College essay help, kinda: Off-topic discussion forum: Grassroots Motorsports Magazine

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Feb. 18, 2010 10:23 a.m. Spinout007 HalfDork
My wife just got this assignment, thought I would post it here for some opinions/feedback. I know one person on here is DEFINATLY into this idea, I don't know about anyone else.

Here's the assignment
Read the article in the NYT about the infrastructure needed for electric cars. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/15/business/15electric.html?pagewanted=2&hpw
I sincerely believe that electric cars are a good idea, but there are problems other than the ones listed in this article. For exemple:
```
 Taxes are collected on gasoline and diesel fuel to build and maintain highways.  How will we tax electricity?

  According to the article, a car might need three times the electricy of a typical home.  If this is the case, won't that drive prices higher for electricity?
```
Write about these and other unforeseen problems with electric cars.
Here's page one of the required reading. pg 1

pg 2
Feb. 18, 2010 10:58 a.m. RX Reven' Reader

Here are a couple of issues that initially come to mind:

Gas stations…great opportunity to reallocate use of prime real estate but how do we manage the transition without shocking the system.

Mechanics…far fewer will be required as electric cars are much simpler so we need to plan for retraining.
Feb. 18, 2010 11:01 a.m. mad_machine SuperDork

We will also need to retrain our fire departments in the use of extraction equipment on a car capable of electrocution AND our hazmat teams on what to do when the batteries are compromised in an accident.
Feb. 18, 2010 11:47 a.m. ReverendDexter Dork

There's always the consideration for blind people - electric cars make no noise while stationary, and little noise when moving.
Feb. 18, 2010 12:04 p.m. mad_machine SuperDork

RX Reven' wrote:

Gas stations…great opportunity to reallocate use of prime real estate but how do we manage the transition without shocking the system.

Something to note.. even the cleanest of gas stations are still an enviromental hazard. All that petrolium that seeped into the ground has to go somewhere. Either through continual monitoring or digging it all up.

Would you want your clean business or home built on land with monitor wells beneath it?
Feb. 18, 2010 12:06 p.m. 4cylndrfury SuperDork

As consumers become more educated about electric vehicles and their systems, more and more people will choose to hybridize regular IC cars, and Bryce will need a new gimmick
Feb. 18, 2010 12:12 p.m. aircooled SuperDork
- How about hotroding electric cars?
- What will be the equivalent of fart can exhaust on an electric car?
- Will a hood mounted Jacobs ladder replace the Nitrous purge valve?
- Will drag strips become more common since there will be almost no noise?
- Will racing in reverse (which could be just as fast) become a fad?
Feb. 18, 2010 12:15 p.m. spitfirebill Dork

mad_machine wrote:

RX Reven' wrote:

Gas stations…great opportunity to reallocate use of prime real estate but how do we manage the transition without shocking the system.

Something to note.. even the cleanest of gas stations are still an enviromental hazard. All that petrolium that seeped into the ground has to go somewhere. Either through continual monitoring or digging it all up.

Would you want your clean business or home built on land with monitor wells beneath it?

Don't worry about the gas stations. CVS and Walgreens will buy them up and turn them into drug stores. Happens all the time.
Feb. 18, 2010 12:41 p.m. donalson SuperDork

spitfirebill wrote:

mad_machine wrote:

RX Reven' wrote:

Gas stations…great opportunity to reallocate use of prime real estate but how do we manage the transition without shocking the system.

Something to note.. even the cleanest of gas stations are still an enviromental hazard. All that petrolium that seeped into the ground has to go somewhere. Either through continual monitoring or digging it all up.

Would you want your clean business or home built on land with monitor wells beneath it?

Don't worry about the gas stations. CVS and Walgreens will buy them up and turn them into drug stores. Happens all the time.

yup had a walgreens open here just a few weeks back... was an old gas station
Feb. 18, 2010 4:18 p.m. Marty! HalfDork

As I recall most gas stations make 99% of the profits from the high mark up prices of convenience items so the gas going away shouldn't be that big of a deal. The credit card companies make more on a gallon of gas the the station it self.

As long as people need a cup of coffee and a donut to start their morning stations will always be around.
Feb. 18, 2010 5:01 p.m. JoeyM Reader

less gas tax to maintain roads = more toll roads (which may not be a problem with epasses....except the privacy issues those raise)
Feb. 18, 2010 5:36 p.m. Gearheadotaku HalfDork

As more and more electric cars enter the world wide fleet, we will need more power plants to charge them. Sure, wind and solar use will increase too, but not at a rate fast enough to meet the rising demand for electricity. More power plants = more pollution. Electric cars won't cut pollution, they just move it around. Plus the issue of battery production (very dirty) and disposal. Production pollution doesn't just come from the plant, look at the mines where the raw material comes from. Much of it is in China where there is little enviromental protection, then the ore has to be shipped and pocessed...The cars won't work well in cold climates. I do not want an electric car.
Feb. 19, 2010 9:33 a.m. Spinout007 HalfDork

Hey guys thanks for chiming in, alot of good points, I'm quite sure she'll include more than a few in her essay. Again thanks.
Feb. 19, 2010 1:28 p.m. NGTD HalfDork

When are electric cars going to get plugged in? - right after people get home of course. 4-7 pm is when most eletrical consumption is at peak already. In many areas the peaking plants are coal or oil - see where this is going?

Not going to reduce GG, probably increase them.

Can you count on solar, wind or nukes for peaking? - nope.
Feb. 19, 2010 2:56 p.m. skruffy Dork

Marty! wrote:

As long as people need a cup of coffee and a donut to start their morning stations will always be around.

I'd imagine most people that get breakfast at a gas station are doing so because they needed to get gas and were there anyway.