An Electric trial’s bike? Yamaha thinks so...

[giantkiller]

The economy of wind power for residential just wasn't there when I researched power for my house. Plus mechanical maintenance and wear. I just didn't want to deal with. It's been almost three years since I did the research. Maybe prices have changed enough for windmills that it would be worth the hassle.

.On municipal scale power. I don't know why people don't go for nuclear.

I really enjoyed the powerband of the two-stroke. But the power of the modern four-stroke power is more usable. I'm really excited about the massive amount of power of the electric vehicle. I would love to have a lightning. Progress is amazing isn't it.

[red]

And we've had clean nuclear for over 60 years!  Tremendously high energy density.  Extremely small environmental footprint.  No atmospheric emmissions.  Generates 20% of US power already (75% in France).  Technology is already 3rd generation and understood.  YET, the green weenies still don't like it....go figure.

Motofun,

Yeah, I would like nuclear power generation, for all of the reasons you give and more . . .

. . .  UNTIL . . .

The safety engineers all say that we need seven different monitoring devices to verify the safe operation of all aspects of the new reactor, and the Bean Counters shout them down.  "Those gadgets cost from US$30 to US$60 for each piece; you can have any TWO, but no more."  Best of luck, when one of those two safety devices ever fails.  Yeah, we CAN do it right, but we need to kick out the Bean Counters when we build our reactors.

[ZOA NOM]

*yawn*  you electric nerds just keep trying. I'll be waiting.

[Flynt]

*yawn*  you electric nerds just keep trying. I'll be waiting.

Pretty Luddite sounding...  Have you bought a PC yet Rick, or still not sure this internet thing is going to take off?

I'm no particular fan of e-cars/bikes, but their rise is inevitable at this point for right or wrong.  China has prioritized energy sources to develop that will dramatically reduce their pollution problem.  When that happened in the US, the best technology was ICE and they went about an expensive path to reduce emissions (and completely f'd the reliability of US cars for a decade or so).  This was pretty much the only choice since more st renewable technologies were nascent.  China has the e-vehicle alternative and renewable ways to generate the electricity economically.  They've also got the gov't structure to implement a Green New Deal and see the advantage of leading the way to the non-carbon based economy.  As with ICE, competition and scale will bring economies that work to the e-vehicle's advantage in a big way...  Tesla has been able to skim the status buyers, but real people will buy an e-car that's got 1/1000the of the part count and complexity of even the cheapest ICE vehicle and the pricing will ultimately reflect this simplicity.

Look at Nio for example (on 60 minutes last night)...  That will be the future of the e-vehicle IMHO...  Chinese made, quick swap batteries, cheap to operate and charged by your own solar panels when home.  The momentum around e-vehicles and autonomous driving continues to build even with the US trying to lead the way to climate change denial.

In summary, I think you're opinion is at least as irrelevant as the US's current denial of the need to get off fossil fuels.  The world is heading that way with China assuming the technological lead.  US leadership has withdrawn from this race at what will prove to be a pivotal time, when the technology is advancing rapidly and the biggest markets are being captured by others...  IMHO of course.

Frank

[Pat Conlon]

So I'm skimming thru my morning news feeds with my cup of joe, and this pops up..

https://jalopnik.com/the-porsche-macan-is-going-electric-1832867432

A particular paragraph caught my eye:

"Chief executive Oliver Blume said Porsche was aiming for every second car it sold to be "electrified" — pure-electric or hybrid — by 2025, meaning that Porsche's electric ramp-up is even more ambitious than its parent, the Volkswagen Group...."(emphasis added)

VW Group is spending €30bn on electrification in the next five years.......................

30 billion euros is ~$34 billion USD. Quite a commitment from just from one car manufacturer.... yea, electric cars are just a fad.

[JPaganel]

Trials is a really good application of electric. Tons of torque, doesn't need to go very far.

The big downfall of electric bikes is the need to choose between go fast or go far - higher speeds eat battery like a dog eats bacon.  Trials bikes don't go fast.

If we can get off fossil fuel to generate power electric is the future.

https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=427&t=3

20% nuclear, 17% renewables.

Never gonna happen. Get over it. Electric is a pipe dream.

It already happened. Batteries are still kinda crappy, but the drivetrain is perfectly sound, and being mass-produced.

Yeah, no clutch, no transmission, no shifting, motor with ONE moving part, not much noise . . .
Add a hydrogen fuel cell in the top box for unlimited range.  
Crack hydrogen from water with a homestead windmill or solar, never pay for vehicle fuel again . . .
Sounds hopeless.    

Hydrogen in vehicles is a non-starter. Too dangerous and too hard to store and move.

You forgot how much coal is needed to generate that electricity. Or are you gonna put windfarms on every acre in the country? Let's see how many electric vehicles are still running if the subsidies dry up. Simple math should tell you electric vehicles just aren't ever gonna be anything but a novelty.

Current share of coal in US power generation is 30%. And it's dropping, mostly due to natural gas.

Yeah, I'm a lost cause. I'll leave you to figure out where the hell you're gonna pile up all the dead batteries that lurk in your future.

I'm betting you don't have a pile of car batteries behind your garage. Nobody does. Where do they all go?

Oh, wait. There is a core charge, and you take them back to get recycled.

*yawn*  you electric nerds just keep trying. I'll be waiting.

E-moto is currently at about the same point that cell phones were in the 1980s.  It's there, it works, it's expensive and cumbersome. 20 years later they fit in a pocket,  were usable and cheap enough for everyone.

[ZOA NOM]

**YAWN**   I love all the old guys riding carb'ed bikes lecturing about futuristic electric garbage.  

[Pat Conlon]

Yea, my young grand daughters refer to me as Pappa Petrol Head.
Perhaps I won't live long enough to see a significant change, but I'm sure they will...
I'm good with that.

[JPaganel]

**YAWN**   I love all the old guys riding carb'ed bikes lecturing about futuristic electric garbage.  

I don't ride carbed bikes because they are better, or because I love carbs so much.  I ride them because they are cheap. Carbs suck major appendage. If I never had to touch a float ever again, I'd be perfectly happy.

Technology is how I earn my living, and so what I personally own isn't the limit of what I know about.

[giantkiller]

**YAWN**   I love all the old guys riding carb'ed bikes lecturing about futuristic electric garbage.  

Yep I'm an old guy riding carb'ed bikes. Always looking for more power. Hopefully when I get my all electric house/ shop. That will have a shop that will always be heated and cooled. (As hot or as cold as I want without having to think about cutting it down, to save money) I'll get back to building a turbo/carberated fj. And smart car with a sled motor that will also be turbocharged. To the tune of about 5lbs per hp. But you bet if I could afford it I would have a lightning and one of those e porches (my nickname for Porsche)  And I will/would not be yawning.

By the way torque is way more fun than hp. And electric motors are the ultimate torque monsters.

[Motofun]

And we've had clean nuclear for over 60 years!  Tremendously high energy density.  Extremely small environmental footprint.  No atmospheric emmissions.  Generates 20% of US power already (75% in France).  Technology is already 3rd generation and understood.  YET, the green weenies still don't like it....go figure.

Motofun,

Yeah, I would like nuclear power generation, for all of the reasons you give and more . . .

. . .  UNTIL . . .

The safety engineers all say that we need seven different monitoring devices to verify the safe operation of all aspects of the new reactor, and the Bean Counters shout them down.  "Those gadgets cost from US$30 to US$60 for each piece; you can have any TWO, but no more."  Best of luck, when one of those two safety devices ever fails.  Yeah, we CAN do it right, but we need to kick out the Bean Counters when we build our reactors.

The bean counters don't work in nuclear...at least in my 35 years of experience.  Perhaps that's part of nuclear's high cost problem.  Protecting the core was out absolute number 1 priority.  We often would go way past where I thought it was necessary just to assure safety,,,,,then I ride motorcycles so I guess I'm a risk taker.

[ZOA NOM]

Dino juice works fine, lasts long time. The acres/watts ratio for windfarms and solar farms is simply ridiculous. I'm onboard with nuclear power (Navy figured it out long ago and has a pretty damned good safety record.)The truth is that fossil fuels will not likely be replaced for generations to come. If you want to solve a real problem, work on curtailing the population boom.

[Pat Conlon]

Dino juice works fine, lasts long time.

Sure fossil fuels are fine...been to China, India, Mexico City lately? Perhaps even downtown Los Angeles?

The acres/watts ratio for windfarms and solar farms is simply ridiculous.

So what? The point is moot, the logic flawed. The acre to watt output is still better than if the land had remained vacant. The wind and solar farms are located on land that is not being otherwise utilized. It's not like these systems are displacing farm land, taking food off your table.

If you want to solve a real problem, work on curtailing the population boom.

Yes, I agree overpopulation is a problem....What's order of priority?
Think Biology 101:
1) When the nutrients in the Petri dish are corrupted, poisoned, the culture dies.
2) When all the nutrients in the Petri dish are consumed, the culture dies.

Both are killers, but for those who believe in science and not Fox News, #1 comes before #2

[ZOA NOM]

You're right. I should have left it alone. Can't WAIT for all the electric goodies that are almost free, and certainly SMARTER than any previous technology. /s

[giantkiller]

Hey Pat I know the part about displacing farm land is incorrect. Almost all of the wind generators around here are on former cropland. They pay a lump sum to the farmers to lease the land and if I remember correctly either 5or8 acres per windmill. Farmers can't plant any of it.