Another Interesting Take on EV's

EV tech is pretty simple. Batteries are the problem that are going to be hard to improve, with regard to their negative environmental impact.

Kidding but not kidding, buf maybe we should tap the yellowstone area for the heat to power hydrogen production. It’s probably enough to heat to make enough hydrogen to power hydrogen fuel cell vehicles the country over.

 

I never said I’d buy a Tesla, we have a Yota Rav4 prime. And 4runners are very different from an everyday commuter car.

500 bucks added to the vehicle total is nothing these days. I’d have to do some math, but I willing to get that that would be a wise 500 bucks spent over the life of that EV.

yep, Toyotas. But how many vehicles are people really buying with 180k? Those that are mechanical and like fixing things.

 

Interesting concept, but not sure how much hydrogen Yellowstone produces. Heat, yes, so you could make power with steam. Assuming we could harness the energy without screwing things up like we (humans) typically do.

Biggest issue I see with this is the fact water can be hard to come by in the western US. It seems to be depleting to the point states are beginning to fight over it.

Edit: I assume you are referring to electrolysis?

 

Im referring to “free” hydrothermal heat to boil water to spin turbines to make electricity. Then store that electricity via hydrogen (production via electrolysis) and shipping of hydrogen, to then power fuel cell vehicles.

Hydrogen has leak losses, but depending on how free the heat is, it may not matter much.

edit: alternately I believe you could produce methane with electricity, hydrogen, and captured CO2. Much easier to store and ship.

 

I wouldn’t mess with Yellowstone.

 

Definitely something to look into, and could prevent impending super volcano eruptions? I feel like every time humans try to tame nature we find we are woefully unequipped.

I don't know what the right answer is but I love the throwing out of ideas - to just become complacent and accept that "we've got the answer" seems narrow minded

 

$500 was just a number. Could be $5000. My point was that manufacturers aren’t going to sink hundreds of millions of dollars into custom-fit solar panels for their vehicles in the hope that they ‘catch on’.

 

I've been watching science shows since I was a kid. For anyone who remembers, there was a show called "beyond 2000". Even back in the 90s when that show was on, they talked about the difficulty of solar panels powering vehicles due to surface area issues (which is apparently still an issue over 20 years past 2000).

It's all good in theory, but until something real produces numbers it's all just sci-fi

 

I think the problem with "clean" or "renewable" energy is that people think that it doesn't come at a cost. There is no such thing as a free lunch

 

Yeah, not really serious I guess, but the reality is, if the place has accessible heat energy, and the powers that be decide they want it, it will get tapped. Nothing much sacred any more.

They already get natural gas from the periphery of the park. I have to wonder if the area out of the park has usable heat close enough to the surface to make it worthwhile.

 

I should preface with "I'm not a geologist" or any scientist really, just an engineer.

To be honest, from what I've seen on TV as specials (again, not a scientist), from Hawaii to Yellowstone are just hot spots in the earth's crust producing thermal activity close to the surface. Hawaii produces a volcanic chain of islands in the middle of an ocean where Yellowstone is on a fairly significant tectonic plate so it has hot spots in the form of low lying areas/cauldrons. Both have the potential to harness earth's interior energy but not sure anyone has the ability to do it safely (new tech).

 

I'm not sure what your area is like, but a lot of people buy vehicles with 180k in poorer areas. Sure, the maintenance may nickel and dime them over the long term, but a lot of people don't have the income/cash on hand to purchase newer vehicles.

 

https://electrek.co/2023/06/13/toyota-claims-solid-state-ev-battery-tech-breakthrough/

 

I thought the “let’s tap Yellowstone’s geothermal energy” idea was put to bed in a previous thread:
https://www.4runners.com/threads/progress-on-e-fuels-a-real-alternative-to-evs.29177/page-2#post-412101

 

My next vehicle will probably fall into that range.

I'm trying to save for a house, which essentially means I'll be broke for the rest of my life. I can't be buying expensive vehicles that necessitate having a payment. From now on it's cash only for vehicles.

 

Take everything you've saved and put it all on the stock RIOT. it's a BTC mining company. If BTC doubles, the stock should at least triple.

If you lose all your money doing this, we'll you just said you're going to be broke your whole life anyway.

You are welcome.

Edit: RIOT currently 11.50

 

Sounds like great advice. Lol

 

A year ago I saw a interesting documentary on how a Nuclear power plant can be partially green.
The strategy was to take the wasted energy from the steam/cooling towers and use that heat energy to produce hydrogen.

 

I’m almost 68yrs old and your post brings back memories. My wife worked graveyard stocking grocery shelves and I was a contract(temp) technician at a laboratory while taking engineering night classes for 7yrs(got hired full time eventually). The wife would hand off the kids to me after class and get a few hours sleep before leaving for work and then vise-versa in the morning. The wife was the unsung hero during this part of our life together, I don’t know how she did it. Luckily just after we were married we scraped up enough money to buy Goldie new($13K leftover) for her to drive. My wife had a fairly long kinda dangerous commute to the SF Bay Area peninsula and I didn’t need her stranded beside the road in the middle of the night, especially on a bridge (ask me how I know….).
In nearly 34 years of marriage we have never had a car payment, if we didn’t have cash we didn’t buy it. I drove old used pickups or my motorcycle to work until I retired.
Your frugal plan on getting a house is the way to go. Not fun, but in the end rewarding.

 

I’ve driven my fair share of used, but when shopping 180k miles is not something I’d jump on. I did just find this…
https://www.carfax.com/vehicle/3TMCZ5AN3GM019093




or this

https://www.carfax.com/vehicle/1C6SRFLT4KN691201

 

Well, this thread went down a rabbit hole.

Maybe a better question would have been "given the choice between buying an old, high mileage ICE or an old, high mileage EV, which would you choose?

I'd choose the ICE every time.

 

ICE as of now.

 

Edited my post, so as not to sound like a dick.

 

Well, it did veer off course just a tiny bit lol.

 

“Iceland is one of the biggest users of geothermal energy -- virtually the entire city of Reykjavik is heated with water pumped in from hot springs and geothermal wells.”

B.S. Geology University of Missouri 1976

 

I think Toyotas plan to slowly get in bad merit. Hybrid now and slowly introduce mass EVs down the line. How far into the future, who knows? But when they do it would be at the cost customers can live with. Right now it’s just the hipsters and fanboys of evs, my household included

 

Here too….
BLM.gov:
“Nevada BLM has eighteen operating geothermal power plants with federal interest, for a total generating capability of over 600 MW and nearly 400 MW of additional geothermal projects in the permitting, exploration, development and construction phases are expected to greatly increase that capacity in the near future.”

 

WOW!! Some interesting responses.

About 4-5 years ago there there was a lot of talk about the over-the-road trucking firms converting some of their tractors (or purchased new) to use natural gas (LNG?). As well one of chains of truck stops (Pilot?) was going to install NG pumps at various store locations on certain routes as an experiment. But haven't heard any updates about this in the last couple years. Anyone know ?

 

And if the general state of the economy doesn't improve over the next few years, I expect to see even more of the "buy here, pay here" used car lots spring up.

 

I'll get on board with this green movement and EV stuff when our country and the rest of the world puts on the big boy pants and deals with China and India's pollution. Everybody loves them though and plays kissey kissey. At least their balloons won't have to fly as far when they set up their base in Cuba.