Fully Charged | roundup | episode 32

A sunny drive in the Nissan Leaf, musing on renewables and an explanation on the future of the Fully Charged series

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• robert
• llewellyn
• fully
• charged
• nissan
• leaf
• renewable
• energy
• electric
• cars
• solar

[XitUp]

A few points:

1. Stop slagging off nuclear. If you want to get away from burning fossil fuels we need it. We can't afford to go with just renewables.

2. Don't compare a Nissan hatchback to executive cars, it harms your argument.

3. Rich people without solar are not scum. How do you know they've not invested that money in a more workable but less conspicuous form of green energy?

4. I'd give horses a bit more room when passing. They, and the people on them are mental.

[fullychargedshow]

@XitUp A few points indeed.

1. I admire your confident finger wagging, telling me exactly what to think with such certainty.

2. Currently nuclear power has many, long term disadvantages, it's incredibly expensive, centralised and totally reliant on non renewable fuel.

3. The comparison between the Leaf and executive cars stands up very well.

4. Currently any very rich people deserve any and all criticism.

4. I drive past horses all the time, every day, I know what I'm doing, I ride horses

[greenpete]

Was that 67 mph or kph whilst you were yacking to the camera and not concentrating on the country road?

Interesting stuff though, thanks!

[fullychargedshow]

@greenpete The shot of the speedo was taken at another point when I wasn't talking, it's called editing.

[darupz]

rich people without solar panels are not scum, they just laugh at the people with solar panels. In Belgium the government wants to stop giving grants for installing solar panels since they have almost no return. Come back when they have a min. 75% efficiency in worst time conditions. Solar panels are massive overpriced for what they can actually do. Besides that 40k car has 10x the finish and styling of a Prius. For some a car is just transport for others it's something they enjoy. Luxury costs.

[fullychargedshow]

@darupz Oh yeah, and now I'm even more convinced, rich people without solar panels are moronic scum.

[paytontech]

Jeremy Clarkson speaks from his anus on EVs.

[greyareaRK1]

Thanks, and good luck with Red Dwarf. (British TV productions seem to move at a glacial pace.) I like the new camera rig - wide angle lenses, and the new camera positions (or am I imagining that?). A solar power program would make even more sense here in Canada, with its large distances to transmit power over, and for the most part, sunnier weather. Not much chance of that with our current oil-funded ultra-conservative government.

[batlin]

@OperationCrossroad Maybe in extremely bad weather. But if it's just cold (maybe -5 C at worst), an air conditioning heat pump would be a couple of times more efficient than an electric heater. Might be able to catch some of the incoming airflow while the car is moving, like the BMW efficient dynamics thingy apparently does?

[batlin]

One stat I'd like to have heard was whether it "ran out of juice on the motorway", as the media so frequently seems to predict. I'm guessing that in your thousands of miles, it's never happened? Only a complete muppet would drive onto a motorway with an almost empty tank of fuel - but for some reason people keep asking the rhetorical question: What happens if you run out of batteries on the motorway? Same thing as a fossil fuel engine: you get help and die of embarrassment.

[reevsaj]

I hope to see a review from you of the Tesla Model S later this year :)

[johnson1095]

Could you do a show on Better place???

[capitalistsamurai]

Review Honda Fit EV 2012 when you get it!

[bannor99]

@TWOKDOK1 Ultracaps make a great addition to an EV, say for capturing the energy from regen braking but they're not yet ready to entirely replace batteries. Energy density is still too low, self-discharge rate too high, potential for internal shorting is great and requires fairly complex management.

In combination with advanced batteries, they'll make for a terrifice EV but not yet ready for primetime.

[gasdive]

@gasdive put this in the Youtube search: Thom Hartmann: Nuclear Power - "We Almost Lost Nebraska"

[gasdive]

@XitUp Chernobyl caused evacuations 180 miles away. Areas that are still unlivable.

[OperationCrossroad]

Speaking of having to heat the cabin of an electric car in cold weather:

I wonder if it would be possible for car makers to fit their EV's with small propane burning devices (kinda like a mini furnace) that would draw propane from a disposable (or refillable) pressurize tank (similar to the tank on small propane torch) ?.

This could extend the range of electric cars driven in countries where winter is brutal (-30, -40 degrees Celsius) like in my country -> Canada.

[toyotaprius79]

Com' on Robert. It's been 2 months! I know your busy but don't you have a friend or family member who knows about electric cars to carry on the show?