The Oil Drum

31 comments on Two thoughts for a quiet Sunday

Comments can no longer be added to this story.

Engineer-Poet on October 17, 2005 - 1:58am

You can go one better. Plug-in hybrids will run on anything that generates electricity; you can't burn wind or hydropower, but you can charge batteries with it.

Comments can no longer be added to this story.

GJ on October 17, 2005 - 12:44pm

EP, you've been pounding the table for many months on the viability of plug-in hybrids, and I think you are spot-on. The future of auto transport in the developed world, IMHO, lies in electric hybrid (or perhaps one day fully electric) vehicles. Battery life and charging times may improve dramatically as a result of nanotechnology.

Comments can no longer be added to this story.

Engineer-Poet on October 17, 2005 - 3:19pm

We don't need radically improved batteries either; we can do one heck of a lot with old, cheap lead-acid. We'd have to redesign our vehicles to make good use of them, though; this prevents e.g. Toyota from turning an Echo into a plug-in Prius with 50 miles of gas-free range.

Comments can no longer be added to this story.

The contents below are paid advertisements. Their appearance does not imply an endorsement by The Oil Drum.

“The era of procrastination, of half-measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays, is coming to a close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences…”

—Winston Churchill, November 1936