Mythbusters take on electric vehicle misconceptions
One of the most popular shows on the Discovery Channel is Mythbusters and recently Adam Savage, Jamie Hyneman and the rest of the team have been taking a look at gas vs electric vehicles for an upcoming episode. Right now Hyneman has an article on Popular Mechanics about their experiences. The crew looked at 5 pairs of vehicles (one of each with gas and electric drive). One pair consisted of Saturn sedans, one of which has been converted to run on lead acid batteries. The Mythbusters also built a pair of go-karts, ran a pair of ATVs (one of which was the Barefoot Motors Model One for whom Hyneman is a technical consultant), and tested the WrightSpeed X1 against a race car. Tesla had been invited to participate but declined, which is why the WrightSpeed was included. The X1 is a battery powered version of the Ariel Atom which is among the least practical cars anywhere in the world. As expected, all but the converted Saturn did well and easily matched or beat their gas powered counterparts. The converted Saturn was ok on level ground or down hill but you don't want to stop it on a hill. We'll be looking forward to seeing the full comparo on TV soon.
[Source: Popular Mechanics, thanks to Matt for the tip]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
andy 4:50PM (5/19/2008)
Hey! Thanks for the info about the mythbuster show on the electric car. I'm going to definately watch it! I was browsing through a bunch of green websites and blogs and I came across yours and found it very interesting. There are a bunch of others I like too, like the daily green, ecorazzi and earthlab.com. I especially like EarthLab.com’s carbon calculator (http://www.earthlab.com/signupprofile/). I find it really easy to use (it doesn’t make me feel guilty after I take it). Are there any others you would recommend? Can you drop me a link to your favorites (let me know if they are the same as mine).
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steven 4:52PM (5/19/2008)
I'm sorry, but no amount of electricity is ever going to make a battery powered Atom beat its gas powered counterpart. Unless of course they hook the electrodes straight the orgasm center of one's brain (for guy's we all know where that is...)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6459754662017054016&q=&hl=en
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meme 5:12PM (5/19/2008)
Andy: What "green" aspects are you looking into? Particular EVs? I could point you to the Aptera Forum for info about one I'm in line for, or give you a big long list of EVs that meet whatever particular needs you have. Solar? There's this solar power economics calculator for doing detailed cost analysis calcs on a custom solar installation. There's also my Greenwiki where I've accumulated info about various "green" topics. Google news alerts are also a good way to keep up to date; set alerts for your favorite EVs (Aptera, Th!nk, VentureOne, Volt, etc), for your favorite solar techs or companies (say, "CIGS", or "Nanosolar"), other power techs (say, "high altitude wind" or "EGS"), and so on.
If you could be more specific on what you're looking for, I could make recommendations.
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Joseph 8:08PM (5/19/2008)
Those yellow batteries look like Thundersky batteries! This Chinese battery manufacturer is notorious in the EV community for their bad products and service. It seems that the quality of their batteries is hit or miss, and if you "hit" you don't get any help from them.
I've never been a customer myself, this is just what I've heard.
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Dave 7:36PM (5/19/2008)
"As expected, all but the converted Saturn did well and easily matched or beat their gas powered counterparts."
I bet the gasoline versions all won on the basis of:
Initial cost
Total operating expenses (including depreciation etc.)
Curb weight / payload
Range
But the EVs are getting closer.....
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stevefazek 7:40PM (5/19/2008)
sigh what will these idiots mess up on this time? They are not engineers they are good at making things look like the real thing not work like the real thing.
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GoodCheer 8:11PM (5/19/2008)
stevefazek: no, they are not engineers, and what they are doing would make any real scientist weep, but you have to give them a little bit of credit.
http://xkcd.com/397/
(You may or may not 'get' xkcd, but I think zombie Feynman makes a good point here).
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Kevin Nugent 10:28PM (5/19/2008)
Thanks for the info i will definitely watch that episode
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greg woulf 8:15AM (5/20/2008)
The wrightspeed is plenty fast enough, the atom goes 0-60 in mid 2's the wrightspeed is 0-60 mph 3.07 sec in 117 ft.
That's not too shabby and beats most high end sports cars.
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Mort 8:53AM (5/20/2008)
Those two blockheads are good at tearing stuff up but lack refinement. How about using Lion batteries and aluminum frames w/ carbon fiber bodies? How about charging w/ solar or wind? All they did was a hatchet job that makes EVs look ridiculous.
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Bill 11:00AM (5/20/2008)
Any idea when this show will be broadcast?
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Tim 11:22AM (5/20/2008)
It's only ENTERTAINMENT. The show exists solely to bring viewers to the advertisers. Only a complete RUBE would take them seriously. Then again, there is the US government’s socialist education system to consider… never mind.
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BGJ 12:44PM (5/20/2008)
@Tim -
"socialist education system"...
So you are against education provided by our taxes so that everyone has equal access? Are you also against our socialist police forces, our socialist fire departments, our socialist roads, our socialist water/sewer systems, etc, etc, etc??? Are you telling me you would rather pay out of your pocket to find the lowest cost provider of critical services where the public good is the #1 priority?
Because if they are privatized, your safety is no longer a priority, only the profit they can reap from you. Do you really want your children to have an education that is only as good as how much money is in your wallet? Or a police/fire dept that responds first to the ones with the most money? That is exactly how a "free" market works because there is no such thing as a free market, or a free lunch for that matter.
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Thomas 10:09AM (7/10/2008)
Woah Tim, you just got F'd in the A by BGJ on that one.
But back on topic, electric vehicles are kinda nice, but right now they are just like hybrids in that you won't actually being saving any money buy buying them. Also considering that our electricity is STILL powered by coal/oil/the devil, plugging a whole bunch of cars into the power grid isn't exactly going to be cleaning up our air any time soon.
I'm ALL for electric vehicles the moment we have non-combustion power plants.
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Tim 8:15PM (5/20/2008)
BGJ - YES PLEASE! Even though I’m sure you, Mao, Stalin and the other Socialists would disagree.
The TRUTH is that competition creates innovation and lowers costs FAR better than any government run monopolistic Bureaucracy. A strong central socialist government only creates MORE waste and inefficiency because there is no REAL competition.
ALL of the services you mentioned should be (WERE) subcontracted to professionals who compete(d) with each other. The ones with the best outcomes at the lowest prices get the business. Government SHOULD DESTROY monopolies and maintain a fair and level competitive playing field.
Now you know why Federal Express and UPS are putting the USPS to shame and why private schools ALWAYS produce better students than public schools.
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Vicho 10:33PM (6/18/2008)
Allow me to analyse…
“The TRUTH is that competition creates innovation and lowers costs FAR better than any government run monopolistic Bureaucracy.”
Firstly, competition is not a prerequisite for innovation and contrary to your assertion that competition lowers cost, it is economies of scale that does this.
The old saying goes... NECESSITY is the mother of all invention, NOT COMPETITION…
A clearly structured vision focused on sustainable and fair socio economic development clearly has far more direction than the erratic behaviour of a visionless, narrow focused free market self organising system.
Our economic reality tells us quite clearly that free markets, through their inbuilt increased returns to scales foster the emergence of duopolies and monopolies through a process of positive feedback which we refer to as mergers and acquisitions or corporate growth. This is clear evidence of inherent instability of the systems and hence, evidence that what you propose, competition within a free market economy, does not come close to a solution to our socio economic necessities, does not support prosperity of the nation, nor the long term survival of our society, and does in no way promote innovation, in fact it works against it (but more on that later).
There are several successful government owned corporations or “government run monopolistic bureaucracies”, as you refer to them, around the world, which are far more efficient and successful than private enterprise.
Australia Post
CODELCO Chile
China Steel Corp until recently largely privatised (but was known as one of the most successful government owned steel mills in the world)
National Railroad Passanger Corporation (US)
Corporation for public Broadcasting (US)
United States Postal Service
North Dakota Mill
Saudi Aramco (Saudi Arabian Oil Company)
Saudi Arabian Airlines, and
Many others.
And if it wasn’t for such arrangements much of US and European growth post World War II would not have happened. Remember, the US was every socialist back in the 60 and 70s, which were by the way its most prosperous years.
Government owned corporations have the added benefit of delivering profits back to the people of the nation rather than to private investors.
Also because they are government controlled, a clear vision and direction to the benefit of society can be articulated and actioned, a direction for sustainable growth which free market leadership, focused on a narrow view on profit maximisation, is incapable of providing.
But before I go on, a little clarification.
Stalin’s Communist Soviet Union = Stalinism = totalitarian repressive society
That is to say, nothing to do with socialism…
Mao, the same thing…
You want socialism, look at the Nordic countries,
The US in the 70s, oh and the possible nationalisation of US banks which the Fed is looking into right now, and the Northern Rock in the UK, which was nationalised…
That the US propaganda has misinformed you by calling all these systems COMMUNIST has nothing to do with socialism or with reality…
But I am sorry, getting back on point, I do like your idea…
“Government SHOULD DESTROY monopolies and maintain a fair and level competitive playing field.”
So you are quite clearly an advocate of dismantling the global “neoliberal” free market economic systems… you socialist you…. lol
So, what are you suggesting, oh great proponent of neoliberal free market economy (ie privatised corporate monopolies)????
Is it greater government regulation? Oh I forgot… free market and privatisation actually has increased the need and amount of government regulation in all free market economies…
Or is it a greater role for government in regulating the economy… Am I getting warmer??? lol
So instead of regulating the operation of private enterprise lets regulate development direction and give this planet and its society a chance. I LIKE IT!!!!
All I can say is YOU ARE CONFUSED!!!!
The very powerful global corporations and powerful financial interests are the very thing that has now brought us to the destruction and mismanagement of our environment, and has lead directly to our guys, the Myth busters, to look at electric vehicles.
Out technological advancement, rather than being enhanced by free market economy have on the contrary being hampered by it. It is not hard to see, really! The commercial pressures of powerful interest groups such as the oil cartels, mining corporations, and car manufacturers most obviously have an interest in particular technologies, and more to the point, no interest in others, particularly alternate renewable energies... hence the lack of development in electric portable power supplies, solar panels, electric vehicles, which as I understand it have been around for a very long time.
Add to this the effects of patents, which hide away in private hands all the great new discoveries and innovations, and we are left with not much innovation from your proposed competitive neoliberal free market.
I bet you studied at a private school in the US… I’d ask for my money back if I where you.
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