All electric.

[propane1]

A grass cutting business here boasts using all electric tools to cut your grass. The grass they were doing there was long and wet. Not cut in two to three weeks or so I’d say. The zero turn electric mower was going about as half as fast as pushing a push mower. Going very slow. But they got it done. And looked good. But a gas zero turn would have done it in a 1/4 or less of the time. Any way, that’s the way things are going. Like it or not.


Noel

[Eugen]

I wonder if it's going to be the same with electric engines as it was with digital photography. I remember when the first digital cameras came out, they were really expensive, and the picture quality didn't seem to come close to that of film. Look at it now, films is pretty much gone, and only those who still like film for the "feeling" you get out of it still use it, but not for quality or price.

The way things look now I think I'll be using my kohler k321 engine for the rest of my life. Remains to be seen if that holds.

[DavidBarkey]

Dodge has debuted a new all electric muscle car . Daytona , come complete with a sound system that plays real performance engine sound tracks .

[Eugen]

Dodge has debuted a new all electric muscle car . Daytona , come complete with a sound system that plays real performance engine sound tracks .

Some of the Teslas have an acceleration on par with supercars costing many times more. At that point does one really care about the sound it makes anymore? I think the loud growling engine is something that we got to associate in our minds with powerful engines. But that, in my opinion, will change in new generations. My prediction is that new generations will grow up with a whizz type of sound from a very powerful electric car, or who knows, some other technology like fusion or jet propulsion, and will look back at a thumping v8 some kind of obsolete uncool dinosaur.

When I was younger I got a real kick out of the growling sound of a powerful engine, car or motorcycle. It now bothers me greatly when they go by with their deafening sound. And when 3 harley guys gun their bikes right as they pass our house and our toddler wakes up from the nap, crying, I get furious at them. Nothing I can do about it, all I'm saying is, perceptions change. My ramble for today

[thebuildist]

For electric cars and trucks and equipment I have two words: Energy Density.

The battery in a Tesla Model 3 has about 300 million Joules of energy.

One gallon of gasoline contains 120 million Joules of energy. So a Tesla carries the equivalent energy of 2.5 gallons of gas. And it takes HOURS to pump those 2.5 gallons into the car. The car uses aerodynamics and efficient propulsion and things like regenerative braking to get anything approaching normal range. But you don't actually have too much energy on board. So if you hit snags, you're in trouble. Snags like temperatures above 90F, which decreases your range by 30%. Snags like temperatures below zeroF, which decreases range by 45%. (Is it inconvenient to run out of battery in the middle of nowhere when it's 20 below zero? Asking for a friend...)

Fun fact: The new F150 Lightning truck has almost 300 miles of range on a full charge. Unless you're towing a trailer in the summer. Then you can drive 80 miles on a FULL CHARGE. How long does it take to cross North America at the rate of 80 miles per day? Is this a step forward? Asking for a friend.

I think I'll stick with real cars and leave the electric carts on the golf course.

"WAIT!", you say, "the world may get better batteries with more research!". Could be. It is early days, battery research and improvement didn't start in earnest until the decade before Titanic sank. We've only had 120 years to find better batteries! Surely they'll find something DRAMATICALLY BETTER any minute, right?

Meanwhile, is it possible to just stubbornly keep using what actually works, even if they stop selling them new?

I guess I'll think about that the next time I'm mowing with a 1972 gasoline tractor....

Bob

[propane1]

Ya, I typed out a ramble. But. I got carried away. So deleted it. It’s all about money. Not the environment. There got carried away again.

Just My Opinion.


Noel

[JSinMO]

@thebuildist Well said! With the advancements made with fuel efficiency in internal combustion engines I can’t justify going to electric. My everyday driver is a 2010 Mustang that gets 28 miles to the gallon and there are plenty of vehicles that blow that number away now days. I think about what I paid for the car used and the years I’ve driven it I don’t see how I would have saved much if anything going to electric.

Will technology change? Undoubtedly.
Will people be transported from here to there in some different way in the future? Most likely. But that day isn’t today.

@Eugen I still love the sound of a power engine. As they say there’s no substitute for cubic inches, but there is a time and place for it.
I understand your frustration, I guess people don’t think about that when there having their ‘Easy Rider moment”. I hope they wise up for you, or find some other road to go down.

[Eugen]

Maybe I gave you guys the wrong impression, I would not go electric now or in the foreseeable future. Technology can sometimes make a big jump when least expected.

[thebuildist]

Maybe I gave you guys the wrong impression, I would not go electric now or in the foreseeable future. Technology can sometimes make a big jump when least expected.

No misunderstanding. But I have a SORE spot because I have otherwise intelligent family members who are like, "Demand for oil will drop 90% in the next 7 years." and "If they only sell electric cars, then they have to work."

And I'm like, "I wish they'd pass a law that we all have to sprout wings and learn to fly. I get jealous of the birds."

People don't really think things through.

Not you, Eugen. But folks I know who ought to know better. And now I'm too touchy about it.

Sorry.

Bob

[JSinMO]

Maybe I gave you guys the wrong impression, I would not go electric now or in the foreseeable future. Technology can sometimes make a big jump when least expected.

I agree with your prediction. I think there will be an advancement that changes the way we travel at some point. I was reading the Wikipedia page for electric vehicles. I thought it was interesting that back in 19 teens and twenty’s they were talking about a lot of the things we discuss today. Cost of electric over gas, range etc. I didn’t realize how many electric vehicles were in the world back then.