Danny's Contentment: one man's love affair with his electric car
If you've ever wondered what it's like to drive a tiny electric car through London for a year, Danny would love to show you exactly what it's like. Danny drives an electric Yer Tiz and vlogs the experience. He's had posts about the Queen recently driving an electric car and how the range of his car is reduced in the winter because. Danny recently posted that the end of April marked his one-year anniversary of driving the car, but back in June of 2005 he was still using the future tense when talking about buying the car. Whatever the case, his videos are informative and interesting.
Danny wrote in to Autoblog, our sister site, that every unit of energy he takes from the national grid in England is replaced by power from an offshore wind farm, so his car is truly green. Danny has some bonuses that are not applicable to everyone (he gets to park for free in central London, for example), but his descriptions and videos are useful for understanding how small, smart cars can be used in urban environments.
[Source: Danny's Contentment, Hat Tip to, um, Danny]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Phil L. 4:37PM (5/09/2006)
Danny obviously likes to think that every electron used by his car comes from a wind farm that isn't in his back yard, but that isn't reality.
I'm sure he likes charging his car any time it's convenient for him - even if the wind isn't blowing enough in that far-away spot on the water. If it weren't for the grimy coal plant (and don't forget those neutrons), the grid which the windmills help feed couldn't function.
It's elitist to think that you can somehow ignore the massive underpinnings of what must exist in order to support the clean little corner with which you want to associate yourself. I'll bet the average householder is also comforted by the power company's pronouncements of their green energy efforts (my power bill occasionally includes electrical energy source percentages as well), even as Danny claims those electrons for himself.
This isn't to pummel Danny (awesome web site!), but to think seriously - and realistically - about all energy use.
Reply
Sam 8:00PM (2/20/2009)
It's unfortunate you've got such a narrow view Phil.
Even with 40% transmission loss from an inefficient gas or coal burning plant, the electric vehicle uses less fuel (and pollutes less) than an internal combustion engine that wastes such a great deal of energy in the form of heat.
Having said this, yes, it's important to put the heat on public utilities to put scrubbers on coal burning power plant stacks.
Sam