XPost: rec.arts.sf.written, rec.arts.sf.science   
   From: 2671@gmail.com   
      
   "J. Clarke"  wrote in message   
   news:MPG.2d40468e3572f07398a3ac@news.newsguy.com...   
   > 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?   
      
   Coal is much cheaper than crude oil, let alone gasoline.   
      
   In spades with brown coal which has no other viable use   
   but in power generation.   
      
   > Is coal that much cheaper to produce than oil?   
      
   Yes, particularly with the brown coal that has no other use   
   and is very cheap to open cut mine with huge machines.   
      
   Even the electricity from nukes is a lot cheaper than gasoline.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)