Quote:
Originally Posted by Spektyr
I think there's a fairly good chance that alternate fuels will exist in 10-20 years that are fairly easy to convert old gasoline engines to.
Hydrogen, for example, isn't terribly complicated to implement in a modern motor. (By no means practical today, but it's feasible it will get easier down the road.) And then there's things like Porsche's new solar fuel generators that may or may not be practical as-is, but are at least a strong contender for "green" ICE fuel with additional innovation.
They make a bolt-in kit for old muscle cars that converts a Tesla electric motor to bolt right up to a V8's motor mounts. Certainly not the noise I want coming out of a Chevelle, but I think the sheer power will satisfy a lot of people. And you'd have plenty of extra space under the hood for a loudspeaker playing dynamic motor noises if you really want to have that noise. (I think it'd be weird, but I can guarantee you someone's going to do that if they haven't already.)
Basically what I'm saying is that I doubt the human race and the car enthusiast culture specifically will fail to solve the problem of how to keep our beloved flammable-fuel vehicles on the road. And there's also the whole problem of solving how to keep 100% of the cars on the road charged with a power grid wholly inadequate to do so. Until that's solved we NEED internal combustion to hang around.
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BMW tried to make conventional engines work with hydrogen years ago, to no avail, despite putting tens of prototypes on the road. And that's an OEM, with a lot of resources and a vested interest in saving ICEs where they hold a comparative advantage.
Other alternative fuels may solve the CO2 part of the equation by being produced sustainably, but they cannot solve the local pollution issue. An ICE creates nocive byproducts as it doesn't burn pure octane with pure oxygen. The air the motor breathes contains other elements that react in the engine, and so does the fuel it burns. Synthetic fuels don't solve that, or at least not completely.
It's likely most petrolheads will switch to EV when the time comes. And the last remaining dinosaurs will keep driving their ICEs using dino juice or ethanol, probably purchased at a high price from a greatly scaled-down fuel supply chain.
As far as the grid, it's not a fixed part of the equation. It can grow, it can be made smarter, and it can be relieved in some areas (for example, better housing insulation creates electrical capacity for BEVs).
Not saying EVs will solve EVERYTHING, but they're here to stay. The sustainable fuel argument is used by enthusiasts as a joker of some sorts, but there likely ain't much to it. Especially if you can't afford to pay $10, 20 or 30/gal.