which is better?

[raisenop3]

I'm thinking about buying a hybrid, or electric car.
I also know a little information about turning your car into a bio diesel car. But which do you think is better, and who out there has the best deal?
Thanks!!

[akboss]

Originally Posted by raisenop3

I'm thinking about buying a hybrid, or electric car.
I also know a little information about turning your car into a bio diesel car. But which do you think is better, and who out there has the best deal?
Thanks!!

Nissan LEAF will be the first full-electric car, and will be available this fall I believe. A plug-in Prius will be available soon, and the Chevy Volt promises a blend of range-increasing gas engine options as well as the all-electric city cycle. If you want cheap and green (and ugly, IMO), wait for the LEAF.

[Shpuker]

Are you looking for a new car? Price range? Any sort of requirements as far as size and interior room?

[Shpuker]

but clean diesel is always better than electric or hhybrid

[akboss]

Originally Posted by Shpuker

but clean diesel is always better than electric or hhybrid

How do you figure? Diesel is still an oil product, bound by fluctuation of oil supply and cost at the pump. According to studies on the Chevy Volt, it costs about $1.50 in electricity to charge the car to drive 40 miles. So, for $38, you could drive 1000 miles on electricity. Assuming you're in the most efficient diesel sold in North America (a VW Jetta TDI, 51 mpg and gas at $3/gal) it will cost you $60 to go the same distance. That means the electric car costs almost half as much to run. Plus, since there are no moving parts in the engine, maintenance is...well, zilch - no oil changes,

Times are a' changin. Oil won't be around forever, and the industry is changing faster than you know it. CAFE regulations set in in 2016, and by that time almost every manufacturer will have a hybrid or pure-electric car for sale. I'm not saying I'm super keen on these electric cars, but it makes sense - electricity can be obtained from many sources that are not nearly as destructive to the environment as drilling for oil, and we have wind/solar in infinite supply. Fast charging systems will enable cars to get a jolt of electricity just like you fill up on gas, and it will not be nearly as volatile.

[Shpuker]

Originally Posted by akboss

How do you figure? Diesel is still an oil product, bound by fluctuation of oil supply and cost at the pump. According to studies on the Chevy Volt, it costs about $1.50 in electricity to charge the car to drive 40 miles. So, for $38, you could drive 1000 miles on electricity. Assuming you're in the most efficient diesel sold in North America (a VW Jetta TDI, 51 mpg and gas at $3/gal) it will cost you $60 to go the same distance. That means the electric car costs almost half as much to run. Plus, since there are no moving parts in the engine, maintenance is...well, zilch - no oil changes,

Times are a' changin. Oil won't be around forever, and the industry is changing faster than you know it. CAFE regulations set in in 2016, and by that time almost every manufacturer will have a hybrid or pure-electric car for sale. I'm not saying I'm super keen on these electric cars, but it makes sense - electricity can be obtained from many sources that are not nearly as destructive to the environment as drilling for oil, and we have wind/solar in infinite supply. Fast charging systems will enable cars to get a jolt of electricity just like you fill up on gas, and it will not be nearly as volatile.

Don't start on the, "but electricity is much cleaner arguement." I'll agree its cheaper as far as per mile charges. Electricity still comes from power plants where their still burning coal. So unless your gona hook up a solar panel to your roof your still using fossil fuels. And if you look at a full electric compared to diesel you still have to consider the cost to replace all those batteries. Which levels out the cost quickly.

And if you look Hybrid vs. Diesel its just pointless. You little hybrid might get 5-10 mpg more than a fully gas powered twin but then you have to look at the cost of the hybrid vs the Gas/diesel car, and the cost to replace the extra batteries when they go dead. Pretty soon all these options even out the prices and you have to look at which ones more powerful and more practical. Diesel pulls ahead.

If you really want to look at the future of the automobile though you need to look at the emerging hydrogen fuel cell technology. ex. the Honda Clarity, Can travel distances like that of a gas powered car and doesn't take hours to fill up before you can get going again. It fills up like a regular car yet it runs on an electric motor and the only emission is water... Pure H2O. And the only issue that they have yet to have solved is cost. So in say 3-4 years this type of technology is going to be affordable to anyone that would previously have looked at a Prius or some other hybrid. So THIS is the future of the automobile.

[akboss]

Whether or not Hydrogen pans out has yet to be seen - while hydrogen is massively abundant, extracting it and creating a usable fuel still takes massive amounts of electricity, which as you correctly note is still heavily reliant on fossil fuels to generate. So it all hinges on how do we create electricity cheaply and effectively - if you've got a good idea for that, get a patent out there cause you're about to be a gagillionaire...that is if the oil tycoons don't hire some goons to put you out, lol.

The discovery of cheap, abundant and efficient electricity will power the next phase of our world. Right now we work so hard and destroy so much to get very little - when we can extract gigawatts with ease, aka Ironman, think of the potential for mechanical devices everywhere! It's sci-fi now but that will be the key to all our future energy needs. Anybody got some ideas? lol.

[Shpuker]

Originally Posted by akboss

Whether or not Hydrogen pans out has yet to be seen - while hydrogen is massively abundant, extracting it and creating a usable fuel still takes massive amounts of electricity, which as you correctly note is still heavily reliant on fossil fuels to generate. So it all hinges on how do we create electricity cheaply and effectively - if you've got a good idea for that, get a patent out there cause you're about to be a gagillionaire...that is if the oil tycoons don't hire some goons to put you out, lol.

The discovery of cheap, abundant and efficient electricity will power the next phase of our world. Right now we work so hard and destroy so much to get very little - when we can extract gigawatts with ease, aka Ironman, think of the potential for mechanical devices everywhere! It's sci-fi now but that will be the key to all our future energy needs. Anybody got some ideas? lol.

So far so good I hear lol we'll see

sadly

Flinstone powered cars? I dunno lol

[carbuyhelp]

This is becoming a really interesting argument coming from a simple question. So what do you guys think will be the fuel of the future? and when do you think this will become a worldwide event. Oil companies have their claws around manufacturers...I hope the petroleum market will sink together with the BP gulf spill, so we can have cleaner air and a non-petroleum-based economy...hopefully cheaper clothes, cheaper groceries, cheaper everything...:-)

[akboss1]

Originally Posted by carbuyhelp

This is becoming a really interesting argument coming from a simple question. So what do you guys think will be the fuel of the future? and when do you think this will become a worldwide event. Oil companies have their claws around manufacturers...I hope the petroleum market will sink together with the BP gulf spill, so we can have cleaner air and a non-petroleum-based economy...hopefully cheaper clothes, cheaper groceries, cheaper everything...:-)

Thing is, oil companies are so big and so powerful that they will dictate what the new 'fuel' is, be it solar farms generating electricity or hydrogen conversion centers or whatever. Except for small underground projects where people are creating their own biofuel conversions or using fryer grease to power their old TDI's, any significant technology will get bought up or squashed by one of the oil giants.

So if the oil companies are the only ones who can create the next fuel, surely they will be the ones to price it. Instead of digging for it, I predict they will be growing it. Farmers will be the new miners - scientists creating new crop species that grow faster and produce more oil, like corns, canola, etc. I just read something today about Michelin coming out with a new tire that uses Sunflower oil to deliver better performance, here's the link:

http://www.michelinman.com/tire-sele...acy-mxm4-tires

The reason I don't take oil too seriously is because nothing will change until it becomes profitable. As much as governments and societies all over the world strive to reduce 'pollution', it is all a financial agenda. When oil becomes too expensive to obtain so that it eats away at profit margins, new technology will surely appear shortly thereafter.

[famlycar]

You could get one of those cars they use in China where you, the driver , sits in the back seat and you pay a guy so much per hour to move the pedals on the bicycle... ? ..called a rickshaw I think.

[akboss1]

Originally Posted by famlycar

You could get one of those cars they use in China where you, the driver , sits in the back seat and you pay a guy so much per hour to move the pedals on the bicycle... ? ..called a rickshaw I think.

Man, people would be in such good shape if we used Rickshaws. And yes, that's the proper name!

[famlycar]

Anyway, a lot of interesting things mentioned here...

True, electricity is not the only way; gas and oil will still be used but it will be taken away from those so-called big companies and given to others who will manage it better and cheaper and more generously; also those robbers in the Middle East will not control the oil either... it will soon be taken away from them as well... gas prices will be going way down soon because there is an ever supply of it . It's like diamonds... there are a billions of diamonds in the world but 2 or 3 big shots who own all the mines so the value remains high until the big shots are erased and diamonds lose their value...

Don't lose hope... a great change wll happen.