PistonHeads.com: Toyota Plug-In Hybrid Launched

[MSC Robotnik]

Taking the phrase 'plug and play' to a new level.

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News article from PistonHeads.com

 

[curtis]

they will just put the price up electricity...o no thats already happening!

 

[Arnold]

So true! Higher demand. The grid can't support the country say during a England international match, so how would it cope powering the countries cars too!

& although cars wouldn't emit pollution, surely the power stations would kick out a lot more waste.

 

[Pete]

As per the comments on there, the Prius doesn't exactly have a vast array of battaries, it'll not last long in EV and it'll be back on the IC engine in no time. What we all need is Smith Commercial Vehicles to start fitting their kit to cars and not just vans, their version of the Transit Connect is fantastic and I was having a poke around their 7.5tonne box truck the other day, work of art!

http://www.smithelectricvehicles.com/ourranges.asp

 

[frank]

it,s only gonna reduce greenhouse gas emissions if the electricity is generated by nuclear, innit (or pronounced nucular, if your the most powerful man on earth , ffs)
the frenchies have got it sussed, 80% nuclear, and they sell their excess to us, because our power station,s are decrepit fwn

 

[Pete]

Hate to agree because I hate nuclear but it is the only way to cut CO2 output (and the rest). Not a cheap option tho but neither is importing coal from Oz because ours is too poor quality to burn effectively in our heavily outdated power stations.

 

[solarice]

im sorry but ive got to disagree with you frank and pete large scale nuclear power has got to be the dumbest route to go along...carbon emissions non existant...but instead theres large quantites of highly dangerous, highly radioactive waste that weve got no where to put.

######## to the goverments who seem to think that hiding it under the ground is a viable solution...however with the earth glowing from all that waste, at least we're not gonna need to power the street lights.

sorry rant over lol.

with regards to the car...how many people are willing to wait an hour or so at the charge point, when they realise they're running low on power and just how many of these plug in areas are we gonna need if everyone switches to them?

 

[frank]

but solarice, i think it,s only about .1% of the hazardous industrial waste that,s produced, and it,s the only option imo
yes, back to the car, everybody should have a solar panel in the roof of their car imo *geek*

 

[solarice]

i agree that theres limited options...but its the storage, it has to be kept where there is little ground water flowing through it (so avoiding flooding then)...it must be maintained for years upon years to avoid people trying to steal it, aswell as stopping it leaking and killing a bunch of people. To name a few.

Which is why i dont see this as a sensible solution, especially for storage in the UK where weve got little land anyway...and i feel selling it to some poorer country (most likely option that would be chosen) to look after is not only ethically wrong but potentially dangerous.

They decided a long long time ago that they wanted nuclear power, which is why its been the chosen as the "best" solution...

 

[Arnold]

They all have there downfalls, i mean as good as it would be to run a country on renewables, it's not going to happen. The cost is too high for unreliable supply. Nobody wants wind farms on their doorsteps etc. Wind can stop, and with solar, the sun isn't always out! Coal is dirty, Gas i'm guessing is quite polluting also, so nuclear is the best of the rest!

 

[Pete]

I hate nuclear with a passion but other 'alternatives' just will not provide the power demanded without expending all the resources we've got. Waste storage is always improving and storing radioactive waste in glass was quite a milestone as it means it will resist being leached into surrounding areas.

I agree the storage of waste is a problem, you just have to see the number of containers sat at sellafield to realise that. But we extract radioactive material from the ground in the first place, what is wrong with putting some back, albeit a lot more unstable than it was when we took it out.

I wish we could find an alternative, but so far all the 'alternative' sources have proved do little to provide mainstream energy, instead being used to up the supply when it drops below 50Hz as it's normally a lot quicker to set up than anything else, traditional coal and oil powerstations emit tonnes and tonnes of noxious gasses and pollute the ground around them, plus the transport costs of getting the fuel to them are stupidly high. We should keep a rolling program of nuclear stations online, they don't have to start popping up out of nowhere, they can quite happily be set up on existing sites.

But anyway, no the car is just another gimmick.

 

[solarice]

renewable could happen, IF they invested the money instead of going "oh well, lets build nuclear"

Around here theres a few wind turbines in built up areas, and they dont standout that much tbh (though people do seem to have issues with them for some reason)...solar panels still work without direct sunlight (although less efficiently).

Theres also bound to be others that havent really been explored / considered.

I do agree all so far have good/bad bits...its the ying yang / every reaction has an equal and opposite reaction debate.

For example, cars producing just water vapour from the exhaust while being emission free would probably increase building damage, rust the cars even quicker, cause more rain etc.

pete unfortunatly popping nuclear power stations up out of nowhere, seems to be exactly what the government is wanting to do...

also in theory once the Uranium is all gone its gone...maybe this is the bigger plan so we can use it / stock pile it all up before the *insert evil music* rouge states get it.

 

[curtis]

Do you reckon 5 billion could have created a few more wind farms etc...lol