Alberta BS Thread

Didnt go, but i stumbled upon the tesla store at chinook mall. Very cool and worth a trip to chinook just for that. They have a car you can sit in and play with, and one with just chassis and driveline. So weird getting into a silent car and the ac is gently blowing. That company is gonna own the world one day.

 

Tesla already sells their products to several manufacturers. They are going to be at the forefront of the electric car movement for a while.

 

Do they have good scrubbers on the exhaust? 40% of US electrical production is from coal, 30% from nat gas, 20% from nuclear. leaves 10 percent from hydro and renew-ables to recharge your battery cleanly.
The electric car will never arrive except for rock stars.

 

I'd argue that 60% of the power you just mentioned is cleaner than gasoline. Natural Gas, Nuclear, and renewables all have less COx produced per unit consumed and no particulates given off.

35K USD is affordable to most of us consider the Tacoma retails for about the same new:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/a12983/35000-tesla-model-iii-coming-in-2017/

 

The NDP also just forced out Coal power in Alberta. The distributors are abandoning their coal power contracts because of the carbon tax costs. Those plants will probably convert to natural gas or new natural gas plants will be built. Cleaner power, cleaner overall electric cars. Not to mention then all of the pollution that does get given off happens in the countryside in a remote area rather than in a city... imagine the reduction in smog.

@tango zulu it's going to happen. Lithium batteries have their issues but their is other tech on the way. Gasoline can't be our source of power for vehicles in 50 years or we are looking at a very dim future.

 

Battery's require toxic metal mining. (rare earths) Nat gas is mostly fracked-lots of fresh water, chemicals and now earth quakes. Nat gas production causes huge amounts of methane gas which is a far more harmful than carbon from gasoline engines. Everyone hates nuclear (except me) Nimby-ies don't want windmills blocking their view.
Hydro dams pollute water by releasing trapped mercury and take up huge amount of prime riparian habitat. Then need massive hydro line corridors.
Any gasoline car making 50 mpg is a better bet for the economy and the planet.

 

Im thinking in a real world situation the air conditioning is the first thing turned off in order to get where your going. Sub a heater if its winter. Can see me sraping the window with 1 hand and putting a torque on with the other. Come on guys, this is Canada. Its huge with lots of empty space that has no charging stations. Tesla is nice but simply a small niche, California market.

 

I tend to agree with you on that one. The batteries have a long way to go if they are to be used in vehicles that have to travel outside typical daily city distances. Not to mention what happens to to battery life when it's cold in the winter time.

I see gasoline being replaced by electric but not in my lifetime.

 

Hybrids ftw

 

I was exaggerating about tesla owning the world, its just really amazing to sit is such a beautiful car that is so far out there compared to anything else. NO one is doing what they are, and to me, thats exciting.
I agree, the range is limited, batteries suffer in the cold and its a total niche market, but its a glimpse into the future and it fuckin cool.

 

Their whole home battery is pretty cool too

 

I wish Tesla all the luck in the world. BTW if you haven't seen the Documentary about the original Mr Tesla you should. Its on Netflix.
The biggest challenge for electric travel will be a modern airliner.

 

Lithium isn't a rare earth. You're thinking of cellular phones and their technology. Larger Lithium batteries need small amount of rare earth for their controllers like anything else with a computer including what you have already in your truck.

Natural Gas is methane basically. It all depends on how much is recovered how efficiently. Most of Alberta's natural gas still comes without fracking. It's the USA that does most of the heavy fracking at this point.

Nuclear is fine. Hopefully we see some research into Fusion come to fruition in the next 50 years. That's the meal ticket right there.

Wind mills dominate this area. Southern Alberta is perfect for wind energy and almost every ridge here now has windmills on it. However, they kill a lot of birds and they are noisy which isn't ideal either.

I disagree on the 50 mpg car. Truthfully all of the metals mined for the catalytic converters, computers, and other junk in a normal car do just as much damage. It's your right to disagree though .

Yes, I've seen that documentary. One of the little pet peeves I have is how biased everything is either for or against the electric car. I believe the truth is somewhere in the middle and we will see that technology increase in importance as car prices come down.

 

supfellas

 

Clean not so clean cars is what's up apparently. What's up on the Bow?

 

anyone roll up to the nw ever ?

 

NW Calgary? I was their yesterday by Mcmahon for a quick coffee with a colleague. I usually wheel with people out of the NW or Cochrane.

 

Jamie and them out of cochrane ?

Who is all here in the nw ? I'm pretty much at crowfoot centre.

Im trying to see if i can piggy back off a RTT group buy and bring a load back from the usa

 

Yes, I've only actually been out with Jamie once and he ended up having to help me back out due to trail damage lol.

You should post about a RTT group buy on untitledoffroad.com .

 

i may.... i was just thinking out loud as i want one and if there is enough of us id be willing to make arrangement with another person who's going to do a pick up and then i pick it up from them