XPost: rec.arts.sf.written, rec.arts.sf.science   
   From: jclarkeusenet@cox.net   
      
   In article , leszek.karlik@gmail.com   
   says...   
   >   
   > On Wed, 15 Jan 2014 02:20:45 +0100, J. Clarke    
   > wrote:   
   >   
   > [...]   
   > >> Everything benefits from better batteries. I remember first laptops,   
   > >> with 2 to 3 hours of operating time on a single charge. Now the laptop   
   > >> I'm using has up to 5 hours on a small battery, with vastly better   
   > >> performance, and consumer   
   > >> portables frequently have 8+ hours of battery time.   
   > >   
   > > Don't assume that the difference is better batteries.  A Core 2 Duo   
   > > processor released in 2006 consumed about 35 watts of power.   
   >   
   > "Core 2 Duo"? I wrote "I remember first laptops". My first laptop had a 486   
   > processor. It consumed less than 3 watts of power. It had less than 3 hours   
   > of battery time.   
      
   I think you'll find that it consumed more than you think.  Displays and   
   disks were the power hogs then.  And that was before they went to   
   lithium-based batteries.   
      
   > Seriously, "Core 2 Duo" as an "old laptop processor". Snicker. Young   
   > whippersnappers ;-)))   
      
   I'm probably older than you are.   
      
   > [...]   
   > > Batteries can be free and the short range and long charge time will   
   > > still make the electric car a niche product.   
   >   
   > With self-driving public transit, the charge time is pretty much irrelevant   
   > for trips within a city. When a self-driving municipal "taxi" needs to   
   > charge, it goes to a charging station and charges.   
      
   We aren't talking about "municipal taxis", we're talking about   
   individuals putting their own "self-driving cars" to work competing with   
   "municipal taxis".   
      
   > It's like saying that "having to sleep for at least 8 hours a day   
   > makes a car with a driver a niche product, which is why no city is   
   > going to have a taxi service".   
      
   Nope.  It takes far less time to change a driver than to charge an   
   electric car.   
      
   > Well, no, large cities simply have   
   > lots of cars with drivers for hire, so the downtime of some of them   
   > does not interrupt the availability of the service.   
      
   If they have downtime then the owners are foregoing profits.   
      
   > [...]   
   > > So how is an electric car more convenient and less expensive than a   
   > > gasoling powered car, leaving aside the difference in energy cost that   
   > > is mostly the result of different taxes being applied to electricity and   
   > > gasoline.   
   >   
   > The difference in electricity prices and gasoline prices does not stem   
   > only from taxes, I'm afraid.   
      
   So where do you think they stem from?  Is coal that much cheaper to   
   produce than oil?   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)