consider the following: If the millions of folks in a given urban area come home after work and turn on their PC’s, TV’s, lights, ovens, air conditioners, and other appliances AND all plug in their millions of electric vehicles the power grid will go kaput. So you build an even bigger power grid, do more coal mining (which anyone can see is just dandy for the environment) burn 10 times as much coal, etc, etc.

I’m not suggesting that there are not be ways to make vehicles more energy efficient and reduce overall energy consumption; there most certainly are. But electric vehicles are for linear thinkers who cannot fathom the bigger picture. Now somebody please help me off this soapbox.

Wow. Just wow. Your comments contain some of the most vile and evil thoughts I have heard in a long time. I will leave now never to return. You may now revel in your quick defeat. Good job. I'm sure your mother and kids are proud.

It goes 60mph in a electric way.I would think that would be all flywheel torque.I could be wrong But i would be willing to bet that some one some where is is looking at this bike and saying "Well at last somthing that looks and rides like a motorcycle that goes 60mph tops"
I was just joking about the whale meat but not about what Id like to do with a bike that "Goes 60"
Why would anyone want to go faster then 60? especially on the street.This bike is scary to me although Im sure lawmakers and ecopolitical types are gonna love it.

Yeah I live in a town of 240 people, more cows than people. Land around here is cheap, I was looking at 171 acres for $140,000, but my woman wanted a nicer house than the one that was there, and didn't want to wait for it to be renovated. I do see your point, but I don't think it's as easy as just saying electrics are a waste of time. If EV's, hybrids, and fuel cell cars are all on the road in 25 years then there will be far fewer gas dependent cars, which is a good thing. And back to the OT, if you had a scrap chassis and an electric motor and a few good batteries to hook in parallel you don't think you would try it out just for the heck of it? As kids we used to hook up chainsaw and weed eater motors to bicycles, this seems like the next step.

same company, but new model, 100 mile range, and 100+ mph

I like the noise,I like the vibes,I like the smell,I like the simplicity,I like the comradery,I like the fact that my bike is old but still goes faster then a cat that just had a red hot beer shit.I like that my bike does not have a computer on it.I really dont care about what happens to the planet once Im gone to tell you the truth.Yes we can all make changes to improve our carbon footprint but I like my old Kawasaki just the way it is.I hope some kinda solar powered lazer beam guitar blows this thread away.If anyone here is trying to push eco freindly electric motorcycles.YOU are in the wrong place,and need some professional help.

chill man, we all like our stinky loud leaky kawasakis, that's why we're all here with a garage full of bikes...it's just neat to think about.

sparkn wrote:
".... I'm sure your mother and kids are proud."

My Mother died April 30, 2010. I guess you win this argument. Ed

Mine doesnt leak

The people need a bike that runs off of CNG (compressed natural gas). The stuff that is piped into billions of peoples homes, burns at 100 octane, is VERY CLEAN, and the U.S. has the some of the largest underground concentrations of it. The thing one would have to do is increase compression ratios a little bit, and figure out a cylinder delivery system.

That would be sweet to be able to fill your bike up at home and it would be on the monthly gas bill.

Of course special gas tank designs would be neccisary, but not impossible.

Be Cool

-Luke

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