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42 comments on The Trouble With Energy - Part 4
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42 comments on The Trouble With Energy - Part 4
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KN
I am wrestling with exactly the same problem myself. If I could buy a small low cost PEV right now I would. Unfortunately, I don't think they will be on the market for a year or more and when they are available are likely to be way more expensive than they are trully worth.
A couple of point with respect to your considerations:
- LPG is a by-product of normal oil refining. If we have restrictions to oil supply they will likely effect LPG as well.
- Biodiesel production in Australia is virtually non existant. Again, if we have any interuption to supply it will have no effect on availability to the general public. It may be a long term solution but will take at least 20 years to come into effect.
- There are some conversions to CNG happening but these are being undertaken on a very small scale. I believe a company in melbourne is doing some. As far as I know there are no CNG vehicles available on the market even though the retail cost of CNG is equivalent to around $0.80 per litre.
- You can get conversion kits for the Prius that equip it as a PHEV. I think they start at over $2000.
Much will depend on your use rate and distances you need to travel. I hope the above helps.
"If I could buy a small low cost PEV right now I would. Unfortunately, I don't think they will be on the market for a year or more"
They are on the market now: www.zenncars.com
These are far from perfect, and they have real drawbacks when it comes to really cold weather. They won't quite make the 100k trip to work that, as has been noted, is soon to be a thing of the past. But I've gotten about 80k on a charge.
As others have said, the best is to find a way to live without a car.