# How Will We Motor When Oil Is No More?



## Lex Foutish (12 Apr 2010)

The Government announcement today, about grants for electric cars, put me thinking. What's going to happen when we finally run out of oil? Will we all be using electric cars, stopping on our trips to Dublin and Kerry, to recharge them? Or will we be using fuel like hydrogen to power vehicles? 

I honestly don't know but I'd be interested in the opinions of sagacious AAM posters...........


----------



## jhegarty (13 Apr 2010)

I think there will be a move to electric in about 5/10 years as they get more advanced then the petrol versions.

Range and charging times are the only problems left to solved.


----------



## Arabella (13 Apr 2010)

Electric cars will be the norm in a decades time. Remember how quickly mobile phones adapted to suit the punter's needs. Things will speed up as the manufacturers realise that they are on to a good thing. And the governments try to claw in revenue from elsewhere


----------



## Latrade (13 Apr 2010)

Lex Foutish said:


> The Government announcement today, about grants for electric cars, put me thinking. What's going to happen when we finally run out of oil? Will we all be using electric cars, stopping on our trips to Dublin and Kerry, to recharge them? Or will we be using fuel like hydrogen to power vehicles?
> 
> I honestly don't know but I'd be interested in the opinions of sagacious AAM posters...........


 
Electric cars are effectively the stop gap between oil and alternative energy like Hydrogen cells. They're more expensive to make and those batteries aren't the nicest thing to the environment, plus the charging is going to be a massive issue which is why they'll only ever be city cars. No harm in them for the school run, but I wouldn't be using them to get to Kerry.

The hydrogen powered is going to be the main focus of R&D largely on the basis that your fuel is water, no need for recharging or consumption of electricity. However, quite what that will do for the ability to cope with the demand for water is another thing.


----------



## Tomodinhio (13 Apr 2010)

The problem with electric cars is that they are not enviromentally friendly and are still dependant on fossil fuels, unless we can power all the cars on the road with electriticty from renewable energies they will in effect still be running on fossil fuels. We will need to generate more electirity the more electric cars are sold. I think hydrogen has a more longterm future but if we can perfect the battery and find new ways of creating electricity then maybe electric cars will have a viable future.


----------



## jhegarty (13 Apr 2010)

But hydrogen is every bit as dependant on fossil fuels.


----------



## bullbars (13 Apr 2010)

Brazil made the switch to Ethanol many years ago. I think Biofuels will become more popular before Electric cars etc. What this will do to world food markets is another issue.


----------



## Purple (13 Apr 2010)

bullbars said:


> Brazil made the switch to Enthanol many years ago. I think Biofuels will become more popular before Electric cars etc. What this will do to world food markets is another issue.



...and how many people it will cause to starve to death, and how much pollution it will cause to waterways as phosphates are used in massive amounts to grow crops on soil that doesn't suit them...
Widespread use of Bio-fuels would be an environmental disaster.


----------



## VOR (13 Apr 2010)

+1 Purple. Bio-fuels are not the answer. 

Neither are electric cars IMO. The batteries are an environmental nightmare. The faster we get to hydrogen the better.


----------



## RonanC (13 Apr 2010)

The future is already here (well in california anyway)

http://automobiles.honda.com/fcx-clarity/


----------



## Tomodinhio (13 Apr 2010)

jhegarty said:


> But hydrogen is every bit as dependant on fossil fuels.



Thats true, it might be that we'll have to build nuclear power plants if we want to replace oil with Hydrogen or electricity in cars. I wounder how much energy is needed to power all the cars on the road at the moment.


----------



## Crugers (13 Apr 2010)

Lex Foutish said:


> The Government announcement today, about grants for electric cars, put me thinking. What's going to happen when we finally run out of oil? Will we all be using electric cars, stopping on our trips to Dublin and Kerry, to recharge them? Or will we be using fuel like hydrogen to power vehicles?
> 
> I honestly don't know but I'd be interested in the opinions of sagacious AAM posters...........


 
"Mr. Fusion Home Energy Reactor" and a flux capacitor, maybe...


----------



## The_Banker (13 Apr 2010)

Hydrogen, Oil, Enthanol, Gas etc... It doesn't matter what we use as we will still harm the environment.
Even with electric powered cars the electricity still has to be generated by some power source (oil/wind/solar) and massive amounts of money and energy will have to be spent it R&D to develop this.
The truth is the population is increasing and the bigger population makes more demands on the planet. Therefore, anything the Green parties put in place to help the environment is only a stop gap. Akin to giving a dying man a glass of water.

Nobody wants to go back to pre industrial life and embrace agriculture so its about time world governments really grabbed the bull by the horns and came up with a master plan.
We need to colonise another planet! I am sure there are plenty out there and we would be better advised to try and find them rather than spending fortunes trying to come up with ways to "save the earth" which is only prolonging the agony of the sick patient.
I have seen the movie Avatar and there are lessons to be learnt here on how to subdue the native population when we find a suitable planet.


----------



## Lex Foutish (13 Apr 2010)

The_Banker said:


> Hydrogen, Oil, Enthanol, Gas etc... It doesn't matter what we use as we will still harm the environment.
> Even with electric powered cars the electricity still has to be generated by some power source (oil/wind/solar) and massive amounts of money and energy will have to be spent it R&D to develop this.
> The truth is the population is increasing and the bigger population makes more demands on the planet. Therefore, anything the Green parties put in place to help the environment is only a stop gap. Akin to giving a dying man a glass of water.
> 
> ...


 
Could we start with Kerry, Banker?


----------



## haminka1 (13 Apr 2010)

love the idea of the electric powered cars - the batteries can be disposed of in an extremely ecological way, they are very suitable for commuting and so reliable


----------



## elefantfresh (13 Apr 2010)

Hey Banker - have a look here and you'll see all those planets ready and waiting for us!


----------



## Lex Foutish (13 Apr 2010)

haminka1 said:


> love the idea of the electric powered cars - the batteries can be disposed of in an extremely ecological way, they are very suitable for commuting and so reliable


 
How much do they cost, Haminka?


----------



## csirl (13 Apr 2010)

> They're more expensive to make and those batteries aren't the nicest thing to the environment, plus the charging is going to be a massive issue which is why they'll only ever be city cars. No harm in them for the school run, but I wouldn't be using them to get to Kerry.


 
I remember people saying this sort of thing when mobile phones were run of batteries the size of suitcases and could only be used for short periods of time between recharging. Apply a similar rate of development to electric cars and within 20 years you'd be able to drive for 1,000s miles at speeds faster than a formula 1 car on one recharge of a battery the size and weight of a pound of butter.


----------



## bullbars (13 Apr 2010)

Purple said:


> ...and how many people it will cause to starve to death, and how much pollution it will cause to waterways as phosphates are used in massive amounts to grow crops on soil that doesn't suit them...
> Widespread use of Bio-fuels would be an environmental disaster.


 
Electric cars have a huge leap to make until they can compete realistically, until that happens our dependance on the combustion engine will remain. As I said in my original post, there are other issues with this answer but necessity will be the driver here.


----------



## corkgal (13 Apr 2010)

Bio diesel. Global warming is a myth/overstated to keep us from using up the last of the oil before they figure out the supply issues.


----------



## Latrade (14 Apr 2010)

csirl said:


> I remember people saying this sort of thing when mobile phones were run of batteries the size of suitcases and could only be used for short periods of time between recharging. Apply a similar rate of development to electric cars and within 20 years you'd be able to drive for 1,000s miles at speeds faster than a formula 1 car on one recharge of a battery the size and weight of a pound of butter.


 
True enough, same with computers. The rapid rate of development was driven by the demand and success of the product. As there's little demand/supply of electric cars, there's been little incentive for R&D. Once there's a market, competition will drive through the R&D as manufacturers try to outdo each other on longevity, weight and disposal of batteries and power.


----------

