Re: 500 mpg cars?

From: z (gzuckier_at_snail-mail.net)
Date: 03/06/05 

Date: 6 Mar 2005 14:32:28 -0800

thegrq wrote:
> A story was posted at theWatt.com about the possibility of a 500mpg
> car. Apparently the technology is here now. It would involve "plug
in"
> hybrids and also an engine that can take 85% ethanol (I guess in
> Brazil they already have these engines). The 500mpg would only apply
> to the petroleum part of the fuel.
>
> Some problems though, if everybody had "plug ins", how much would
that
> strain the grid?

Electric companies were pushing electric cars 20 years ago as a way to
wring more use out of their investment, which supplies barely enough
electricity on a summer's day but has huge reserve capacity overnight.
As somebody asked at the electric company talk I went to then, 'What
happens if people want to plug their cars in in the daytime?' 'Uh,
er..'

> And would it even be possible to make enough ethanol
> to replace 85% of our fuel?

Given that ethanol is barely a break-even process energetically if you
manage to capture all the waste heat etc. from the process (huge fossil
fuel investment in agriculture these days), odds are, probably not.
>
> Read the story here:
> http://thewatt.com/article.pl?sid=05/03/04/009215&mode=thread

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