What if we did another entire article like this, but this time on a cost comparison and not a "carbon footprint" comparison? Cost is very important if green is to compete with dirty technologies and cost are changing all the time as technology changes and subsidies decrease.
Not only that, but many believe that there is no such thing as carbon induced global warming (i.e. it is a natural phenomenon, just like global colling that leads to ice ages and it is not caused by carbon emmisions). Water vapour for example is a far more powerful greenhouse "gas" than CO2. If this is the case then carbon footprint wouldn't matter much, except as far as soot in our lungs is concerned. In that case the price factor of the two typed of technologies would be even more important in comparison to a meaningless "carbon footprint".
Yes, charging the battery at night DOES consume fossil fuels with the current grid, however the point is that these fossil fuels being used at night would be generating wasted power anyway when not being used to recharge millions of electric cars. It is being wasted now as we speak!!! So why not make full use of it until the grid is totally powered by green renewables! If we do that then no EXTRA fossil fuels will be used to power the grid than is currently being used at the moment. (i.e. no need to build new coal power stations to power all the new electric cars coming). You can't say the same with ICE cars as more oil rigs and refineries will have to be built (sooner or later) to supply millions of your new ICE cars you and your buddies advise putting onto the streets instead of new EV's.
The oil companies are probably secretly investing in green tech hand over fist, so that when the transition does happen they will have more to gain than to loose and more to gain than all the other smaller investors from green techs huge success, or they might be investing hand over fist so they can just shelve the whole green industry when it starts threatening oil to much and force us to stay with oil. Interesting that the banks that force us to use their monopolised funny money that they and they alone print, also own the oil companies that make the fuels that they and they alone sell. We are stuck using their toilet paper monopoly money and their monopilised oil at the same time!!! How good is that!!!
Were First Solar's Results Good Or Bad? [View article]
Nice article. I am sure the sheer size of the company has got it's advantages as well and it's amazing it hasn't gone bankrupt yet as a result of cheap Chinese competition. If it can survive that, then I think it has a good chance in the long run, provided it keeps up with technological advancements in the solar industry. The good news is that the cheaper and more efficient solar energy gets, the more customers they (and others) will have, like with economy of scale examples leading to huge price reductions.
Tesla's Model S: Engineering Dream, Fiscal Nightmare [View article]
Gerry, a lot of what you have written here has already been addressed in greater detail in previous articles on here about Tesla. The battery 'issue' is one of them. If I remember correctly, I read on here before that although Boeing does use chemically identical lithium ion batteries, the way the implement the technology is NOT the same as how Tesla implements it. Boeing, if I remember correctly, uses much larger lithium ion batteries, whereas Tesla used a huge amount of smaller ones. This implementation makes them much safer and less prone to problems and the proof is in the eating. There have been NO problems with them in Tesla's vehicles.
You also cannot compare them (price wise) to a "cheap, efficient" ICE car as they are not trying to compete in that market, but rather with the luxury ICE market. If you want to compare electric to ICE in the cheap, fuel efficient market you need to rather compare other electrics like the Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt, amongst others. This point has been made at least once on here before.
I do think Tesla is a bit more risky than what most imagine due to the fact that they are not yet as profitable as I would like, however once a lot of debt has been paid off that might leave more profits to use to increase production volumes to more of an economy of scale scenario. My main worry is that if there is a major improvement in battery technology/efficiency, they would not have the cash to invest in that technology on a big enough scale, or even the same scale as they do with their current batteries, without getting into a lot more debt as they have already spent so much on current technology. This would leave a lot of room open for competitor startups with very deep pockets that haven't been touched yet. They could take advantage of that situation and swoop in to take Tesla's place in the market.
Regarding subsidies, its a tired subject (and I though you said you were not going to get political on us, or we shouldn't on you). Many conventional industries get subsidies as well and I would rather my tax money go to the green industries so that eventually they will be able to compete without the subsidies. (This is not far off).
Tesla's Model S: Engineering Dream, Fiscal Nightmare [View article]
Gold is not dead, it has taken a much deserved break after over a decade of rising. It will start rising higher and break new highs once again soon, especially if dollar inflation starts becoming a problem with all the quantative easing from the Fed and other loss of confidence, etc.
Tesla's Model S: Engineering Dream, Fiscal Nightmare [View article]
Wellnext, if the oil industry is smart it will know that it needs to hedge it's bets by investing in green technologies of many kinds, more and more over the years, as their oil & coal industry goes more and more into decline. Thankfully they are already doing this to an extent. Hopefully they will be invested deeply enough by the time a huge green tech breakthrough happens so that they will not see it as a threat since they will be mostly divested from oil by that stage to have to worry about it going broke. Hopefully Tesla will be making the breakthrough, or taking advantage of it when it happens and as it already has done with lithium.
Tesla: New Features And Upcoming Catalysts [View article]
While Tesla can do ok selling to the high end buyers and competing with luxury, or semi luxury ICE models, Tesla needs to bring out a model that's closer in price to a Nissan Leaf, or a Chevy Volt. They don't need to bring the price down as low as that just yet, but they should bring out a model with a price somewhere between these models and the model S. At some point they should consider spending more on advertising too although word of mouth is working pretty well for them. Whenever you look at the volumes of Model S sold, you need to realize that it is not technology holding back the increase of volumes at a faster pace, it is orders. The more orders, the more volume can be produced and the cheaper the price can get which will stimulate more orders creating a snow ball effect which already SEEMS to be starting to happen. However I think it would happen a bit faster if they tripled their advertising budget. How many people are there out there that have never even heard of Tesla ! Probably more than we think.
The 50MW New Mexico solar project First Solar (FSLR) recently bought might sell electricity at a rate less than half that typically charged by new coal plants, based on a recent regulatory filing (.pdf). Maxim's Aaron Chew, who has been bearish on FSLR for some time, notes the rate is also less than half what First Solar will charge for its Antelope Valley, Topaz, and Agua Caliente projects. However, government incentives will likely improve the project's ROI. [View news story]
Hopefully when subsidies run out, then by that stage solar will be cheap enough not to need subsidies any more. That's the whole idea of subsidies in the first place. Also many other non-green industries get subsidies too.
The 50MW New Mexico solar project First Solar (FSLR) recently bought might sell electricity at a rate less than half that typically charged by new coal plants, based on a recent regulatory filing (.pdf). Maxim's Aaron Chew, who has been bearish on FSLR for some time, notes the rate is also less than half what First Solar will charge for its Antelope Valley, Topaz, and Agua Caliente projects. However, government incentives will likely improve the project's ROI. [View news story]
When subsidies run out then by that stage solar should be cheap enough not to need subsidies anymore. That's the whole idea of subsidies in the first place. Also, what about the other non-green industries that get subsidies. People love to forget about those all the time!
Has Tesla Solved The Road Trip Problem? [View article]
I personally think the whole "road trip" requirement is totally over-rated anyway. Would you want to spend 2 full days behind the wheel of a car, or would you prefer to relax in the comfort of a large bus with some other poor sucker driving ? Or wouldn't you prefer to rather take a 2 hour flight instead with air hostesses at your beck and call for a similiar price. Won't cost much more than a conventional ICE car roadtrip, although electricity costs quite a lot less I must admit. Point being there is nothing wrong with a short to medium range "daily commute" only electric car in my opinion. You wouldn't even need to add a regular one to allow the long roadtrips. Thats what buses, trains and planes are invented for !!!
Is The Tesla Model S Green? [View article]
Not only that, but many believe that there is no such thing as carbon induced global warming (i.e. it is a natural phenomenon, just like global colling that leads to ice ages and it is not caused by carbon emmisions). Water vapour for example is a far more powerful greenhouse "gas" than CO2. If this is the case then carbon footprint wouldn't matter much, except as far as soot in our lungs is concerned. In that case the price factor of the two typed of technologies would be even more important in comparison to a meaningless "carbon footprint".
Is The Tesla Model S Green? [View article]
Is The Tesla Model S Green? [View article]
Is The Tesla Model S Green? [View article]
Is The Tesla Model S Green? [View article]
Were First Solar's Results Good Or Bad? [View article]
Tesla's Model S: Engineering Dream, Fiscal Nightmare [View article]
You also cannot compare them (price wise) to a "cheap, efficient" ICE car as they are not trying to compete in that market, but rather with the luxury ICE market. If you want to compare electric to ICE in the cheap, fuel efficient market you need to rather compare other electrics like the Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt, amongst others. This point has been made at least once on here before.
I do think Tesla is a bit more risky than what most imagine due to the fact that they are not yet as profitable as I would like, however once a lot of debt has been paid off that might leave more profits to use to increase production volumes to more of an economy of scale scenario. My main worry is that if there is a major improvement in battery technology/efficiency, they would not have the cash to invest in that technology on a big enough scale, or even the same scale as they do with their current batteries, without getting into a lot more debt as they have already spent so much on current technology. This would leave a lot of room open for competitor startups with very deep pockets that haven't been touched yet. They could take advantage of that situation and swoop in to take Tesla's place in the market.
Regarding subsidies, its a tired subject (and I though you said you were not going to get political on us, or we shouldn't on you). Many conventional industries get subsidies as well and I would rather my tax money go to the green industries so that eventually they will be able to compete without the subsidies. (This is not far off).
Tesla's Model S: Engineering Dream, Fiscal Nightmare [View article]
Tesla's Model S: Engineering Dream, Fiscal Nightmare [View article]
Tesla's Model S: Engineering Dream, Fiscal Nightmare [View article]
Tesla's Model S: Engineering Dream, Fiscal Nightmare [View article]
Tesla: New Features And Upcoming Catalysts [View article]
The 50MW New Mexico solar project First Solar (FSLR) recently bought might sell electricity at a rate less than half that typically charged by new coal plants, based on a recent regulatory filing (.pdf). Maxim's Aaron Chew, who has been bearish on FSLR for some time, notes the rate is also less than half what First Solar will charge for its Antelope Valley, Topaz, and Agua Caliente projects. However, government incentives will likely improve the project's ROI. [View news story]
The 50MW New Mexico solar project First Solar (FSLR) recently bought might sell electricity at a rate less than half that typically charged by new coal plants, based on a recent regulatory filing (.pdf). Maxim's Aaron Chew, who has been bearish on FSLR for some time, notes the rate is also less than half what First Solar will charge for its Antelope Valley, Topaz, and Agua Caliente projects. However, government incentives will likely improve the project's ROI. [View news story]
Has Tesla Solved The Road Trip Problem? [View article]