Battery based electric vehicles of today and tomorrow.

[Larry Caldwell]

I saw an article this morning that there is 30 gw of offshore wind power in the infrastructure bill, but 10x as much will be necessary to decarbonize east coast electrical generation. Connecting the new generation capacity to the existing transmission lines is supposedly a serious problem.

The article did not explain why all of the new generation capacity had to be offshore. I don't know enough about the east coast to understand if that is real or just bad writing. Is it a NIMBY thing? I suppose if I paid east coast property taxes a big propeller would matter to me. Not that I am ever going to have to deal with it. My county has the lowest average wind speed of anywhere in North America. If you want a windmill to spin here, you have to put it on top of a mountain.

I can see the distribution problem as being real. Our electrical lines are designed around point source generation. I have a great south facing bare slope that would be a perfect solar site, except there's no way to get rid of the power. I'm the last house on the line. Try to pump 500 kw into that line and you would melt it. The big advantage of PNW wind power, like the Stateline Project, is that it can dump the electricity into BPA lines from the dams on the Columbia.

 

[kenmbz]

East coast is very populated and flat by where most power is used. So offshore is closest to the biggest grouping of population. Wind is not very reliable on shore for NY/NJ/MA etc. but offshore wind is pretty constant.
Also, does avoid NIMBY arguments

 

[California]

East coast ...offshore wind is pretty constant.
Also, does avoid NIMBY arguments

What about the ruined view at the coastal summer homes? Owned by the most influential elite?

Or will these be be beyond view?

 

[kenmbz]

So far these are pretty far out. Biggest push back, besides huge maintenance costs were about birds somehow hitting the blades. Don't remember that being an issue on land, so not sure where the data comes from.

Place metal in Saltwater, spray with salt water and ......Ever see cars that park by the beach daily for a year or so.

 

[California]

So far these are pretty far out. Biggest push back, besides huge maintenance costs were about birds somehow hitting the blades. Don't remember that being an issue on land

Same issue on land, maybe worst case is at mountain passes. So that's a NIMBY argument. Possibly ocean experience is greater.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Sam seems to see China in control of the car industry. Conventional car makers in Europe and North America just do not seem to be as driven as China.

 

[KiotiKowboy]

Without reading 6,000 posts ....

Has anyone considered the environmental disaster of these electric cars?

 

[California]

Without reading 6,000 posts ....

Has anyone considered the environmental disaster of these electric cars?

Explain?

Can you cite your sources?

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Without reading 6,000 posts ....

Has anyone considered the environmental disaster of these electric cars?

Yes. Environment concern continues to keep Tesla banned from starting production in their new German gigafactory.

China seems to be keeping the disasters in poor 3rd world countries.

The saving Grace of the EV industry pollution is that it seems to be much much less than the fossil fuel industry and it's usage that is happening inside the borders of the USA.

 

[KiotiKowboy]

They may get it right at some point - but EV is really not all they say. Mining the materials for these batteries is polluting. Disposing of all these massive dead batteries will be a disaster unto itself. The entire process (forcing green before its time) is ideology over logic.