Lets face the facts. Our forefathers knew a lot more than we like to give them credit for. People will choose convenence first and foremost. If distrobution becomes an issue people will go electric over walking or returning to animal drawn carriages. Much like the auto industry makes economy an issue when that is what people call for. As soon a comfort is called for the size of the auto increases. I drive an economy car (Geo Metro). one would think the 50mpg it gets is the best kept secret but in fact many people tell me how many MPG it gets without prompting. Then why I ask don't more people think 50MPG is an option? Because you can expect more than MPG from the car. It is small choppy handling, and most people laugh at me for my choice sighting how unsafe it is.
Boats, cars, or most other things in our life are compromise. Electric drive is a choice made by most on this list. Others are considering electric drive. As long as options exist people will have to make a choice. It is not easy to commit to something that has the downside of limited power when we don't have to. Until the outboard, electric was quite common. ICE/electric drives were common before reduction drives could handle the power needed by the military ships. Military ships today have reduction drives that will handle the power so electric is not the only option.
In conclusion don't expect the change unless the mindset is forced to change.
Kevin Pemberton
On 06/06/2011 10:25 AM, Dave Kellogg S/E/V wrote:
I've had this question in my mind for a long time and I've going to post it for comment from the group. The Question is what would our mod of transportation be like if the ICE were more expensive at the beginning of the transportation era. Would we have the storage for electricity that we are missing now? What refinements would have been invented using electric power instead of gas/diesel? We have almost always leaned to cost as the controlling factor in our lives instead of searching for the best alternatives for our needs. Could we now have conquered many other aspects and needs in our lives if we had not gone to the cheaper fuel? I don't know, but it's good food for thought in the future, and we are the future, all of us..
Dave K
S/V Redeemed (electric) 30ft Mono sloop
S/v Eastern Star Clipper (going electric 37ft Island Trader Ketch
S/v Cheetah (going electric) 26 Catamarran
-- AspireOne Netbook running Ubuntu 11.04 Safe, Secure, Easy to use, Free Open Source Linux OS. Leaving Virus worries to the Windows Users!
No comments:
Post a Comment