| Forum Home | ||||
| PC World Chat | ||||
| Thread ID: 135147 | 2013-09-30 21:52:00 | Porsche hypercar hits Nurburgring | zqwerty (97) | PC World Chat |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 1354704 | 2013-10-02 22:07:00 | Personally I can't wait until hydrogen fuel cells and ultracaps are mainstream tech. Motorsport won't quite be the same in the post-combustion era though, unless the low "woosh" of electric cars going past at high speed excites you :p |
pablo d (15490) | ||
| 1354705 | 2013-10-03 00:16:00 | Clearly, the rational choice is to continue burning fossil fuels :waughh: Not at all, but anything with batteries in it is currently no better for the environment. They need a better alternative and there are some promising ones around. I hope I live long enough to see our vehicles transform into something better. |
dugimodo (138) | ||
| 1354706 | 2013-10-03 00:18:00 | There is a lot of misinformation regarding the environmental impact of Hybrids vs conventional cars out there (and conversely a lot of bullshit from Hybrid manufacturers to balance it out). All I really care about is the fact my Prius costs me half as much in petrol money as my last car :) If anyone is that concerned about the environment, they wouldn't drive *any* car. |
pablo d (15490) | ||
| 1354707 | 2013-10-03 02:32:00 | What's not misinformation is the incredibly toxic nature of the chemicals in the battery and how difficult and expensive it is to replace and dispose of them responsibly. That plus the added cost and manufacturing involved in electric cars is why many experts claim they are not better than a petrol car for the enviroment, I can't say for sure myself but I tend to believe that. I'm not actually against hybrids, I just think it's a dead end interim solution that will eventually give way to something else. I'm sure your Prius is fine, and I quite liked the look of the hybrid Camry at one point. What puts me off is the purchase price, when I looked they were not cheap. Also there is some concern about the uncertain lifespan of the batteries. I might consider a good hybrid, I would never consider a straight battery powered electric car and if I did own a hybrid I'd get rid of it before the batteries wore out. That said I just did some reading and it seems like the batteries last very well and may last the life of the car so maybe it's not the issue I thought it was. I only do about 5000-6000km most years (have a company car for going to work). At a rough rate of 25c a km (2002 V6 camry) that's $1500 a year just in fuel costs. I looked at buying a smaller car when fuel prices started rocketing up, but even now it'd take years to get back the money involved. My only option would be to try and sell/buy privately because through a dealer trading a camry in for a similar age/milage corolla for example will still cost me thousands, feel like a downgrade, and not save me that much in running costs really. You'd think not but I looked into round some local dealers. Even if a prius manages 10c a km that's a max saving of $900 a year, it'd take quite a while to save the purchase price back at that rate, plus I like my car :) (even if it is a bit boring) For the right price I'd consider a hybrid if I was replacing my car anyway, but I don't believe it's worthwhile to go out and swap to a hybrid otherwise, either for fuel savings or for enviromental impact. If I wasn't so tall though and wanted fuel efficiency I'd just buy a smaller car. Several tests have shown some of the sporty little turbo diesels to have the highest MPG figures of any common vehicle including hybrids. |
dugimodo (138) | ||
| 1354708 | 2013-10-03 02:35:00 | Yeah diesels would be awesome if you didn't get RUC'ed so much in this country :( Totally defeats the purpose. | pablo d (15490) | ||
| 1354709 | 2013-10-03 03:55:00 | Ford have done some great stuff with there Eco-boost range.. | plod (107) | ||
| 1 2 | |||||