MellowGuy

Recycling U.S. Coins into Silver

IIRC, there is plenty of natural gas so the US doesn't need to import it.

The US should encourage those in the NorthEast that are still heating with fuel oil to convert to natural gas.

Toyota Offloads Financial Arm

It's a good idea to free up some cash to speed the improvement in models to use less energy through direct fuel injection, hybrid, and plug-hybrid technologies while reducing the weight of the vehicles by the use of aluminum, titanium(?), and composites.

The USA needs to change its tax structure to have a value added tax (smart sales tax) instead of putting the tax burden on working people.

Prospects for Electric Cars

I hope that batteries can drop more than 6% in price over the next several years.
Electric motors should also be dropping in price.
Everyone forgets about the converter that changes battery power into the AC power that drives the motors and the price for the converter should be getting less expensive as well as being able to handle more power.

Is Toyota Losing Ground in the Electric Vehicles Race?

The race is for a plug hybrid vehicle. Most people average less than 40 miles a day on their vehicle, but may need to make trips of up to 400 miles on occasion. The long trips necessitate having liquid fueled engine, but the short trips can be handled with an affordable battery (if it can handle a large number of charge/discharge cycles). The hybrid feature is needed to increase the milage of city with its frequent stops by using regenerative braking.

A neighbor has converted his Prius to a plug-in Hybrid and uses a solar array in his back yard to charge it.

Latest on Hybrids: Toyota Yaris for U.S.

A hybrid minivan would be a market leader.

Why the Electric Car Mileage Debate Is Meaningless

Nuclear power plants don't take up any more space than coal plants.

Mini nuclear power plants are being designed that can be placed in remote areas such as Alaska to give economical & reliable power.


On Aug 13 09:38 AM huangjin wrote:

> The question is: where are they going to put all the nuclear power
> plants?

Why the Electric Car Mileage Debate Is Meaningless

That ~48% efficiency is a peak fuel efficiency which in a vehicle operating at different speeds and acceleration can be appreciably lowered. I think that plug hybrids should be based on diesel engines but the first one is always a challenge.

Coal, nuclear fuel, and natural gas are priced much lower than diesel fuel which makes a plug hybrid more economical for that first 40 miles or so.

On Aug 13 12:46 PM Gandalph wrote:

> Do the efficiency numbers! The efficiency of a power plant - coal,
> oil, or nuclear is about 40%; the efficiency of the grid is estimated
> at 92%; the efficiency of charging a Li-Ion battery is no more than
> 85% (They get hot!); the efficiency of an electric motor is about
> 85%(They also get hot); call the AC to DC converters 85% (?). Overall:
> 22.5%. Compare with modern clean diesel: ~48%. The electric car
> is a hoax !

Cash for Clunkers May Cost Up to $45,354 Per Vehicle

I bought a vehicle this year before the trade in program was instituted. So, I missed out on the deal.
The program will take the old clunkers off the road which should be a good thing because the clunkers aren't as safe and use more gas.
Deals like the trade in program are just going to give the dealers more profit.
The deal applies to imports as well as domestic makes. It would be better to have the deal only apply to domestic makes.

Toyota Reviews U.S. Ops; Not Profitable Here

With one fourth of Toyota's sales being in the US, Toyota can't afford to shut down many plants in the US.

Ethanol's Persecution Complex: To Rehabilitate Its Image, It Must Understand the Issues

The government confuses the economics of the issues with quotas, tariffs, and other regulations.

Gasoline is improved by the addition of oxygenates, but complete replacement is difficult.

Alcohol is an oxygenate, but it has problems with transportation and corrosion. ETBE is an oxygenate that can be produced from alcohol without the accompanying problems.

The mpg ratings of new vehicless needs to be available for 10% ethanol fuel, and it would be nice to know how milage is affected for older vehicles.

Although I am not for subsidizing imports, the high tariffs on ethanol and sugar are an indirect burden on the American consumer.

Why the Government Is Keeping GM Alive

I owned GM stock until I found out that they hadn't fully funded their pension plan. In the mean time they were paying dividends although they didn't have enough equity to cover their debts.

GM, Ford, and Chrysler weren't on an equal tax basis with foreign manufacturers which could have been partially alleviated by a value added tax.

GM shouldn't have been pushing blue sky hydrogen technology when hybrid technology was shown to work in a cost effective manner.

New North American Rare Earth Production Could Help Toyota Save GM

COBASYS has many of the NiMH battery patents.

Cobalt is used in NiMH and Li batteries.

Toyota is using Neodynium in their PM electric motors. Cobalt-Samarium is another possibility but it is more expensive.

Chrysler vs. Debtholders: Who Will Win?

There is too much long term debt in the hands of bond holders, Just let them own the company after other creditors have been paid.

Why 3 Asian ETFs Are Soaring

I use EWY because many of companies covered don't have ADR's in the US exchanges.

Since I already have exposure to a couple of Taiwan stocks, I don't bother with EWT.

Semi Equipment Companies Need to Boycott 450mm Development

The initial 450 mm wafers will be expensive ruling out solar cell manufacturing. Many circuits aren't produced in very high volume, making Intel the poster child for such large wafers.