| Why Wait For Detroit? Drive a Converted Electric Vehicle Today |
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| Dozens of Links... >>>> |
| Hundreds of Links Share your favorite web page with students and fans of EVs. We share the road, so let's share info. Send me some suggested links: mistermath@comcast.net http://auto.howstuffworks.com/electric-car.htm Electric vehicles are reality -- You can drive an Electric Vehicle. Are the EVs possible? Sure. www.metricmind.com/ac_honda/main.htm - GoinGreen :: G-wiz :: Automatic Electric Vehicle Until now, electric cars cost two to three times their petrol equivalent, if you could buy them at all. The G-Wiz represents a real price breakthrough - www.goingreen.co.uk/?PageID=NewGWiz - (British site) RevaIndia.com Wow! A purpose-built EV from Bangalore. Electric Car - Buying Leads for Electric Car - Buyers, Importers ...Buy Electric Vehicle Parts. We are the main assemble or electric motor cycle, three wheelers and electric cars in Sri Lanka. importer.alibaba.com/buyeroffers/Electric_Car.html - Amazon.com: Build Your Own Electric Vehicle: Books: Bob Brant Drivers can enjoy the clean-running convenience and economy of an electric vehicle for as much as it costs to buy a new car. www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ tg/detail/-/0830642315?v=glance - Convert It by Mike Brown (book) ElectroAuto.com (Also available on Amazon.com) Why Wait For Detroit? Drive an Electric Car Today (ebook) -- available soon from NU-KAR For Information, contact Greg Stevens in Tennessee Electric Vehicles A recent poll of Californians done for the prestigious Automobile Week magazine says that 63 percent of Californians would buy an electric vehicle. ... www.ece.umr.edu/power/electric1.htm yduJ drives an electric car!Ken is maintaining a set of electric vehicle links if you want to learn more about the resources on the net that can help you buy or build your own! www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~yduj/electric.html BBC - London - Congestion Charging - Alternative Energy VehiclesWould you buy an electric car? ... Powershift - the government's body to encourage more alt-energy vehicles á 247parking.com á London Cycling Campaign ... www.bbc.co.uk/london/congestion/ alternative_energy.shtml Vancouver Electric Vehicle AssociationVEVA is the Vancouver Electric Vehicle Association, a non-profit society that promotes the ... EV Lists and Buy/Sell Sites. How to Buy an Electric Vehicle ... www.veva.bc.ca/ - I want to buy a electric car! - Forums powered by UBBThreadsªThere are quite a few manufacturers of small electric vehicles, but they may not have ... Couldn't we just buy our power/electricty like we do for the home. ... uplink.space.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=environment& Number=232326&page=0&view=collapsed&... - http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/evtech.shtml EV Technology http://www.earthtoys.com/emagazine.php?issue_number=03. 08.01&article=advantages Interesting article about electric vehicles... http://www.motherearthnews.com/Alternative_Energy/2006_April_and_May/ Drive_an_EV_and_Never_Buy_Gas_Again For our oil-addicted nation, electric cars have two unexcelled virtues: They donÕt rely on petroleum, and they are remarkably energy-efficient machines. The maximum theoretical efficiency of the typical gasoline engine is about 30 percent; diesels are about 35 percent efficient. But in real-world driving conditions, both numbers drop significantly. Only a tiny fraction of the energy in a gallon of gasoline actually ends up doing useful work Ñ the rest is wasted as heat. In contrast, electric vehicles are far more efficient than conventional cars. The motors of EVs exceed 90 percent efficiency, and their batteries are better than 85 percent efficient. In addition, some EVs have regenerative braking that can recapture as much as 30 percent of the vehicleÕs kinetic energy to recharge the battery. Because they have fewer parts and are so much more efficient, EVs cost much less to operate. Earthtoys - Emagazine www.earthtoys.com/emagazine.php?issue_ number=03.08.01&article=advantages - http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/progress/batteryswap.html Discussion of swapping batteries Electric Auto Association's list of LINKS http://www.eaaev.org/eaalinks.html over 135 links and articles) EVA of DC's List of Links over 60 links plus informative articles http://evadc.org/links.html More YOUTUBE videos Tesla Unveiling http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOl_1S10jTk Martin Eberhard CEO of Tesla Motors X1 IAN WRIGHT http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBDeCthB7vs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eE01yUYq0_M http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a399fIxp9-E MINI EL Three wheels http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=985zhLOo2XY small GWhiz Zebra Car ALTERNATIVE FUELS about.com alternativefuels.about.com http://alternativefuels.about.com/od/vehicles/ Vehicles_More_Choices.htm PlugInAmerica.com David Sandalow's book Freedom from Oil -- published by McGraw Hill http://www.mhprofessional.com/product.php?isbn=0071489061 ÒI plan to deliver an address from the Oval Office one month from today. The topic will be oil dependence.Ó With these opening words, Freedom from Oil takes the reader to the highest levels of government, as Cabinet members and White House aides debate how to break our addiction to oil. In a fast-moving narrative, David Sandalow shows how to solve this problem while offering a unique window into the White House at work. A White House veteran, Sandalow explores what would happen if the next President made breaking the United States' addiction to oil a top priority. In crisp and clear prose, Sandalow explains the size of the challenge and then offers a powerful message of hope. ÒThis issue unites Americans,Ó he writes. ÒGame-changing technologies are at hand.Ó Plug-in cars, biofuels and measures to improve traffic are all part of the solution. Throughout the book, profiles of fascinating individuals help bring serious policy dialogue to life. From the commander of U.S. forces in western Iraq to a grandmother in northern Alaska to an electric car entrepreneur to the winner of the Indianapolis 500, Freedom from Oil is filled with stories of people whose lives have been touched by oil dependence-and are working to find solutions. Drawing on both his government experience and energy expertise, Sandalow depicts the President's top advisers as they explore options, shape solutions and create national policy, culminating in an inspiring speech by the President to the nation. Comments about Freedom from Oil ÒWhen David Sandalow writes about energy and the environment, we should all pay close attention.Ó-Al Gore ÒFreedom from Oil is a compelling analysis of one of the great challenges of our time. David Sandalow draws upon his extensive White House experience and offers a powerful vision of a clean energy future.Ó-William J. Clinton, 42nd President of the United States ÒDavid Sandalow's Freedom from Oil should be required reading for all concerned citizens and elected officials.Ó-U.S. Senator Richard G. Lugar(R-IN), from the Foreword ÒOne of the clearest, most innovative approaches to energy that has been written. A superb combination of policy and politics, cast in highly readable government policy and memo format. Every American should read David Sandalow's book.Ó -General Wesley Clark ÒSuperb analysis and recommendations that show how we can break our dependence on oil without further dithering. The next Administration, or this one, could do no better than to go with Sandalow's package.Ó -R. James Woolsey, Vice President Booz Allen Hamilton; former director, Central Intelligence Agency ÒFreedom from Oil should be at the top of the reading list for America's next president . . . This is an important book for anyone concerned about the most pressing threat to our security, our economy and our environment.Ó -Frances Beinecke, President, Natural Resources Defense Council (the above material comes from the McGraw Hill web site) ---------------------------------------------------------------- |
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| You are here at... "Four Points for a Gasoline Pump" |
Use of this product will: - strengthen Islamic terrorists. - strengthen oil-exporting nations that oppose the Western way of life. - endanger men and women in uniform. - undermine democracy and good governance around the world. Freedom from Oil by David Sandalow, pages 21-25 Print and post this notice on gasoline pumps. |
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| Review of Freedom from Oil, by David Sandalow
What did you do last summer to reduce our countryÕs dependence on oil? In June 2006, I was making short videos for my web site. IÕm an advocate for putting 100,000 electric cars on the road to supplement the 5,000 cars converted to run on battery power. Those additional electric vehicles (EVs) could boost demand for an advanced battery with longer range. I figured that, in addition to converting my vehicle to run on battery power, I could motivate others to do something to become Òeconomic patriots.Ó David Sandalow did something even more creative than my video series on youtube. The policy analyst from the Brookings Institution had lunch with Newt Gingrich and Howard Dean. The question he put to both men was the same one that advocates of a post-oil economy have asked since the OPEC embargo of October 1973: ÒWhat should the United States do about its dependence on oil?Ó Surprise: The answer from both Dean and Gingrich was essentially the same. Sandalow Ôs book is a work of sheer imagination: Why didnÕt I think of that? Organize a book around the next PresidentÕs first major policy speech. Imagine that itÕs April or May 2009, all of the appointments to cabinet positions have been confirmed and the first task facing these new Secretaries is a memo from the President: The structure of the book is straightforward. Anyone with some chutzpah could have written this, but SandalowÕs access through his employer made it easier to compile. By showing responses from the Secretaries of Agriculture, Homeland Security, Labor, Housing, and Defense (as well as the more obvious areas of transportation, commerce and energy), the author shows how pervasive oil has soaked its dependence in our economy and lives. Since reading the policy statements of the Carter Administration (and the ÒMoral Equivalent of WarÓ speech), IÕve seen just about every attempt to reduce dependence on oil fail to produce significant results. As Amory Lovins (Rocky Mountain Institute, a think tank for energy analysis based in Snowmass, Colorado) put it so clearly, the only reason the U.S. economy became less dependent on oil after 1973 was a direct response to price. As soon as motors became more efficient, the demand for oil softened, more supplies were uncovered, the price for gasoline slid, and the pressure to find more substitutes for oil subsided. Around 1992 Lovins wrote a clever tale about a housewife who was appointed by Òthe next presidentÓ to lead the Department of Energy. What would an ÒordinaryÓ person do to Òclean houseÓ? The tale took the housewife and the reader through every advance then under discussion in the 1990s and the structure of LovinsÕ book helped the reader see the many savings possible when the life-cycle costs of projects are considered. Life-cycle analysis is the hallmark of the Lovins approach to discussing alternatives to petroleum and since his Soft Energy Paths appeared in 1977, there hasnÕt been much doubt that something remarkable could be done É if we just decided to do something about our dependence on oil. Four impacts Sandalow begins his analysis by noting that our policies aimed at reducing oil dependence have failed because the focus was on reducing dependence on FOREIGN oil. Duh. Big surprise. We should have been looking at ways to reduce dependence on oil in general. He captured on five pages the four points that I failed to summarize in 30 minutes of video (that currently sits on youtube in an account labeled ÒMistermathÓ). If there is just one portion of this book that future car buyers should be forced to read, it should be pages 21 to 25. One point is central to the drumbeat that electric car enthusiasts have been repeating for three decades: our dependence on oil strengthens oil-exporting nations. The second, that oil dependence helps Al Qaeda, is a new extension of this theme. The third comes from a military analyst: dependence on oil leads to deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan. In fact, anywhere there are troops deployed in the field, the dependence of armed forces on oil puts personnel involved in transportation of fuel supplies in jeopardy. SandalowÕs point is emphasized with a profile of General Richard Zilmer (who deserves a medal of honor for pushing solar-powered generators to replace the need for gasoline or diesel powered generators). Nine additional profiles are sprinkled through the text, making the executive summaries more digestible. Sandalow is not just a policy wonk adept at summarizing talking points. His imaginative selection of advocates has introduced me to the complex variety of skills that will be needed to move into the post-petroleum era. His fourth point should be displayed on every gasoline pump: Òoil dependence undermines democracy and good governance around the world.Ó The most disappointing feature of the book is the timing. Sandalow assumes that the next president wonÕt act until months have passed in the new administration. As I write this review in October 2007, I fear IÕll have to wait 18 months before the major energy policy speech is given. But thereÕs always the hope that some current candidate for the nationÕs highest office will start the process now to sift through recommendations by various future secretaries. SandalowÕs key points (push more batteries, use the federal buying power to jumpstart demand for plug-in hybrid vehicles that run largely on batteries, change zoning to encourage compact development, reduce highway subsidies) will attract detractors, but some candidate could gain a bump in the polls by driving in an all-electric vehicle now and avoid using any gasoline for the next year of campaigning. (Ha!) The book ends with the text of the major policy speech, which could in fact turn into both a stump speech for current candidates and a major segment of the next inaugural address to the nation. Can you imagine the next president saying the following sentences on January 2009? > The federal gasoline tax will be increased 10 cents per gallon per year for the next five years. > Within six months, every car I drive in will be a Òplug-inÓ hybrid vehicle. > When U.S. automakers invest in energy savings and higher fuel efficiency, then the federal government will cover health care for retired autoworkers (the proposed Ògreat bargainÓ with carmakers) As an impatient advocate of alternatives to gasoline, I also quibble with how to build demand for the next generation of batteries. Sandalow focuses on plug-in electric vehicle hybrids. He correctly identifies lithium-ion batteries as the next bleeding edge technology breakthrough needed to give hybrid cars the extra range on battery-only to truly make a difference. But manufacturers have to be persuaded somehow to raise the threshold for when the gasoline side of the car turns on. In the Lexus hybrid, which I recently test-drove, the fastest electric-only speed is around 24 mph. Any faster and the gasoline engine engages. Slowly accelerating from a full stop is possible on battery only, but if I stomp on the pedal, the non-electric side of the car takes over. My hope is that it will be possible to drive an electric hybrid up to 35 or 45 mph without the gasoline engine starting up. The book correctly focuses on the need to increase the number of lithium-ion batteries in use. By increasing demand for a better battery, the price of the battery should come down. Huh? DoesnÕt increased demand turn into a higher price? Well, initially, of course, but if 100,000 hybrids were suddenly on the road, needing 10 batteries each, thatÕs 1 million more batteries than before. More battery manufacturers would be attracted into a stable new market for batteries if there are lots of users of the batteries. In short, higher demand for lithium batteries should attract more makers of the batteries, increasing production, and, as Adam Smith pointed out roughly 250 years ago, increase in supply leads to a fall in the market price. Again, why wait for Detroit? Why wait for the federal government to buy 100,000 vehicles? Why not call now for economic patriots to convert their vehicles to battery power? Two years after installing lead acid batteries, the owners of these new electric cars will need 1 million replacement batteries Ð which is the same impact that SandÕs policy would achieve. The electric vehicle that IÕm waiting for (delivery date postponed several times) will have lithium-ion batteriesÉif 200 other people also come together to buy several containers of these new batteries and help bring the price down. I list on my web site the full story and I encourage economic patriots to consider their Òpower of one consumerÓ acting with others to drop the price of lithium-ion batteries. Richard Minner, the co-author of the 1991 book Why Wait For Detroit? Drive an Electric Car Today, calls this Òpriming the market.Ó Just as some pumps need water to be in the pipe leading to the pump in order to build suction, so, too, the market for battereies wonÕt get growing until about 100,000 additional EVs are on the road. That would mean about 1 million lead-acid batteries that would have to be replaced every two years, which would provide a steady stream of about a half-million batteries that could be turned into the longer range of an advanced battery (like lithium-ion). Well, many EV advocates live in the state of ÒWhat if?Ó and experience suggests that what will really happen is closer to what Sandalow suggests: Wait until spring 2009 for a major policy shift away from dependence on oil. Enthusiasts who want to push the envelope can visit my web site and get more tips on how 100,000 friends of the U.S. economy could help build demand for lithium-ion batteries now, instead of waiting two years for SandalowÕs speech to be delivered. Steve McCrea maintains a web site, whywaitfordetroit.com, that advocates electric vehicles. |
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| South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com Some hold out for better fuel alternative October 11, 2007 By Steve McCrea ????My wife just bought an SUV and I want to cringe. I bicycle to work or carpool, I'm waiting to buy an electric vehicle and I am an advocate of a $5 a gallon tax on gasoline. I wonder: what are the indirect consequences of my wife's increased gasoline use? What is the impact of buying an SUV Ñ15 miles per gallon, 750 gallons per year? Let's assume 11,000 miles of driving, approximately.??Until there is such a thing as a "democracy bond" to pay for the consequences of using oil, thinking and caring people can pay for their own cleanup. How? By sending funds to private organizations to clean up the mess. ??If I use an electric car powered by solar-electric charging of the batteries, my impact and demand for oil is much less. If my car runs on gasoline, I have to face facts: my gasoline use has extensive side effects.??I came up with the following consequences of the use of gasoline. The calculations to support the conclusions appear on my web site. In general, I estimated the amount of the damage (granted that economics cannot fully account for losses endured by families), then divided by 100 million U.S. households to arrive at a per-household "self-tax" that gasoline-powered SUV owners in particular might want to consider imposing on themselves. I then identify a possible organization that could be supported.??Consequence: Carbon dioxide from burning gasoline. Cost: $45 a year to plant-trees.org.??Consequence: Soldiers kill and injure innocent civilians while protecting oil pipelines. Cost: $120 per household, covered by CIVICWorldwide.org.??Consequence: United States presence in Iraq and elsewhere causes refugees to flee. Cost: $90 per household in USA Ñ Americare.org .??Consequence: Continued use of gasoline does not build the demand for alternative fuel inventory. So a remedy is "pay for the equivalent amount of alternative fuel." Cost: $240 in alternative fuel cost. An organization is needed to be identified (perhaps a switch grass or biofuel provider) to help lower the cost of providing the alternative fuel or build the infra structure for more fuel.??Consequence: Using fuel distracts from building the battery demand that an EV would deliver. Cost: $110 a year, payable as a deposit toward owning a future set of batteries for the next car that the SUV owner will switch to. Ampmobiles.com is coordinating a battery purchase.??Consequence: Loss of hearts and minds. So we need to create H&M schools and clinics to "give back." Cost: $200, www.redcross.org. ??Consequence: Hearts and minds operations during disasters. The next time there is an earthquake in Iran, are we ready to send in supplies? Cost: $20 a year (to redcross.org?) .??The total per household: $825 for an annual "Hearts and Minds" self-tax.??Any comments? These calculations are rough and conceptual, not definitive. I received a comment from an analyst who notes that "I think it is a pretty tough concept to link gasoline used to civilian deaths. There just is no concrete information to support a causal linkage. I wouldn't suggest telling Americans that because they drive an SUV they are responsible for civilian deaths, there is just no way to support that."??Still, the total comes to roughly $825 a year. I'm getting out my checkbook.??Steve McCrea , an alternative fuels analyst, resides in Fort Lauderdale. Visit www.whywaitfordetroit.com.? Copyright © 2007, South Florida Sun-Sentinel |
Here is a fuller description of the calculations behind the assertions made in the commentary. NOTE: These are concepts, not definitive calculations. Your input is invited to clarify the points made here. You are invited to support the groups mentioned in this article with your contributions.... What are the consequences of using gasolineÉ? Ê Assume 10,000 homes are destroyed by US operations annually in Iraq and Afghanistan.Ê Cost $20,000 per clean up to rebuild. = $200 million to replace homes and other amenities. 100,000 people killed or injured, $10,000 per incident = 1 billion Total 1.2 billion annually.ÊÊ 100 million households, so $120 per home to go to CIVIC or other Òinnocent victimsÓ funds. Ê The following table lists consequences of the use of gasoline, followed by an estimated amount of the damage (granted that economics cannot fully account for losses endured by families), then divided by 100 million US households to arrive at a per-household Òself-taxÓ that gasoline-powered SUV owners in particular might want to consider imposing on themselves. Ê Consequence: Carbon dioxide from burning gasoline Amount:Ê 750 gallons x 20 pounds per gallon = 15,000 pounds or 7.5 tons of CO2 per year Cost:25 cents per tree, 100 pounds per tree, 150 trees x 30 cents = $45 a year to plant-trees.org Ê Consequence:Ê Soldiers kill and injure innocent civilians while protecting oil pipelines Amount:Ê ???? numbers?Ê ... Assume: $20,000 per incident x 600,000 incidents Divided by 100 million households, US gasoline users Cost:Ê $120 per household (see calculation below),Ê covered by http://www.CIVICWorldwide.org Ê Consequence:Ê US presence in Iraq and elsewhere causes refugees to flee Amount:Ê 3 million refugees (?) per year x $3,000 per refugee = 9 billion divided by 100 million US households Cost:Ê $90 per year per household in USA Ð Americare.org or other organization? Ê Consequence:Ê Continued use of gasoline does not build the demand for alt fuel inventoryÉ so a remedy is Òpay for the equivalent amount of alternative fuelÓ ÊAmount:Ê Sponsor solar power panels at a utility.Ê Assume 30 miles per day = 10 kilowatthours of electricity per day x 300 days ˆ 3000 kilowatt-hours annually ÊCost:Ê 3000 x .08/kwhr = $240 in alt fuel cost.Ê Organization is needed to be identifiedÊ perhaps a switch grass or biofuel provider to help lower the cost of providing the alt fuel or build the infra structure for more fuel Ê Consequence:Ê Using fuel distracts from building the battery demand that an EV would deliver. Amount:Ê A next-generation Lithium-ion battery costs $8,000, lasts 5 years and has an annual cost of $1,600.Ê That's roughly 13 cents per mile.Ê The cost will drop to 1 cent a mile if enough are ordered. Cost:Ê 1 cents per mile x 11,000 miles = $110 a year, payable as a deposit toward owning a future set of batteries for the next car that the SUV owner will switch to.Ê Ampmobiles.com is coordinating a battery purchase.Ê Ampmobileconversions.com in Lake Wylie, South Carolina. Ê Ê ÊConsequence:Ê Loss of hearts and minds .. so we need to create H&M schools and clinics to Ògive backÓÉ ÊAmount:Ê 1 billion muslims ˆÊ create and run 100,000 ÒH& MÓ schools or clinics at $200,000 per school/clinic =Ê $20 billion ÊCost:Ê $200 per household, payable to www.redcross.org ?? Ê Consequence:Ê Hearts and minds operations during disasters The next time there is an earthquake in Iran, are we ready to send in supplies? Amount:Ê 40,000 victims x $2,000 x 5 events/year =Ê $2,000 million or $2 billion Cost:Ê $20 a year for hearts and minds earthquake relief (to redcross.org?)Ê Ê TOTAL per household Ê$825 per household per year ÒHearts and MindsÓ self-tax Ê Ê Any comments? Bahman adds: It is closer to $2,500 per year per driver. The cost of the presence of soldiers is enormous, at least $100 billion a year, divided by 100 million means $1000 per household. REPLY BY STEVE: I pay for the soldier's presence in IRaq (protecting oil pipelines) but I should add a self-tax to support troops once they return home. There's a group that Michael Moore, the documentary film maker, supports that buys homes for soldiers who are disabled by battle. Ê These calculations are rough and conceptual, not definitive.Ê Comments from an analyst notes that ÒI think it is a pretty tough concept to link gasoline used to civilian deaths.Ê There just is no concrete information to support a causal linkage.Ê I wouldn't suggest telling Americans that because they drive an SUV they are responsible for civilian deaths, there is just to way to support that.Ó Ê Ê |