The problem with electric vehicles is the following.
With gasoline, this is how we get power from start to finish:
Extract oil
Transport oil to refinery
Refine oil into gasoline
Transport gasoline
Transfer gasoline into car
Store gasoline in car
Burn gasoline into heat energy
Use heat energy in combustion energy to create mechanical energy
Each step involves some degree of waste.
Everyone always starts the electric vehicle energy process at electricity, but really, it looks like this:
Extract oil / coal / natural gas
Transport to generators
Burn oil / coal / natural gas into heat
Convert heat to mechanical energy
Convert mechanical energy into electrical energy
Transport electricity over power lines
Transform to household voltage
Transfer energy into car
Store energy in car (batteries are very inefficient.)
Convert electrical energy into mechanical energy with electric motors (more loss.)
In addition to the fact that there are MORE STEPS to converting resources into electrical energy than converting resources to mechanical energy -- meaning more LOSS of energy to get electrical vs. mechanical -- there are 2 major roadblocks to making electricity work:
It is PHYSICALY IMPOSSIBLE to transport electrical energy over long distances at the scale needed. And at the scale we need, you do not want anyone anywhere near it for fear of death.
Batteries suck, will always suck, and will forever always suck. There is NO viable battery technology, and even when we are allowed to push the safety envelope (molten sodium?) we still can't get very good efficiency.
The way to make electric vehicles "work" is to find an energy source that is easy and safe to transport, with little loss. We HAVE that form of energy right now, and it is gasoline or diesel or kerosene or any of the refined petroleum products. We can pump this form of energy through pipelines that leave little to no impact on the environment, can be scaled up sufficiently to meet the needs of the people, and have practically ZERO danger. It is much cheaper and easier to do things like transporting crude oil over the ocean and setting up refineries in the bays and harbors than it is to try and send electrical energy halfway across the planet.
One other thing to consider is the infrastructure necessary to provide the power. In the case of gasoline, you need pipelines, refineries, gas stations, and gas tanks. With electric power, you need the same but also generators, power lines, transformers, and power hookups, as well as batteries. One method of transporting and utilizing energy is WAY MORE EFFICIENT in terms of infrastructure, meaning you can break even quicker. The other requires a huge investment and from what I can tell, the lifetime of the infrastructure doesn't justify the investment.
The problem with electric vehicles is the following.
With gasoline, this is how we get power from start to finish:
Each step involves some degree of waste.
Everyone always starts the electric vehicle energy process at electricity, but really, it looks like this:
In addition to the fact that there are MORE STEPS to converting resources into electrical energy than converting resources to mechanical energy -- meaning more LOSS of energy to get electrical vs. mechanical -- there are 2 major roadblocks to making electricity work:
The way to make electric vehicles "work" is to find an energy source that is easy and safe to transport, with little loss. We HAVE that form of energy right now, and it is gasoline or diesel or kerosene or any of the refined petroleum products. We can pump this form of energy through pipelines that leave little to no impact on the environment, can be scaled up sufficiently to meet the needs of the people, and have practically ZERO danger. It is much cheaper and easier to do things like transporting crude oil over the ocean and setting up refineries in the bays and harbors than it is to try and send electrical energy halfway across the planet.
One other thing to consider is the infrastructure necessary to provide the power. In the case of gasoline, you need pipelines, refineries, gas stations, and gas tanks. With electric power, you need the same but also generators, power lines, transformers, and power hookups, as well as batteries. One method of transporting and utilizing energy is WAY MORE EFFICIENT in terms of infrastructure, meaning you can break even quicker. The other requires a huge investment and from what I can tell, the lifetime of the infrastructure doesn't justify the investment.