I have a theoretical solution for the energy crisis: A combination of electric AND solar power. My idea would involve a car with solar panels with mirrors - the mirrors would be used to reflect sunlight from other countries/regions when the present area is dark (similar concept to the telescope in Batman & Robin) - electric power would be a backup energy source... since stars (including our Sun) are likely to be electrical, NOT nuclear. Again: It's theoretical. No guarantees.
Hi Bob, love watching u talk, could watch u babble on all day but can you talk about some other stuff apart from cars all the time, I've watched a fair few of your rants now and me and my friend are convinced you must be on tesla's payroll it gets mentioned that much yes we know electric cars are better than oil fuelled ones, and we know oils running out, but the magnates will as you say put this of for as long as possible, and until every last drop is squeezed cars will remain petrol based
Go on Top Gear!!!!!! Please? Also, don't you feel that the Prius is the half-assed Tesla? You know, like bargain brand cheese that is made cheaply to justify the overpriced regular cheese? The Prius is a step in the right direction with electric's efficient usage of energy, but, they could have just made the Tesla to begin with. The Tesla is child's play in terms of technology, very simple. It seems like a corporate trick to half give you what you really wanted, for full price.
I love the alternative viewpoint, particularly as it's given with attention to presenting fair and balanced comparisons instead of mocked-up puppet-shows to fit a bias. Keep it up, and let us see what your experiences are with EVs! :D
I amazes me that no one on the last comment page hasn't stated the obvious; People (especially boys) like the piston moves (which you delicately illustrated).
The wrooom sound replaces the need to bang the chest.
I love Top Gear and always have been but they always get the lecy cars wrong! Forget the GWhiz crap but their own hand built lecy car was rubbish and the teslar was ragged to within an inch of its life. Thats why it broke down and only did 50ish miles. If Clarkson had drove it normally it would have lasted alot longer.
I mite not agree that lecy cars are the future but they would be better then our current options. Just look at BP to realise the problems!
@schme1440 It didn't break down, they lied about it and were forced to retract it in the national press. It is a show of entertainment, but people seem to think that television is a viable form of education. It could be, but it most certainly isn't at the moment. It is unsettling that it is a BBC programme and their remit is supposed to be education and unbiased reporting as well as entertainment. I love it but I do realise that they are a bunch of twats.
Great to have some car enthusiasts who are also enthusiastic about new technologies and saving the environment! Something the Top Gear crew (as funny as they are) clearly have no interest in
Not that I'm going to go so far as saying "hydrogen is the future" or anything as pathetic as that, but just to correct Robert on one thing, there is an alloy developed by an American scientist (whose name I cannot remember unfortunatley) which takes a VERY low current to split huge amounts of hydrogen from salt water. That method really is very efficient and I saw a documentary on it, what I don't understand is why he hasn't released it for general use!
Bobby, I think you are one of my favourite people in the whole world. You're so awesome! And I think, given that I'm a 15 year old girl, that's quite an achievement for you XD I really have to meet you one day XD Amazing actor, brilliant presenter, friendly, funny and clever. You're so cool =] Xxxxx
Nice episode Mr Llew, my one gripe is that Top Gear is almost at the end of the road. Their blinkered view of the world can't surely be sustained much longer. They are out of date and they know it. They are on borrowed time. Whilst you seem to love Clarkston, he is a first class idiot, some of his views are stoneage.
@Geoff900 if your not part of the solution... Bioplastics are improving, there's no reason why we need to keep relying on oil based products just because we have done till now. One of the human races greatest assets is it's ability to adapt. I can't understand why the big petrochemical companys don't invest some of their profits in fusion development. They could make even more money with that technology.
Another brill WLW. I never knew ya could get Lithium from seawater, you learn something new every day.
One thing i cant agree with you on, is that petrol/diesel engines are crap. Sure theyre old tech, but ive yet to hear anything more awe inspiring than a the exhaust of a v8, or the whine of a gilmer drive on a supercharger, the scream of a jet turbine producing tens of thousands of pounds of polluting thrust.
Electric cars admittedly are the future, and should be, at least for daily drivers.
Just gonna throw it out there. If you would like to see electric vehicles become the social standard for personal transportation, probably the best course of action is to buy one. Beyond that, maybe make loans to people who want to buy one.
Personally, I'm buying a Tesla sedan as soon as I can save up enough.
Interestingly as you were talking about these oil companies being afraid of "not making money", it was on the BBC news today that Shell have the rights to "develop" a gigantic oil field in Iraq.
The article reads: "It (Shell) currently produces just 46,000 barrels per day."
"However Shell and Petronas have pledged to increase that output to 1.8 million barrels per
day." Well thats just great, I really think you are right they will just suck the planet dry & never develop alternatives
I need counselling on this matter; a wet liberal with a dry headache. I understand all the arguments about electric cars, I understand why we need them, I understand they are the future and that (with research gathering momentum) a lot of the perceived problems exaggerated by Top Gear and the like will be a humourous footnote to history or a piece of board game trivia. But I still want to drive a Ferrari before I die. Drive it badly, uneconomically, on the red line. Hear the noise.
I always thought paid more attention in chemistry but lithium coming from sea water i find surprising as the only chemistry experiment that didn't bore me to tears was watching what happened when you add lithium to water.
So to all you electric car owners be warned, don't get them wet, avoid direct sunlight and don't feed them after midnight!
I do not wish to be rude, but please check at least some of your 'facts.' If nothing else just look into the chemical and energy use when refining oil into petrol. It's a very dirty, toxic process, not something oil companies want to advertise. Even the most toxic, badly made 100 year old tech in batteries (what you are clearly referring to) is immeasurably 'cleaner' than petrol. Oh, and one more thing, however you spin the truth, oil is going to run out. It is a finite resource.
Awsome video Robert llewellyn, mate we need more electric cars, when's it going to happen?
plus i just saw your doccu/programme on the new FIVE youtube site about you auditing the religions, great one! although slightly irrelevant to this topic i know, sorry.
The truth is, that enviromentalists such as yourself seem to think that 'BATTERIES' is the answer to our problems.
Well, BATTERIES aren't the answer, they are harmfull to the enviroment, just as refining oil for petrol is. You still need a source of power, for batteries to recharge, and to even recycle the batteries. Everything, on this planet needs Oil some way or another. I didn't say oil isn't going to run out but then again the goverment said that computers would stop working in y2k....
Goverment, oil companies and even car manufactures are using this 'green idea' so people, think oh look what they are doing.
Lets be honest here, if it was that bad why aren't we using busses, or bikes? to get to work you can get more people on a bus, use far less fuel than if everyone was to use a car.
so? you'll use less oil when you've got cars that run on batteries, making that finate resource last longer, batteries are only as bad for the environment as petrol if you set fire to 'em and chuck 'em into a rainforest, it's like going "well, I'd rather keep getting kicked in the balls every day, as opposed to being pinched once a month, because they both hurt".
No, we DO need these things, and, we'll produce them for a lot longer if we cut using oil for petrol cars.
There's something called Nuclear Power, it's a wonderfully safe method of making electricity, you can also generate electricity from wind turbines, water turbines in dams, and even solar panels, amazingly enough, none of these use NEARLY as much oil as the current methods,
Battery technology has evolved quicker for phones and laptops because there's a lot of them about, and it's financially fesable to research it, once the electric car does take off, battery technology will become more focussed on making better electric car batteries.
Firstly, there is a reason why they don't make Nuclear Powerstations, quite simply they aren't easy to make, and they need to have so many checks and protocals.
Battery technolgy hasn't evoled that much, ive been working in the I.T industry long enough to know that, plus you still will be using plastic, to make components for the battries.
I hope you realise, you need PIC for the battries.
Quite simply, battries aren't thee next best thing, as of yet they need to improve ten fold.
YES you need all this plastic etc for the batteries, but once it's made, that's it, recycle it indefinitely, make the oil go further.
The fact is batteries have come so far in a short time because of demand for smaller, more powerful batteries, proves that electric cars do, and will work in the future.
@Geoff900 Obviously You haven't been watching the vid as a whole. Lithium is abundant, easy extractable and is the main component of....yup Lithium Ion ,Lithium polymer etc BATTERIES!! Aaand..fully recycleable to boot.
"Harmful batteries" is just as bogus as the "electricity comes from coal-argument" Yes, it does in a lot of places, but even with transport an such calculated in, it beats petrol in efficiency, if only because electric motors have a 75 to 98 % efficiency.
more people need to know these facts, and they are facts, not an opinion. i try to tell everyone I know. I love you Bob, you always say exactly what i'm thinking.
The only way for human kind to evolve beyond the requirement of age old arguments, such as this, is to remove greed from the equation. GET RID OF MONEY! I work very hard to give money away to these faceless companies so they can get richer. By the end of the week, I have barely enough money to survive on for the remainder of the the month. I would be very happy to go back to a Barter system of economy.
Standard Replaceable Batteries! Standard Replaceable Batteries! Standard Replaceable Batteries! Did I mention Standard Replaceable Batteries? Every car every truck don't care how big or how small use 1 type of battery. I don't care if its the size of a watch battery or 50lbs. Don't care makes no difference just make it and have them charged at every gas station. If they have non they get fined and shut down.
What if there was a way of manufaturing a fuel that is made from the bi-product it produces? There is such a system being researched. It is a methanol based fuel. Methanol is made of CO2, hydro carbons, Hydrogen and water. and thes are also bi-products of conbustion. It also needs hydrogen from electrolosis. It can also use CO2 from the air which is produced from fossil fuels. The extra hydo carbons can be turned into recyleble plastics. It uses more than it wastes. making it a renewable process
I have to say that I believe that hydrogen power is a more viable resorce on a industrial level. As the energy Density of it is about 1/200th that of a conbustion engine. So if you look at a Hydrogen car the tank is massive. this is because the hydrogen needs to be stored at liguid state. As liguid is more dense than gas. This in turn mean it has to be stored at a very low temperature. this in turn is why the tank is the size of a cars boot and makes it more viable on an industrial level.
I agree totally with what you are saying, kind of. I love big V8 ridiculous Audi R8's. But the future is batteries and Hydrogen. Even for fast cars e.g. Tesla! its fast, brilliant engineering and if you can do usual motorhead stuff with a battery then that makes inefficient petrol engines redundant. What Jeremy Clarkson says about the Tesla losing power to quickly (so he wont buy one) is stupid because he bought a Ford GT witch did 4 MPG! The Tesla does 120 MPGge! So that makes him a hypocrite!
i you can do the same with a battery operated car as you can with a lotus elise then i'd rather try and help the environment and my bank anount by using a Tesla.
TBF Robert I totally agree with your views on electric cars but not totally Top Gear; it was pretty clear that it was just a joke and there was no kind of 'this is what all electric cars are like'; in fact they made it very clear that the other electric cars were much much better than the piece of crap they had made. And then destroyed. Make an electric car that is as convenient and as cheap as petrol cars, and EVERYBODY will buy one, of that I have no doubt =)
I think the future of technology is that we will use up the fossil fuels. Then we will turn to a mix of nuclear and renewable energy. Hydrogen will be used at this point because we will have abundant power to seperate it out from water.
After that in maybe 100 years we will finally perfect a stable fusion reaction that will output more energy then is used to keep the reaction going. This has been done on a very small, very short term scale already.
You prefer spending hundreds of times more energy in retrieving hydrogen from sea water and then transport it into a station so you can store it in a car, instead of simply storing the energy directly in a battery?
Look for a new type of battery that is starting to be commercialized based on lithium nano-tubes. It stores 3 to 8 times more energy per kg than available technology.
Battery technology is decades ahead of hydrogen fuel technology.
This is a great rant. The other HUGE and more threatening scam on the world population is Global Warming. We need to research where this scam is coming from and end it ASAP. Carbon Taxation / Cap and Trade is the end of the modern world as we know it. Small taxes at first you won't even notice, then crushing taxation that will rob every single person of their God given destinies on this planet. End the scams!
One thing I found interesting is there saying Phones will soon be powered wireless using the radio waves or something, so far it only produces like 5watt of power but they believe their not far off increase that amount and if they are able to do that, could that power a car? charges up overnight automatically, charges while you drive etc, it may not ever be enough to completely power up your car but could make charges a lot less required.
There is already technology being developed where a conductive plate could be fitted into a car park floor, you park over it, charge while parked. Very possible and a very good idea.
All I can say is thank you very much. Some sanity on the topic. Your projects for next year sound very interesting. I so missed your little rants, do you feel better afterward. It seems to be a great form of therapy.
circutracer, there is nowhere near enough land to supply enough biofuels for our transportation needs. And there is no way to ensure that it must all be produced free of fossil fuel inputs and doesn't displace food production.
One more point for your records. Your comment that coal + EV's is still 80% less polluting than regular cars isn't exactly true. If a coal plant is 30% efficient, with 7% loss in electricity transmission, and the 75% efficiency of the Tesla Roadster, then you get 21% efficiency. This compares with 18% efficiency for a typical ICE, and over 35% for efficient diesels. But in the US, coal only accounts for 48% of electricity generation. Plus its easier to control particulates in a central plant.
I think I almost totally agree with you, certainly your last point, fitting carbon scrubbing tech on one big chimney is a lot easier than fitting millions of units on millions of tailpipes, however we should all be struggling to stop burning coal anyway, it's absurdly dated Victorian technology, just like internal combustion engines.
Totally agree with you but unfortunately technology rarely works in big jumps.
So, we can take a look of how things are now with coal plant and internal combustion engines and the first step seems to be eliminating internal combustion outdated engines, removing a big chunk of pollution in city centers.
After that, eliminating coal and fuel plants seems to be the next step but with current technology it's not possible. Maybe with fusion or higher efficiency solar panels...
Thanks for the video, I've never heard of you but will keep watching. Here's an interesting stat: if automakers covered the bodywork with thin film solar panels (under a clear coat epoxy) .... you could go 15 km on a sunny day .... for FREE! Well, not really free, because the cost of the solar panels isn't competitive with grid power, but it's an interesting stat. As we all know, and as the luddites try to deny, solar panels are getting way cheaper and way better every year. Wait 5-10 years.
I don't hate the electric car, but I hate electric cars: "Look at this, we've got L-Ions and in wheel motors, it costs 0.5p a mile, it's 150,000% efficient, it's the futur"..."SOD OFF!"
I want a car, so use all the electric car's benefits, bring the motor/s inboard, and while you're at it, bring the brakes inboard too, it helps the handling. Bring me an electric car when it's the present.
Now go away and quietly develop that. I'll keep making sure the machines that store your bank account work.
You may be surprised to discover I agree with you, the in wheel motor thing has massive drawbacks, I've spoken to some very experienced motor engineers and they are all very skeptical about them, the effect they have on the performance and handling of the vehicle, the potential damage to the motor from being juddered violently by rough roads, put the motors inside the car I say, they are only small anyway.
You mentioned people saying that fossil fuels are needed for generating electricity to charge the car which uses more fossil fuels than a normal car but you didn't rebuke it. What is the argument against this?
They (power stations) would be burning the fuel anyway, so youre not adding to anything (it's still not a good thing). If you use a normal car you're producing AND the power station is producing (did you think the fossil fuel power stations were only turned on to charge cars?).
I'm very confused by your questions. Here's a simple explanation. A fossil powered car can only use fuel from one source, namely fossil fuels, burning oil. An electric car can use power from many sources, burning coal, natural gas, nuclear, wind, solar etc. Even if you charge an electric car from the grid and the grid is mainly powered by burning coal, the total carbon output per kilometer is 80% less than the cleanest internal combustion engine. Electric motors are simply more efficient
But electric motors still leave a huge carbon footprint. They still need a power source to plug into, and that power comes from a power plant that burns fossil fuels or nuclear power. Ethanol is the solution. Clean emissions, multiple renewable sources for the fuel, and another note, the refining plants will generate MANY new jobs.
Also, regardless of what car companies tell people, ANY internal combustion engine will burn Ethanol, WITHOUT modifications.
Ethanol is just another corn subsidy, and corn is made, shipped, and processed with fossil fuels. Chemical fertilizer and pesticides are crude oil derivatives. The shipment and processing are all done with fossil fuel engines. It takes more fossil fuels to make enough corn to fill a tank than it takes just to process the oil directly into gas.
You can get Corn and wood Ethanol from just letting it SIT in the proper container. I have seen it done, and I have used the resulting fuel in various engines.
As for transporting it, why on Earth would the transport vehicles NOT be filled with said Ethanol?You can also produce Ethanol from grass clippings, MANY different sugars, and about a MILLION other things, all without using fossil fuels. It seems you listened to oil company propaganda and not your own research or experience.
You're obviously don't kno what you're talking about. Ethanol is dead as a transportation fuel and corn ethanol even worse than fossil fuels in terms of environmental impact. However ethanol is very good at creating starvation, ruining the soil and prolong the obsolete, inefficient, polluting internal combustion engine existence to name a few.
YOU don't know what you are talking about. The only emission Ethanol produces is alcohol, and that dissipates within the air. It does NOT create starvation in any way, and that is a ridiculous comment. Corn is HIGHLY renewable, and does NOT damage soil at all. Plus you can get Ethanol from THOUSANDS of different things. The internal combustion engine is NOT obsolete in any way, and gets more efficient and powerful every year. Your statements are ludicrous propaganda.
Give it up circutracer, we all have to admit sometimes that we are wrong. It's called growth. Ethanol releases tons of carbon from the fossil fuels necessary to produce the corn. That corn could instead be used to feed people. It's true that ethanol can be made from other sources, which it should, but there is not enough of that to supply our needs. Corn does indeed damage the soil, you need pesticides and fertilizers. Look up the "Mississippi dead zone", where it all washes into the ocean.
I wish people would get with the times and realise carbon footpringing has nothing to do with the environment and is just a big government and big corporate scam. It's parasitism.
Google climategate and see what's going on. They are simply lieing about the wheather, global warming is a farce and climate change is just seasons.
Talk about particulate pollution and carbon monoxide instead. Worry about your lungs and cancer, not about what plants breathe.
I am keeping an open mind about climate change, I have met really skeptical, pro nuclear, pro free market scientists who have spent a lot of time in the Arctic, they are very concerned, there is no doubt about it, the ice is melting. It's melted before millions of years ago but no one knows why. I think it's important to remember the vested interests of big corporations and their potential desire to "prove" climate change is a myth, thus allowing them to continue to profit to the same degree
As far as I can see polar ice sheets have a yearly thawing and freezing movement, so it's natural that they melt. And of course there will be cycles within cycles, but all of those are beyond what we can generate. We simply don't throw up enough CO2 to make a difference, and if we did plants would simply grow off it before the ice sheets melt. Homeostasis.
It takes cosmic forces to melt polar ice in a big way.
Again, google climategate, see the sleezy side of all this.
Have done as you suggested and there's clearly a lot of noise in the arena. Will read and digest. Interestingly I also googled 'climate change' and the top paid for link was from exxon, which was their page gently refuting the CC arguments. I am not arguing for or against the possibility of human induced change, my interest in electric vehicles is focussed on global political and economic arguments, and obviously that the wretched oil will run out one day regardless. Thanks for the tip though
One more thing: lithium ion batteries are pretty cool, because of really one thing: laptops. I mean how many people out there are going with laptops, and with the laptops ever evolving, there is a lot of investments going into that technology, so it would make sense to reap the rewards somewhat to use that technology for cars.
I also want to thank you for this video and your car pool video with Paul Scott, I sent it off to a friend of mine. I think it really addresses a lot of criticisms, even a few of my own about electric cars. And one important thing as you said is the servicing costs and time for the servicing which you wouldn't have with the electric car.
I think one of the problems is that the electric car requires a different way of doing things, of planning things. We are so entrenched in the whole culture and conventions of the internal combustion engine is that it is difficult to change your mindset to the electric car. A lot of the criticisms out there is due to ignorance.
plenty of problems with hydrogen, to extract it from water, you need to use electrolysis, leaving you with a load of iron oxide (rust) also water has the same 'global warming effects as carbon dioxide does as it also helps to prevent heat from leaving the atmosphere. Bit more development needed? I think so :/
Well that complex and intellectually challenging argument has left me reeling, I don't know how to respond. You have floored me with your searing insight, I am devastated. I'll obviously have to crawl off and re-think my entire agenda now.
Good calls Kryten. Sorry I can't spell your welsh name :S
Lithium ion is the one non repressed technology that has made the electric car viable, at last. It's the cat that got out of the bag, and the sooner we can all just accept the electric car is now here to stay the sooner we can make this world a little better.
And after Li-Ion perhaps we might end up with third party tesla vacuum tubes, who knows?
This is very off topic but do you think you will ever make another series of 'Hollywood Science'? i loved that show. Maybe you could make a version for the internet
Would love to, would love to make a series on the net. Sadly it only stopped because of some absurd disagreement between the Open University and the BBC, such a shame, such a good idea, really enjoyed making those
Thanks for preaching the evils of the petrol and diesel engine from your, not one, but two, electric cars which have been given to you. /sarcasm
I'm all for the electric car and the sooner they become practical and affordable the better. But there's still the small matter of where the electricity comes from in the first place.
I vote we put Trevor Baylis on the case. Wind up cars FTW!
Too right Bob, remember last season, or the season before of top gear? They basically introduced hydrogen as the answer, citing the whole coal power excuse for batteries being no good. I thought it was common knowledge that hydrogen was too expensive to extract, but after that episode, everyone I know thought hydrogen was the future! I was raving about it for weeks, just like you are now.
Most people just don't want to challenge a widely accepted view, but our future depends on it!
Robert, good video as usual. I'd have to say the biggest thing stopping battery powered or hybrid cars from going mainstream is simply the cost.
The Prius costs $50k+ AUD here in Australia, which is rediculous. I'd have to drive my current petrol powered turbo sports car for more than 20 years before any cost savings would come into play for me to own a Prius.
Until I can get a battery only car for $20k AUD and it gets me 400km or more on a single charge, I unfortunately just can't justify it.
It's a shame to see that some of the comments here are just as backward as the thinking on Top Gear.
Robert, what I think you should do is get some of your geeky EV friends to build an EV based on the same chassis that Clarkson and his boys did. But show them how bloody amazing the result could be. There's already plenty of electric Lotus conversions out there...
Top Gear don't ever give a sh*t about telling the truth. Oh yes, It's okay isn't it? Because it's entertainment... But it's not!
I, for one, am converted Bobby, I accept I was wrong (because of misinformation and a lack of effort in doing proper research on it) so thanks for your insight
I love TG. You just need to remember that its a comedy show about three old ish guys who are technical retards. Who like to prat about (in a fairly scripted manner).
Robert, once again, everything you've just said is 100% right - moraly and factually - but it always comes down to who has the most money that gets the final say...unfortuantly.
"The battery technology isn't up to scratch" - Haha I think that may have been me that said that. Its true though isn't it. Its pretty crappy at the minute, give it 10 or 15 years though and I'll think we will have cracked it.
I could do without the Top Gear rants all the time, it's not becoming. They're not criminals, just TV presenters with their own opinions, and opinions, like arseholes, are something everyone has. Fossil fuels WILL run out, you've already won and they clearly know it. They do more electric stuff every series, and they can see it's the future. Now drop the bete noir and tell us where you think we should be looking, not where not to look.
You could be right, although I am always disappointed when I meet people who believe everything they say on the show. I am working on a new show which will not even acknowledge the existence of TG, and will only point to where we should be looking. Also, I have only ever done one other rant about TG, it's not like I do them every week.
I'll take your word on the TG thing, although I think I'm including mini rants and episodes of Car Pool as well. Love CP by the way, look foward to your new show with intrest.
Hi Robert, great video. First things first, I understand that the Top Gear presenters are a bunch of petrol heads, if it doesn't grunt, growl and squeel they aren't interested and I agree with most of what you said in the video. Secondly, I don't know how to drive, I never learned, I'm a total pedestrian/public transport user. But, when I finally get around to it, I'll buy an electric car. Thanks.
This is not the first time I have heard someone advocate sea water as a source for fueling the electric car. Thank you for bringing this to the attention of the public. The question is....do we wait for the big car companies to do this or get a little bit of D-I-Y into the picture?
I am deeply and passionately in love with Barbara, my 1979 Ford Cortina estate, even though she's a filth-belching gas-guzzler that widens the hole in the ozone layer by three miles every time I go out for a drive.
i want an electric car, but i wish there was one in between the gewiz and the tesla, as on size and price, like a normal/ small car that was about £10,000
I think you're right on Robert. Cracking water for hydrogen is a waste of electricity which could simply be used to power a lithium cell, and the excuse that we need to burn coal and oil to produce electricity is patently false. Nuclear energy is a real and viable alternative to gas/coal/oil power generation.
The oil companies have done their best to convince everyone that nuclear power is the Beast, them and the many hippies with their No Nukes sign who ironically have helped the agenda of the oil industry, yet it is the only realistic alternative to oil base electricity generation. Tidal, solar and wind generation cannot come close to supplying enough power. Given the amounts of CO2 belched into the atmosphere by oil based power stations, nuclear energy is a far cleaner and safer option.
So if we combine nuclear power generation and electric cars and I think we'd be well on the way to an excellent way to drive and power the 21st century.
If you've got a moment, check out the carpool episode with Dale Vince, he runs a company called ecotricity. they install the really big wind turbines, his figures are very interesting. He suggests have far more wind than we need in the UK, plenty to create as much electricity as we could possibly need.
You're too sensible to be a politician, but if you stood for election I'd vote for you. It's mad that corporations put money ahead of the future health of our eco-systems on Earth. Eventually all of the rich will live on the moon with the wealth they've made from killing the Earth and the poor will struggle on a dying Earth.
Top rant mate and i think the battery is the way to go like the li-po batts i use in my r/c hobby but you do have to be very careful with them ;-) and they are getting even better as we talk,5*
But isn't there a big problem with phone batteries at the moment? And laptop batteries? Maybe you know better than I do - I had the impression that lithium batteries were bad for the environment once finished with. Also while they are great for the first two years of their lives, they start running out of charge quite quickly after that, and need to be replaced? Again, I'd love to know if this information is wrong.
I know you are not asking me to talk about it, but I think it was a fictitious event. A .375 soft nose will drop over 6 inches at 200 yards and this food critic claims he shot it at 250 yards with perfect aim. Total BS.
I hope you are right and that it never happened. However he is still a tremendous dick for boasting about it and saying "I wanted to know what it felt like to kill a person" as a reason. Whether he did kill one, or just boasted about it, the type of person who wants admiration for having done so must be the "wanker" variety. That's what I think.
@bobbyllew, another great rant :-) I think you refered to the arguement with @scovey. He's read my blog and Chelsea Sexton sent him the link to your various carpools, as such I think he accepts now that electricity generation isn't as polluting as burning oil in cars.
with you all the way! and yes electric cars are under represented on TV but, please credit us the public with the sense to know that top gear is pure comedy, and comedy alone. nobody takes the show seriously now do they?
Hang on....Now, while yes, combustion is veyr much out of date, id like to point out that electrical is still young and people are reluctant to give up old things for something new that isn't as good. The G-Wiz isn't popular becouse of the type of thinking it promotes. Not the "Save the enviroment" its "Save it by sacraficing distance, comfort and EVERYTHING else" a normal petrol car gives! The reason you saw it in london was simply becouse thats the only place you'd ever see one. :/
Entirely agree about the GWiz, I wouldn't be seen dead in one, and it does only make sense in London, but that means, it does make sense in London. A Porsche Cayenne does not make sense in London, in fact, it doesn't make sense anywhere on earth but they are as common as muck. I would suggest only a tragic idiot would drive one.
But ....and this might be me giving them too much credit ...but i think thats the point of the show. Boys with toys and all that true but what i really seem to think they did point out is that even a drowned rat taped to a skateboard is better then the Gwiz. Cars are all based on want and needs so most people are going to go with a Polo or something in London, i know how bad traffic can be there but the money you save buying the bloody Gwiz is going to be spent on living there in the first place
Hybrid battery/fuel cell. That'd work. The fact is with electricity we have a 'fuel' distribution system to EVERY home. Can't beat that for efficiency.
The petrol stations need to get on board with the standardised battery swap stations. google betterplace
You need to put yourself out of business or else someone else will do it for you.
I like Top Gear and Robert please also note that Top gear had to get more charge because their car was built wrong, and they didn't have powerful enough batteries u would find in a normal electric car. This was said on the show .Top Gear wanted to make an electric car but they wanted to make a gd entertainment show aswell.top gear also showed that once chargers are everywhere then the cars will work. they didn't say all electric cars are bad. they say loads of petrol cars r bad aswell
I have a theoretical solution for the energy crisis: A combination of electric AND solar power. My idea would involve a car with solar panels with mirrors - the mirrors would be used to reflect sunlight from other countries/regions when the present area is dark (similar concept to the telescope in Batman & Robin) - electric power would be a backup energy source... since stars (including our Sun) are likely to be electrical, NOT nuclear. Again: It's theoretical. No guarantees.
SPeacock 1 month ago
i dont drive but he makes good points
searlena 4 months ago in playlist More videos from bobbyllew
I love ICE's, but I also thin that the future is electric.
rock3tcat 8 months ago
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SonicTheFrenchFrog 11 months ago
Hi Bob, love watching u talk, could watch u babble on all day but can you talk about some other stuff apart from cars all the time, I've watched a fair few of your rants now and me and my friend are convinced you must be on tesla's payroll it gets mentioned that much yes we know electric cars are better than oil fuelled ones, and we know oils running out, but the magnates will as you say put this of for as long as possible, and until every last drop is squeezed cars will remain petrol based
bluejeckett 11 months ago
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SonicTheFrenchFrog 1 year ago
Go on Top Gear!!!!!! Please? Also, don't you feel that the Prius is the half-assed Tesla? You know, like bargain brand cheese that is made cheaply to justify the overpriced regular cheese? The Prius is a step in the right direction with electric's efficient usage of energy, but, they could have just made the Tesla to begin with. The Tesla is child's play in terms of technology, very simple. It seems like a corporate trick to half give you what you really wanted, for full price.
SonicTheFrenchFrog 1 year ago
What an awesome rant!
josefgiven 1 year ago
Brilliant rant. Love it keep up the good work. What do you plan to do with Fully Charged when you have driven all the cars available to sell.
jason1973tl 1 year ago
I love the alternative viewpoint, particularly as it's given with attention to presenting fair and balanced comparisons instead of mocked-up puppet-shows to fit a bias. Keep it up, and let us see what your experiences are with EVs! :D
ttrager1 1 year ago
I amazes me that no one on the last comment page hasn't stated the obvious; People (especially boys) like the piston moves (which you delicately illustrated).
The wrooom sound replaces the need to bang the chest.
skinnyjohnsen 1 year ago
I love Top Gear and always have been but they always get the lecy cars wrong! Forget the GWhiz crap but their own hand built lecy car was rubbish and the teslar was ragged to within an inch of its life. Thats why it broke down and only did 50ish miles. If Clarkson had drove it normally it would have lasted alot longer.
I mite not agree that lecy cars are the future but they would be better then our current options. Just look at BP to realise the problems!
schme1440 1 year ago
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fullychargedshow 1 year ago
@schme1440 It didn't break down, they lied about it and were forced to retract it in the national press. It is a show of entertainment, but people seem to think that television is a viable form of education. It could be, but it most certainly isn't at the moment. It is unsettling that it is a BBC programme and their remit is supposed to be education and unbiased reporting as well as entertainment. I love it but I do realise that they are a bunch of twats.
jacksawild 1 year ago
I don't know where else I would have found out this information, this is brilliant.
MrFaceHead 1 year ago
Great to have some car enthusiasts who are also enthusiastic about new technologies and saving the environment! Something the Top Gear crew (as funny as they are) clearly have no interest in
MarxistKnight 1 year ago
Bravo, a wonderful rant, I have watched Top Gear in the past and whilst it can be funny I find their (not so) hidden agenda rather unnerving
BstrangerUK 2 years ago
Not that I'm going to go so far as saying "hydrogen is the future" or anything as pathetic as that, but just to correct Robert on one thing, there is an alloy developed by an American scientist (whose name I cannot remember unfortunatley) which takes a VERY low current to split huge amounts of hydrogen from salt water. That method really is very efficient and I saw a documentary on it, what I don't understand is why he hasn't released it for general use!
RustyBinProductions 2 years ago
it's probably been baught up by the oil industry and will be mothballed untill it becomes more profitable than oil.
MaxSafeheaD 2 years ago
I just discovered this video through spazfox, and I am already addicted. Keep up the good work sir ^^
VarmitC 2 years ago
Stop being given cars!
feckingbillgates 2 years ago
Good stuff Mr Llewellyn. Dave have been showind R.D for a while incase you didn't know. Fun times :D x
queensofia123 2 years ago
Bobby, I think you are one of my favourite people in the whole world. You're so awesome! And I think, given that I'm a 15 year old girl, that's quite an achievement for you XD I really have to meet you one day XD Amazing actor, brilliant presenter, friendly, funny and clever. You're so cool =] Xxxxx
PurpleFunnyChocolate 2 years ago 2
your so obsessive.
queensofia123 2 years ago
Nice episode Mr Llew, my one gripe is that Top Gear is almost at the end of the road. Their blinkered view of the world can't surely be sustained much longer. They are out of date and they know it. They are on borrowed time. Whilst you seem to love Clarkston, he is a first class idiot, some of his views are stoneage.
Keep up the good work!
alb0wski 2 years ago 2
bobby : P some fuel for you >>
Clean Nuclear fusion will be the power source for EV's
BBC horizon prof brian cox!
"can we make a star on earth?"
/watch?v=QXcyH7QE7rU
drastically under funded yet it works !!
(this is not a cold fusion link!)
peace
indiasrainbow 2 years ago
@Geoff900 if your not part of the solution... Bioplastics are improving, there's no reason why we need to keep relying on oil based products just because we have done till now. One of the human races greatest assets is it's ability to adapt. I can't understand why the big petrochemical companys don't invest some of their profits in fusion development. They could make even more money with that technology.
epodcam 2 years ago
Another brill WLW. I never knew ya could get Lithium from seawater, you learn something new every day.
One thing i cant agree with you on, is that petrol/diesel engines are crap. Sure theyre old tech, but ive yet to hear anything more awe inspiring than a the exhaust of a v8, or the whine of a gilmer drive on a supercharger, the scream of a jet turbine producing tens of thousands of pounds of polluting thrust.
Electric cars admittedly are the future, and should be, at least for daily drivers.
pjaussiemovies 2 years ago
Just gonna throw it out there. If you would like to see electric vehicles become the social standard for personal transportation, probably the best course of action is to buy one. Beyond that, maybe make loans to people who want to buy one.
Personally, I'm buying a Tesla sedan as soon as I can save up enough.
Jcolinsol 2 years ago 2
Interestingly as you were talking about these oil companies being afraid of "not making money", it was on the BBC news today that Shell have the rights to "develop" a gigantic oil field in Iraq.
The article reads: "It (Shell) currently produces just 46,000 barrels per day."
"However Shell and Petronas have pledged to increase that output to 1.8 million barrels per
day." Well thats just great, I really think you are right they will just suck the planet dry & never develop alternatives
Cloud6556 2 years ago
Ahhh Robert finally someone who hates Clarkson and bloody Top Gear as much as I do :)
Cloud6556 2 years ago
I need counselling on this matter; a wet liberal with a dry headache. I understand all the arguments about electric cars, I understand why we need them, I understand they are the future and that (with research gathering momentum) a lot of the perceived problems exaggerated by Top Gear and the like will be a humourous footnote to history or a piece of board game trivia. But I still want to drive a Ferrari before I die. Drive it badly, uneconomically, on the red line. Hear the noise.
Help
jimmicampkin 2 years ago
I always thought paid more attention in chemistry but lithium coming from sea water i find surprising as the only chemistry experiment that didn't bore me to tears was watching what happened when you add lithium to water.
So to all you electric car owners be warned, don't get them wet, avoid direct sunlight and don't feed them after midnight!
cubepusher 2 years ago
Have you been doing David Attenborough impersonations lately?
DeafFret 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
One thing you seem to forget, BATTERIES do worse to the enviroment, than petrol cars.
BATTERIES, are made of ACIDs, which are harmfull to the enviroment.
Manufacturing, batteries is for worse :(
Geoff900 2 years ago
I do not wish to be rude, but please check at least some of your 'facts.' If nothing else just look into the chemical and energy use when refining oil into petrol. It's a very dirty, toxic process, not something oil companies want to advertise. Even the most toxic, badly made 100 year old tech in batteries (what you are clearly referring to) is immeasurably 'cleaner' than petrol. Oh, and one more thing, however you spin the truth, oil is going to run out. It is a finite resource.
bobbyllew 2 years ago 3
Awsome video Robert llewellyn, mate we need more electric cars, when's it going to happen?
plus i just saw your doccu/programme on the new FIVE youtube site about you auditing the religions, great one! although slightly irrelevant to this topic i know, sorry.
meggatonman 2 years ago
The truth is, that enviromentalists such as yourself seem to think that 'BATTERIES' is the answer to our problems.
Well, BATTERIES aren't the answer, they are harmfull to the enviroment, just as refining oil for petrol is. You still need a source of power, for batteries to recharge, and to even recycle the batteries. Everything, on this planet needs Oil some way or another. I didn't say oil isn't going to run out but then again the goverment said that computers would stop working in y2k....
Geoff900 2 years ago
Goverment, oil companies and even car manufactures are using this 'green idea' so people, think oh look what they are doing.
Lets be honest here, if it was that bad why aren't we using busses, or bikes? to get to work you can get more people on a bus, use far less fuel than if everyone was to use a car.
Geoff900 2 years ago
wow, because you can't generate electricity from ANYTHING but fossil fuels can you?
MRMIdAS2k 2 years ago
Wow, because you can make plastic, cleaning products, Paraffin wax, Lubricating oils, Naphtha, Liquid petroleum gas, Petroleum coke, Asphalt, Tar, Petrol, Jet Fuel polypropylene...
List goes on and on...
Geoff900 2 years ago
so? you'll use less oil when you've got cars that run on batteries, making that finate resource last longer, batteries are only as bad for the environment as petrol if you set fire to 'em and chuck 'em into a rainforest, it's like going "well, I'd rather keep getting kicked in the balls every day, as opposed to being pinched once a month, because they both hurt".
MRMIdAS2k 2 years ago
So, you don't need plastic, or oil do produce batteries now? Oh i see...
And if you use, batteries where is all this power going to come from?
Currently we use around 26 million cars, and use about 392,979 Gwh of power, how we going to power all these cars?
Battery technolgy, has only evolved for one simple reason, laptops, phones, not for cars.
Until massive leaps happen, oil will be needed, but it will still be needed even if we all drive electric cars.
Geoff900 2 years ago
No, we DO need these things, and, we'll produce them for a lot longer if we cut using oil for petrol cars.
There's something called Nuclear Power, it's a wonderfully safe method of making electricity, you can also generate electricity from wind turbines, water turbines in dams, and even solar panels, amazingly enough, none of these use NEARLY as much oil as the current methods,
MRMIdAS2k 2 years ago
Battery technology has evolved quicker for phones and laptops because there's a lot of them about, and it's financially fesable to research it, once the electric car does take off, battery technology will become more focussed on making better electric car batteries.
MRMIdAS2k 2 years ago
Firstly, there is a reason why they don't make Nuclear Powerstations, quite simply they aren't easy to make, and they need to have so many checks and protocals.
Battery technolgy hasn't evoled that much, ive been working in the I.T industry long enough to know that, plus you still will be using plastic, to make components for the battries.
I hope you realise, you need PIC for the battries.
Quite simply, battries aren't thee next best thing, as of yet they need to improve ten fold.
Geoff900 2 years ago
Like thats an excuse to keep burning oil.
YES you need all this plastic etc for the batteries, but once it's made, that's it, recycle it indefinitely, make the oil go further.
The fact is batteries have come so far in a short time because of demand for smaller, more powerful batteries, proves that electric cars do, and will work in the future.
MRMIdAS2k 2 years ago 2
@Geoff900 Obviously You haven't been watching the vid as a whole. Lithium is abundant, easy extractable and is the main component of....yup Lithium Ion ,Lithium polymer etc BATTERIES!! Aaand..fully recycleable to boot.
"Harmful batteries" is just as bogus as the "electricity comes from coal-argument" Yes, it does in a lot of places, but even with transport an such calculated in, it beats petrol in efficiency, if only because electric motors have a 75 to 98 % efficiency.
diakrite 1 year ago
Robert ! is that you talking in the PC world advert ?
chrisbell1987 2 years ago
Google:
"Is shell sponsoring Top Gear" and pick the first option. It's from Shell´s own website.
Nichen 2 years ago
Top Gear Live, and you honestly think it influcences TG's decissions...
Geoff900 2 years ago
top gear's second largest sponsor, after the bbc, is shell, so it would be hard to argue otherwise
barackorama69 2 years ago 2
wow it's been a while, glad it's here finally ;-)
robinphillips 2 years ago
heeh love u Kryty
CarpMagic95 2 years ago
Brilliance, pure brilliance.
Keep up the informative rants.
pnd97 2 years ago 6
more people need to know these facts, and they are facts, not an opinion. i try to tell everyone I know. I love you Bob, you always say exactly what i'm thinking.
malango255 2 years ago 2
Shell is the main sponsor after BBC for Top Gear, you are all free to check it up by yourselves.
Nichen 2 years ago
The only way for human kind to evolve beyond the requirement of age old arguments, such as this, is to remove greed from the equation. GET RID OF MONEY! I work very hard to give money away to these faceless companies so they can get richer. By the end of the week, I have barely enough money to survive on for the remainder of the the month. I would be very happy to go back to a Barter system of economy.
MrAndyroo 2 years ago
your wall need repainting mate!
mikeeech 2 years ago
But What about The CAR?!?!? You started off on the car and then you were on about lithium and hydrogen...But what About The CAR?!?!?
Kahntahmp 2 years ago
he he
AzizEnam 2 years ago
What happens when the lady wants to go for a drive in the country side...?
They're fine as a London run around, but in the real world the G-wiz is a useful as a chocolate teapot.
If your selling the concept of electric cars to people do not, under any circumstance, use the G-wiz as a good example of one.
thesniper89 2 years ago
@thesniper89 The lady just takes the pile of money she has saved driving a G-Wiz and rents a better electric car for the weekend.
kenkopin 2 years ago 2
Well said Sir.
malgacho 2 years ago
Standard Replaceable Batteries! Standard Replaceable Batteries! Standard Replaceable Batteries! Did I mention Standard Replaceable Batteries? Every car every truck don't care how big or how small use 1 type of battery. I don't care if its the size of a watch battery or 50lbs. Don't care makes no difference just make it and have them charged at every gas station. If they have non they get fined and shut down.
gnoxycat 2 years ago
What if there was a way of manufaturing a fuel that is made from the bi-product it produces? There is such a system being researched. It is a methanol based fuel. Methanol is made of CO2, hydro carbons, Hydrogen and water. and thes are also bi-products of conbustion. It also needs hydrogen from electrolosis. It can also use CO2 from the air which is produced from fossil fuels. The extra hydo carbons can be turned into recyleble plastics. It uses more than it wastes. making it a renewable process
matth84 2 years ago
I have to say that I believe that hydrogen power is a more viable resorce on a industrial level. As the energy Density of it is about 1/200th that of a conbustion engine. So if you look at a Hydrogen car the tank is massive. this is because the hydrogen needs to be stored at liguid state. As liguid is more dense than gas. This in turn mean it has to be stored at a very low temperature. this in turn is why the tank is the size of a cars boot and makes it more viable on an industrial level.
matth84 2 years ago
You should be the programhost for Top Gear, not Jeremy F*cking Clarkson. I think you are brilliant Bobby, keep up the good work! :)
Nichen 2 years ago
I agree totally with what you are saying, kind of. I love big V8 ridiculous Audi R8's. But the future is batteries and Hydrogen. Even for fast cars e.g. Tesla! its fast, brilliant engineering and if you can do usual motorhead stuff with a battery then that makes inefficient petrol engines redundant. What Jeremy Clarkson says about the Tesla losing power to quickly (so he wont buy one) is stupid because he bought a Ford GT witch did 4 MPG! The Tesla does 120 MPGge! So that makes him a hypocrite!
MrChristhemagic 2 years ago
i you can do the same with a battery operated car as you can with a lotus elise then i'd rather try and help the environment and my bank anount by using a Tesla.
Whats Your Problem Clarkson?!
MrChristhemagic 2 years ago
TBF Robert I totally agree with your views on electric cars but not totally Top Gear; it was pretty clear that it was just a joke and there was no kind of 'this is what all electric cars are like'; in fact they made it very clear that the other electric cars were much much better than the piece of crap they had made. And then destroyed. Make an electric car that is as convenient and as cheap as petrol cars, and EVERYBODY will buy one, of that I have no doubt =)
DannySoisSage 2 years ago
I think the future of technology is that we will use up the fossil fuels. Then we will turn to a mix of nuclear and renewable energy. Hydrogen will be used at this point because we will have abundant power to seperate it out from water.
After that in maybe 100 years we will finally perfect a stable fusion reaction that will output more energy then is used to keep the reaction going. This has been done on a very small, very short term scale already.
imr22 2 years ago
You prefer spending hundreds of times more energy in retrieving hydrogen from sea water and then transport it into a station so you can store it in a car, instead of simply storing the energy directly in a battery?
Look for a new type of battery that is starting to be commercialized based on lithium nano-tubes. It stores 3 to 8 times more energy per kg than available technology.
Battery technology is decades ahead of hydrogen fuel technology.
esmifra 2 years ago
This is a great rant. The other HUGE and more threatening scam on the world population is Global Warming. We need to research where this scam is coming from and end it ASAP. Carbon Taxation / Cap and Trade is the end of the modern world as we know it. Small taxes at first you won't even notice, then crushing taxation that will rob every single person of their God given destinies on this planet. End the scams!
drtyrell969 2 years ago
I don't mind you criticising Top Gear at all! I mean its the most homoerotic thing on TV I think.
RedJoe10 2 years ago
One thing I found interesting is there saying Phones will soon be powered wireless using the radio waves or something, so far it only produces like 5watt of power but they believe their not far off increase that amount and if they are able to do that, could that power a car? charges up overnight automatically, charges while you drive etc, it may not ever be enough to completely power up your car but could make charges a lot less required.
amigang 2 years ago
There is already technology being developed where a conductive plate could be fitted into a car park floor, you park over it, charge while parked. Very possible and a very good idea.
bobbyllew 2 years ago
All I can say is thank you very much. Some sanity on the topic. Your projects for next year sound very interesting. I so missed your little rants, do you feel better afterward. It seems to be a great form of therapy.
ma4very 2 years ago
circutracer, there is nowhere near enough land to supply enough biofuels for our transportation needs. And there is no way to ensure that it must all be produced free of fossil fuel inputs and doesn't displace food production.
mark2073 2 years ago
I agree... until it all goes fantastically wrong! Leaves a pretty damn big foot print then, along a large smoking crater! XD
circutracer150 2 years ago
Damn. I was just getting into that. Could've listened to you rant on for another hour or two.
terrorbite 2 years ago 2
Mixture of fcats and common sense.
I like that.
LegoGear 2 years ago
One more point for your records. Your comment that coal + EV's is still 80% less polluting than regular cars isn't exactly true. If a coal plant is 30% efficient, with 7% loss in electricity transmission, and the 75% efficiency of the Tesla Roadster, then you get 21% efficiency. This compares with 18% efficiency for a typical ICE, and over 35% for efficient diesels. But in the US, coal only accounts for 48% of electricity generation. Plus its easier to control particulates in a central plant.
mark2073 2 years ago
I think I almost totally agree with you, certainly your last point, fitting carbon scrubbing tech on one big chimney is a lot easier than fitting millions of units on millions of tailpipes, however we should all be struggling to stop burning coal anyway, it's absurdly dated Victorian technology, just like internal combustion engines.
bobbyllew 2 years ago
Totally agree with you but unfortunately technology rarely works in big jumps.
So, we can take a look of how things are now with coal plant and internal combustion engines and the first step seems to be eliminating internal combustion outdated engines, removing a big chunk of pollution in city centers.
After that, eliminating coal and fuel plants seems to be the next step but with current technology it's not possible. Maybe with fusion or higher efficiency solar panels...
esmifra 2 years ago
Thanks for the video, I've never heard of you but will keep watching. Here's an interesting stat: if automakers covered the bodywork with thin film solar panels (under a clear coat epoxy) .... you could go 15 km on a sunny day .... for FREE! Well, not really free, because the cost of the solar panels isn't competitive with grid power, but it's an interesting stat. As we all know, and as the luddites try to deny, solar panels are getting way cheaper and way better every year. Wait 5-10 years.
mark2073 2 years ago
I don't hate the electric car, but I hate electric cars: "Look at this, we've got L-Ions and in wheel motors, it costs 0.5p a mile, it's 150,000% efficient, it's the futur"..."SOD OFF!"
I want a car, so use all the electric car's benefits, bring the motor/s inboard, and while you're at it, bring the brakes inboard too, it helps the handling. Bring me an electric car when it's the present.
Now go away and quietly develop that. I'll keep making sure the machines that store your bank account work.
BigglesPiP 2 years ago
You may be surprised to discover I agree with you, the in wheel motor thing has massive drawbacks, I've spoken to some very experienced motor engineers and they are all very skeptical about them, the effect they have on the performance and handling of the vehicle, the potential damage to the motor from being juddered violently by rough roads, put the motors inside the car I say, they are only small anyway.
bobbyllew 2 years ago
You mentioned people saying that fossil fuels are needed for generating electricity to charge the car which uses more fossil fuels than a normal car but you didn't rebuke it. What is the argument against this?
Charlesdance 2 years ago
They (power stations) would be burning the fuel anyway, so youre not adding to anything (it's still not a good thing). If you use a normal car you're producing AND the power station is producing (did you think the fossil fuel power stations were only turned on to charge cars?).
Cowinspace 2 years ago
Thanks for the effort.
Charlesdance 2 years ago
I'm very confused by your questions. Here's a simple explanation. A fossil powered car can only use fuel from one source, namely fossil fuels, burning oil. An electric car can use power from many sources, burning coal, natural gas, nuclear, wind, solar etc. Even if you charge an electric car from the grid and the grid is mainly powered by burning coal, the total carbon output per kilometer is 80% less than the cleanest internal combustion engine. Electric motors are simply more efficient
bobbyllew 2 years ago
I was just curious was all, thanks for the answer :)
Charlesdance 2 years ago
But electric motors still leave a huge carbon footprint. They still need a power source to plug into, and that power comes from a power plant that burns fossil fuels or nuclear power. Ethanol is the solution. Clean emissions, multiple renewable sources for the fuel, and another note, the refining plants will generate MANY new jobs.
Also, regardless of what car companies tell people, ANY internal combustion engine will burn Ethanol, WITHOUT modifications.
circutracer150 2 years ago
Ethanol is just another corn subsidy, and corn is made, shipped, and processed with fossil fuels. Chemical fertilizer and pesticides are crude oil derivatives. The shipment and processing are all done with fossil fuel engines. It takes more fossil fuels to make enough corn to fill a tank than it takes just to process the oil directly into gas.
TakeyMcTaker 2 years ago
Um, no.
You can get Corn and wood Ethanol from just letting it SIT in the proper container. I have seen it done, and I have used the resulting fuel in various engines.
As for transporting it, why on Earth would the transport vehicles NOT be filled with said Ethanol?You can also produce Ethanol from grass clippings, MANY different sugars, and about a MILLION other things, all without using fossil fuels. It seems you listened to oil company propaganda and not your own research or experience.
circutracer150 2 years ago
You're obviously don't kno what you're talking about. Ethanol is dead as a transportation fuel and corn ethanol even worse than fossil fuels in terms of environmental impact. However ethanol is very good at creating starvation, ruining the soil and prolong the obsolete, inefficient, polluting internal combustion engine existence to name a few.
Forget it, once and for all.
EVdriver8 2 years ago
YOU don't know what you are talking about. The only emission Ethanol produces is alcohol, and that dissipates within the air. It does NOT create starvation in any way, and that is a ridiculous comment. Corn is HIGHLY renewable, and does NOT damage soil at all. Plus you can get Ethanol from THOUSANDS of different things. The internal combustion engine is NOT obsolete in any way, and gets more efficient and powerful every year. Your statements are ludicrous propaganda.
circutracer150 2 years ago
Give it up circutracer, we all have to admit sometimes that we are wrong. It's called growth. Ethanol releases tons of carbon from the fossil fuels necessary to produce the corn. That corn could instead be used to feed people. It's true that ethanol can be made from other sources, which it should, but there is not enough of that to supply our needs. Corn does indeed damage the soil, you need pesticides and fertilizers. Look up the "Mississippi dead zone", where it all washes into the ocean.
mark2073 2 years ago
@circutracer150 You are a moron, accept that. Period.
EVdriver8 1 year ago
@EVdriver8 Wow. After that riveting and witty answer, I suppose I have been put into my place!
Jolly good show, old chap!
circutracer150 1 year ago
I wish people would get with the times and realise carbon footpringing has nothing to do with the environment and is just a big government and big corporate scam. It's parasitism.
Google climategate and see what's going on. They are simply lieing about the wheather, global warming is a farce and climate change is just seasons.
Talk about particulate pollution and carbon monoxide instead. Worry about your lungs and cancer, not about what plants breathe.
Zepherian 2 years ago
I am keeping an open mind about climate change, I have met really skeptical, pro nuclear, pro free market scientists who have spent a lot of time in the Arctic, they are very concerned, there is no doubt about it, the ice is melting. It's melted before millions of years ago but no one knows why. I think it's important to remember the vested interests of big corporations and their potential desire to "prove" climate change is a myth, thus allowing them to continue to profit to the same degree
bobbyllew 2 years ago
As far as I can see polar ice sheets have a yearly thawing and freezing movement, so it's natural that they melt. And of course there will be cycles within cycles, but all of those are beyond what we can generate. We simply don't throw up enough CO2 to make a difference, and if we did plants would simply grow off it before the ice sheets melt. Homeostasis.
It takes cosmic forces to melt polar ice in a big way.
Again, google climategate, see the sleezy side of all this.
Cheers.
Zepherian 2 years ago
Have done as you suggested and there's clearly a lot of noise in the arena. Will read and digest. Interestingly I also googled 'climate change' and the top paid for link was from exxon, which was their page gently refuting the CC arguments. I am not arguing for or against the possibility of human induced change, my interest in electric vehicles is focussed on global political and economic arguments, and obviously that the wretched oil will run out one day regardless. Thanks for the tip though
bobbyllew 2 years ago
One more thing: lithium ion batteries are pretty cool, because of really one thing: laptops. I mean how many people out there are going with laptops, and with the laptops ever evolving, there is a lot of investments going into that technology, so it would make sense to reap the rewards somewhat to use that technology for cars.
kuryamtl 2 years ago
I also want to thank you for this video and your car pool video with Paul Scott, I sent it off to a friend of mine. I think it really addresses a lot of criticisms, even a few of my own about electric cars. And one important thing as you said is the servicing costs and time for the servicing which you wouldn't have with the electric car.
kuryamtl 2 years ago
I think one of the problems is that the electric car requires a different way of doing things, of planning things. We are so entrenched in the whole culture and conventions of the internal combustion engine is that it is difficult to change your mindset to the electric car. A lot of the criticisms out there is due to ignorance.
kuryamtl 2 years ago
plenty of problems with hydrogen, to extract it from water, you need to use electrolysis, leaving you with a load of iron oxide (rust) also water has the same 'global warming effects as carbon dioxide does as it also helps to prevent heat from leaving the atmosphere. Bit more development needed? I think so :/
1994chrisr 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
You liberals, you suck. This video is absurd.
TTWB94 2 years ago
Well that complex and intellectually challenging argument has left me reeling, I don't know how to respond. You have floored me with your searing insight, I am devastated. I'll obviously have to crawl off and re-think my entire agenda now.
bobbyllew 2 years ago
Good calls Kryten. Sorry I can't spell your welsh name :S
Lithium ion is the one non repressed technology that has made the electric car viable, at last. It's the cat that got out of the bag, and the sooner we can all just accept the electric car is now here to stay the sooner we can make this world a little better.
And after Li-Ion perhaps we might end up with third party tesla vacuum tubes, who knows?
Cheers.
Zepherian 2 years ago
This is very off topic but do you think you will ever make another series of 'Hollywood Science'? i loved that show. Maybe you could make a version for the internet
topcat4eva 2 years ago
Would love to, would love to make a series on the net. Sadly it only stopped because of some absurd disagreement between the Open University and the BBC, such a shame, such a good idea, really enjoyed making those
bobbyllew 2 years ago
Thanks for preaching the evils of the petrol and diesel engine from your, not one, but two, electric cars which have been given to you. /sarcasm
I'm all for the electric car and the sooner they become practical and affordable the better. But there's still the small matter of where the electricity comes from in the first place.
I vote we put Trevor Baylis on the case. Wind up cars FTW!
Joliet68 2 years ago
When this video have a gazillion views (atleast) I might just recover my hopes for humanity.
:3 Good job!
Munkatten 2 years ago
I pick my bum and smell it.
Alandiggers79 2 years ago
Now that is clever. Well done you.
bobbyllew 2 years ago
Too right Bob, remember last season, or the season before of top gear? They basically introduced hydrogen as the answer, citing the whole coal power excuse for batteries being no good. I thought it was common knowledge that hydrogen was too expensive to extract, but after that episode, everyone I know thought hydrogen was the future! I was raving about it for weeks, just like you are now.
Most people just don't want to challenge a widely accepted view, but our future depends on it!
h4x3l 2 years ago
Entertaining as always. Could have used some swearing, though. :)
mustelidmama 2 years ago
thats great ranting once again. 5 * epic
RhysHoneMusic1 2 years ago
God I love you Robert, you wet, wet liberal! Please keep ranting about Top Gear, it cracks me up! Thanks for the electric car info too. 6 stars!
dismutased 2 years ago
Bobby, have you thought about making a Vimeo account so we can download these episodes?
Also how about that classic Peep Show moment at 4:45? Haha!
planetyes 2 years ago
Ahh yes, what a good idea, on the other hand, Oh No! More work! I know, it's not that hard. I'll try
bobbyllew 2 years ago
Robert, good video as usual. I'd have to say the biggest thing stopping battery powered or hybrid cars from going mainstream is simply the cost.
The Prius costs $50k+ AUD here in Australia, which is rediculous. I'd have to drive my current petrol powered turbo sports car for more than 20 years before any cost savings would come into play for me to own a Prius.
Until I can get a battery only car for $20k AUD and it gets me 400km or more on a single charge, I unfortunately just can't justify it.
XSO81 2 years ago
Battery is the way forward, but advances in the tech has been slow.
The Seimens bike that OCC built was stunning but 6 car batts on one bike ?
dvdmike007 2 years ago
It's a shame to see that some of the comments here are just as backward as the thinking on Top Gear.
Robert, what I think you should do is get some of your geeky EV friends to build an EV based on the same chassis that Clarkson and his boys did. But show them how bloody amazing the result could be. There's already plenty of electric Lotus conversions out there...
Top Gear don't ever give a sh*t about telling the truth. Oh yes, It's okay isn't it? Because it's entertainment... But it's not!
aminorjourney 2 years ago
The G-wiz if it was to be put to the same safty test it would only get 1 star it's very unsafe in a car.
Plus the batteys in most Electric cars are based on German WW2 patterns.
Robin303 2 years ago
I, for one, am converted Bobby, I accept I was wrong (because of misinformation and a lack of effort in doing proper research on it) so thanks for your insight
smallshrubbery 2 years ago 2
I love TG. You just need to remember that its a comedy show about three old ish guys who are technical retards. Who like to prat about (in a fairly scripted manner).
It also just happens to feature cars also.
jamesmaybrick2001 2 years ago
Robert, once again, everything you've just said is 100% right - moraly and factually - but it always comes down to who has the most money that gets the final say...unfortuantly.
danford12 2 years ago
"The battery technology isn't up to scratch" - Haha I think that may have been me that said that. Its true though isn't it. Its pretty crappy at the minute, give it 10 or 15 years though and I'll think we will have cracked it.
MartinHire 2 years ago
I could do without the Top Gear rants all the time, it's not becoming. They're not criminals, just TV presenters with their own opinions, and opinions, like arseholes, are something everyone has. Fossil fuels WILL run out, you've already won and they clearly know it. They do more electric stuff every series, and they can see it's the future. Now drop the bete noir and tell us where you think we should be looking, not where not to look.
axeman3d 2 years ago
You could be right, although I am always disappointed when I meet people who believe everything they say on the show. I am working on a new show which will not even acknowledge the existence of TG, and will only point to where we should be looking. Also, I have only ever done one other rant about TG, it's not like I do them every week.
bobbyllew 2 years ago
I'll take your word on the TG thing, although I think I'm including mini rants and episodes of Car Pool as well. Love CP by the way, look foward to your new show with intrest.
axeman3d 2 years ago
as always Robert you are right, but Top Gear was very funny!!!!
ikeaman38 2 years ago
Hi Robert, great video. First things first, I understand that the Top Gear presenters are a bunch of petrol heads, if it doesn't grunt, growl and squeel they aren't interested and I agree with most of what you said in the video. Secondly, I don't know how to drive, I never learned, I'm a total pedestrian/public transport user. But, when I finally get around to it, I'll buy an electric car. Thanks.
LoriCiani 2 years ago
This is not the first time I have heard someone advocate sea water as a source for fueling the electric car. Thank you for bringing this to the attention of the public. The question is....do we wait for the big car companies to do this or get a little bit of D-I-Y into the picture?
TigermanPCD 2 years ago
I am deeply and passionately in love with Barbara, my 1979 Ford Cortina estate, even though she's a filth-belching gas-guzzler that widens the hole in the ozone layer by three miles every time I go out for a drive.
TashkentFox 2 years ago
i want an electric car, but i wish there was one in between the gewiz and the tesla, as on size and price, like a normal/ small car that was about £10,000
thestalkinghead 2 years ago
The Nissan Leaf and the Mitsubishi i-MiEV will be going to be sold from late next year for around £10,000-£15,000
lolbikes 2 years ago
I think you're right on Robert. Cracking water for hydrogen is a waste of electricity which could simply be used to power a lithium cell, and the excuse that we need to burn coal and oil to produce electricity is patently false. Nuclear energy is a real and viable alternative to gas/coal/oil power generation.
Textra1 2 years ago
The oil companies have done their best to convince everyone that nuclear power is the Beast, them and the many hippies with their No Nukes sign who ironically have helped the agenda of the oil industry, yet it is the only realistic alternative to oil base electricity generation. Tidal, solar and wind generation cannot come close to supplying enough power. Given the amounts of CO2 belched into the atmosphere by oil based power stations, nuclear energy is a far cleaner and safer option.
Textra1 2 years ago
So if we combine nuclear power generation and electric cars and I think we'd be well on the way to an excellent way to drive and power the 21st century.
Textra1 2 years ago
If you've got a moment, check out the carpool episode with Dale Vince, he runs a company called ecotricity. they install the really big wind turbines, his figures are very interesting. He suggests have far more wind than we need in the UK, plenty to create as much electricity as we could possibly need.
bobbyllew 2 years ago
I don't own cars and know little about the subject.
I learned a lot from this. Thank you.
Elinious 2 years ago
You're too sensible to be a politician, but if you stood for election I'd vote for you. It's mad that corporations put money ahead of the future health of our eco-systems on Earth. Eventually all of the rich will live on the moon with the wealth they've made from killing the Earth and the poor will struggle on a dying Earth.
bilstonjay 2 years ago
Top rant mate and i think the battery is the way to go like the li-po batts i use in my r/c hobby but you do have to be very careful with them ;-) and they are getting even better as we talk,5*
startazz 2 years ago
Another brilliant and insightful vid! Keep spreading the news and thank you for being one of my subscribers.
CaptainJoeZurlo 2 years ago
Robert Llewellyn, what a guy! :D
Lastnerdonearth 2 years ago
brilliant vid.
Nice one!
mcbraynor 2 years ago
As always a good rant/video.
I was wondering if you were going to post something after seeing a Prius on Top Gear at the weekend. Class as always. :)
deanstructor 2 years ago
But isn't there a big problem with phone batteries at the moment? And laptop batteries? Maybe you know better than I do - I had the impression that lithium batteries were bad for the environment once finished with. Also while they are great for the first two years of their lives, they start running out of charge quite quickly after that, and need to be replaced? Again, I'd love to know if this information is wrong.
feckingbillgates 2 years ago
Have you talked yet about AA Gill pointlessly shooting a baboon? I'd like to hear what you think of that man.
feckingbillgates 2 years ago
I know you are not asking me to talk about it, but I think it was a fictitious event. A .375 soft nose will drop over 6 inches at 200 yards and this food critic claims he shot it at 250 yards with perfect aim. Total BS.
drivin98 2 years ago
I hope you are right and that it never happened. However he is still a tremendous dick for boasting about it and saying "I wanted to know what it felt like to kill a person" as a reason. Whether he did kill one, or just boasted about it, the type of person who wants admiration for having done so must be the "wanker" variety. That's what I think.
feckingbillgates 2 years ago
@bobbyllew, another great rant :-) I think you refered to the arguement with @scovey. He's read my blog and Chelsea Sexton sent him the link to your various carpools, as such I think he accepts now that electricity generation isn't as polluting as burning oil in cars.
Keep it up,
Regards
@PeteMcFlurry
SquareoftheyearFM 2 years ago
Comment removed
cmcc212 2 years ago
with you all the way! and yes electric cars are under represented on TV but, please credit us the public with the sense to know that top gear is pure comedy, and comedy alone. nobody takes the show seriously now do they?
leccyshep 2 years ago
Hang on....Now, while yes, combustion is veyr much out of date, id like to point out that electrical is still young and people are reluctant to give up old things for something new that isn't as good. The G-Wiz isn't popular becouse of the type of thinking it promotes. Not the "Save the enviroment" its "Save it by sacraficing distance, comfort and EVERYTHING else" a normal petrol car gives! The reason you saw it in london was simply becouse thats the only place you'd ever see one. :/
wolfos 2 years ago
Entirely agree about the GWiz, I wouldn't be seen dead in one, and it does only make sense in London, but that means, it does make sense in London. A Porsche Cayenne does not make sense in London, in fact, it doesn't make sense anywhere on earth but they are as common as muck. I would suggest only a tragic idiot would drive one.
bobbyllew 2 years ago
nope, even I don't have one =P
MaxSafeheaD 2 years ago
But ....and this might be me giving them too much credit ...but i think thats the point of the show. Boys with toys and all that true but what i really seem to think they did point out is that even a drowned rat taped to a skateboard is better then the Gwiz. Cars are all based on want and needs so most people are going to go with a Polo or something in London, i know how bad traffic can be there but the money you save buying the bloody Gwiz is going to be spent on living there in the first place
wolfos 2 years ago
Brilliant! Glad someone is telling us the truth! Great video, thank you so much for posting it
xaalaax 2 years ago
Hybrid battery/fuel cell. That'd work. The fact is with electricity we have a 'fuel' distribution system to EVERY home. Can't beat that for efficiency.
The petrol stations need to get on board with the standardised battery swap stations. google betterplace
You need to put yourself out of business or else someone else will do it for you.
Octamed 2 years ago
I like Top Gear and Robert please also note that Top gear had to get more charge because their car was built wrong, and they didn't have powerful enough batteries u would find in a normal electric car. This was said on the show .Top Gear wanted to make an electric car but they wanted to make a gd entertainment show aswell.top gear also showed that once chargers are everywhere then the cars will work. they didn't say all electric cars are bad. they say loads of petrol cars r bad aswell
niknarnevets 2 years ago