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The Future is Electric

Personal transport in Australia will switch to electricity due to its superior economic, environmental and energy security outcomes.

Given the two to three times greater efficiency of electricity over petrol for powering a vehicle, and the lower cost of renewable based electricity than petrol as a source of power, there are huge economic benefits to be realised from investing in the infrastructure and batteries required to make the switch. Moreover, the cost of renewable energy and batteries will continue to fall while oil and other fossil fuels become more expensive.

EVs are also aligned with long-term trends in environmental and energy policy. EVs using renewable energy have no tail pipe emissions and no CO2 emissions. The shift to electric powered vehicles also significantly improves energy security and can benefit load management across the grid. Over the long term EVs also allow changes to the energy source without further changes to the fleet or infrastructure as new energy technologies – such as solar and geothermal – become more viable.

Unlike other alternative fuels, such as hydrogen and biofuels, EVs utilise an already existing energy distribution infrastructure – the electricity grid. This means the conversion to electricity can happen faster and for more vehicles.

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  • Don't agree with this…

    • -2

      I think there isn't anything to disagree about…

  • +3

    Well if the electricity is coming from our dirty coal plants (as they are in Australia), which are also polluting the atmosphere… what's the point? I love it how these people say the EV's are clean & green… yet use our badly polluting electricity grid to get their power?

    So I'm not sure I agree with this either.

    I was under the impression that hydrogen fuel, used to generate electricity on board, was how it's going to eventually be done?

    Check this out:

    http://automobiles.honda.com/fcx-clarity/how-fcx-works.aspx

    Top Gear's review:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffRagsjSpkE

    • No, the site says the charging stations that will be in Aus will run on solar. I'm sure they are improving all the technologies. You ask them, look at your video it's from January.

      • Solar isn't efficient enough for that sort of electricity generation - these charging stations would be HUUUUUUUGE to generate enough power for the number of cars required to be charged. It simply isn't feasible. Sure, it sounds great, but I can't see that becoming reality.

        Batteries in cars aren't up to scratch - supercapacitors are the future once they get them refined. So, supercapacitors plus nuclear electricity generation (thorium reactors), hydrogen storage for electric engines etc - but that may be a long way off.

        I should also mention I am an electrical engineer with an interest in this kind of thing!

        • I'm with you on the nuclear option, but we have to start somewhere. Sure, we need to use the coal-generated power to create our EVs, but it's better than using the same power to make more petrol-based cars, no?

        • So your a futurist electrical engineer? We don't really have time for them to invent supercapacitors and thorium nuclear power.. if we'd used the same logic with PCs (or almost any other technology) where would we be now?

    • webbiegareth
      Why do you assume it's all coming out of coal plants? The people that have EV cars are probably (like me) using greenpower which means you are paying for it to be generated cleanly.. the following link has info for anyone interested http://www.greenpower.gov.au/home.aspx

      The way I look at it is regardless of what you think about electric cars, petrol is dead, they have already hit the peak production and its downhill all the way from here. Plus while it's still early days electric cars they have benefits beyond being clean.. they are quite, don't require regular servicing when compared to petrol, they don't waste energy/fuel when your stopped at the lights to name a few, oh and they can keep up there with sports cars, so don't think that they are all going to be slow (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVdRgcgz-9g) or do a search on the Tesla Roadster.

    • Honda's vehicles are still in limited release in the USA. the last press release I read, Honda currently has 'no plans for making them available in Australia', so I won't hold my breath for it. and why did they make it so much like the Prius — now the superior, cheaper, tastier Camry is winding up production and Toyota's hybrid SUV version to come soon, the Prius won't be around much longer.

  • +1

    How much cO2 emissions were released to produce these stickers? Then send the stickers via post.
    That's what I want to know :)

    • Not too much, considering people may buy their technology in the future. :P

  • +1

    I think most people would jump on getting an electric car if it was as good as a petrol powered one carrying the same number of people.

    • In my opinon that Hybrids are a good start, should be interesting to see how the Tesla Model S goes when it's released 2011-12. http://teslamotors.com/s

      • love to know how you plan to get one here (in this decade)?!?
        interested in a group-purchase?

  • so EV discussions aside, is this a good freebie ?

  • Guys wait till 2012 until you can all talk, that's when it's being released through Aus. If it even means we get off fuel thats pretty good. Less carbon monoxide and smog. It may be cheaper for the public.

  • I think "personal transport" in AU will become something only for the privileged few anyway. Most of the population will be struggling to pay for electricity for their homes, let alone for personal transport.

  • +5

    Back to the real "Bargain" here - the bumper sticker. The rest of the discussion belongs in the forum

    On the bumper sticker I can't see the value, the cost of printing mailing and then the message is really going to be lost on the average person.

    And have you looked at the site - who are the principals behind this "business". See the Our team

    Like some have said in the past, going green is now a business. This is one of those.

    Browse the international sites to see who's involved - hey in Canada its Macquarie bank - now why aren't they a partner in Oz? Then there's senior players ex Lehman Bros, Credit Swisse IBM Microsoft Tel Aviv University

    And heaven help anyone in NSW wanting to use electricity for transport generation, its almost cheaper to have your own petrol generator than it is to buy electricity from the NSW grid. With a 57% hike in electricity costs still to hit.

  • This is a pretty crap freebie. A sticker from a company that wants to profit from a push to EV's? How is this different to a sticker from a solar panel retailer, or a electricity company that has a few wind turbines? At the moment i'm not over convinced by the better place business model.
    I believe that the future of short urban mobility is in EVs (I own a Vectrix) and that there will need to be standards in charging etc. These guys just want to profit from it like any other company.

  • +2

    Wonder why they feel the need to promote being better to the environment by printing out and sending thousands of plastic stickers to people?

  • +1

    advertising (albeit for a good cause) .

  • if you really want to reduce CO2.. australia has to switch to nuclear.. cleanest by far.. sure the waste disposal is an issue.. but the benefits surely outweigh the costs.. nuclear power plants + electric cars should be next 100 years.. by then, ideally earlier, geothermal, solar and other technologies should take over.

    • Agree … this isn't really a bargain (a sticker promoting someone's product). The problem is that in Australia the minorities have a disproportionate level of power. I'm sure that most people would support moving to nuclear energy, as they would recognise that its the only viable option. We have uranium and gas in Australia but we continue to import and use fossil fuels. You've really got to wonder if the government are concerned with emissions or are just trying to create new "green" industry which allow idiots like Al Gore to profit, whos home in Nashville uses twice as much electricity in one month than the average home does in an entire year.

    • yes I agree — we should have some enterprising person building cars with pebble-bed reactors under the bonnet — that's the way to go, almost no moving parts, no greenhouse emissions, never have to refuel during the life of the car, we can make it all locally, what could go wrong!!

  • +1

    These days I feel "free" bumper stickers are just there for companies to do cheap advertising. Maybe we should make some free OzBargain bumper stickers as well :)

    • yea!!! Please do so. :)

  • promotion sticker is not "green", pollution caused by the production and disposal of the sticker. fossil fuel used to delivery sticker,

    • lol, you took it too far. How do you know they don't offset it. Ask them
      I'm going to take it further now.

  • anyone got their bumper stickers?

  • Still waiting for mine.

  • same

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