1 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:07,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production of I Heart Radios, 2 00:00:07,320 --> 00:00:13,800 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works. Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. 3 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:17,200 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with 4 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:19,239 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works and I heart Radio and I love 5 00:00:19,320 --> 00:00:22,720 Speaker 1: all things tech. And today we're looking at a classic 6 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:24,880 Speaker 1: episode of tech Stuff. We're not just looking at it, 7 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:27,560 Speaker 1: we're listening to it too, because it turns out, just 8 00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:31,720 Speaker 1: look at an audio file, not much happens. This original 9 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:36,440 Speaker 1: episode published November twenty one, two thousand twelve. It is 10 00:00:36,479 --> 00:00:40,400 Speaker 1: titled Tex Stuff Rides in Electric Cars. Bet you can 11 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:43,919 Speaker 1: guess what's about. Let's listen in. Did you know that 12 00:00:43,960 --> 00:00:46,600 Speaker 1: one of the more popular ways of getting around in 13 00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:51,080 Speaker 1: the earliest days of the horseless carriage was in an 14 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:54,480 Speaker 1: electric vehicle? Yes, but I actually had a course in 15 00:00:54,520 --> 00:00:57,120 Speaker 1: college where we studied that, So I'll pretend now, Johnathan, 16 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:00,720 Speaker 1: I had no idea. Well, Chris, you a written man. 17 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:03,640 Speaker 1: I'm going to enlighten you. Now. If only you had 18 00:01:03,920 --> 00:01:07,600 Speaker 1: spent some hard earned cash on a on a education, 19 00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:11,560 Speaker 1: then you would know that that. Yeah, the electric car 20 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:16,559 Speaker 1: is nothing new in a sense. We've had electric cars 21 00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:19,240 Speaker 1: for quite some time. They in fact pre date the 22 00:01:19,280 --> 00:01:23,800 Speaker 1: internal combustion engine car. Yeah. They it's funny to look 23 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:29,480 Speaker 1: at the alternative methods for powering a car UH these days, 24 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:32,880 Speaker 1: because in of course electric is one of the more 25 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:37,720 Speaker 1: common ways to talk about it, or hybrids again not new, um, 26 00:01:37,760 --> 00:01:40,080 Speaker 1: but this is UH. There are other things too, like 27 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:45,479 Speaker 1: talking about UH ethanol and and plant based fuels, biodiesel shore. 28 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:48,680 Speaker 1: These kinds of things were talked about at the beginning 29 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:52,920 Speaker 1: of the whole car thing when people were saying, you know, well, 30 00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:55,120 Speaker 1: what what would be used to power an engine or 31 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:57,680 Speaker 1: or power a motor to make this happen? And they 32 00:01:57,760 --> 00:02:01,320 Speaker 1: ran through these things. Eventually Patroley one out. And the 33 00:02:01,320 --> 00:02:04,080 Speaker 1: reason this is so challenging now is because the petroleum 34 00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:09,160 Speaker 1: UH infrastructure is so well established exactly. But but it's 35 00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:11,680 Speaker 1: amazing to to think about because we think, oh, well, 36 00:02:11,720 --> 00:02:15,359 Speaker 1: you know, electric cars, well they're new. Well not really. 37 00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:19,880 Speaker 1: The problem is the technology UH hasn't been worked on 38 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:23,639 Speaker 1: and and so long, at least by as many people. Right. Yeah, 39 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:26,359 Speaker 1: when you go back to the earliest electric vehicles, they 40 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:30,120 Speaker 1: were very limited. You could not go very far because 41 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:33,280 Speaker 1: the batteries would run out of charge. They were not 42 00:02:33,480 --> 00:02:38,800 Speaker 1: necessarily rechargeable. You had massive batteries, so that meant that 43 00:02:38,919 --> 00:02:41,480 Speaker 1: added to the overall weight of the vehicle itself. They 44 00:02:41,480 --> 00:02:44,320 Speaker 1: didn't go very fast. They seem to be all right 45 00:02:44,440 --> 00:02:49,440 Speaker 1: for getting around, uh, like a city uh in the 46 00:02:49,520 --> 00:02:53,800 Speaker 1: late nineteenth century, but any difficult terrain that would start 47 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:59,160 Speaker 1: to have problems. Uh. The steam powered cars actually ended 48 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:03,119 Speaker 1: up being more popular than electric ones because they could 49 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:07,120 Speaker 1: go much faster. And uh, they were not necessarily the 50 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:10,200 Speaker 1: best choice either, because they were not terribly efficient. You 51 00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:12,560 Speaker 1: had to, you know, get the boiler heated up before 52 00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:14,680 Speaker 1: you could go anywhere. You had to actually start generating 53 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:19,320 Speaker 1: steam before you could make the vehicle go, And there's 54 00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:22,440 Speaker 1: always the possibility that it could blow up real good, 55 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:27,360 Speaker 1: which not not not something you necessarily want when you're 56 00:03:27,560 --> 00:03:30,360 Speaker 1: gonna take a little trip down to Grandma's is to 57 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:33,880 Speaker 1: have the steam boiler explode on the way there. That's 58 00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:39,080 Speaker 1: that's generally what we consider a bad things productive transport. 59 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:45,360 Speaker 1: But gas powered cars they had the power and the 60 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:48,640 Speaker 1: versatility that people wanted in those early days of travel. 61 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:51,360 Speaker 1: And because of that, and because we did build this 62 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:55,560 Speaker 1: huge infrastructure to support those sort of cars, there's a 63 00:03:55,560 --> 00:03:59,440 Speaker 1: lot of momentum built up right, Yeah, Yeah, to use 64 00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:01,320 Speaker 1: a turn them in a way that I wasn't intending, 65 00:04:01,320 --> 00:04:05,040 Speaker 1: but they're exactly. They had built up a lot of momentum, 66 00:04:05,120 --> 00:04:10,400 Speaker 1: and it meant that any new quote unquote new developments 67 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:13,840 Speaker 1: in uh this technology was going to be met with resistance. 68 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:18,479 Speaker 1: Not necessarily you know, something that people were consciously trying 69 00:04:18,520 --> 00:04:20,960 Speaker 1: to resist, but just from the very nature of how 70 00:04:21,080 --> 00:04:26,800 Speaker 1: the industry developed. So resistance, Oh man, I am no, 71 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:29,400 Speaker 1: I just can't get away from it, so I'll embrace it. 72 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:33,360 Speaker 1: So the electric car is making kind of a comeback, 73 00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:38,360 Speaker 1: depending upon who you ask. Whom you ask, yes, well, yeah, 74 00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:40,960 Speaker 1: there it's been in the news a lot, especially during 75 00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:46,159 Speaker 1: the election cycle here in America. Yes, um, But do 76 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:48,400 Speaker 1: you want to go back and start talking about some 77 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:51,000 Speaker 1: of these early vehicles first, and we can kind of 78 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:53,080 Speaker 1: talk about where we are now. Sure, if you've got 79 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:56,640 Speaker 1: some information on early vehicles, I'd love to hear it. Okay, Well, Um, 80 00:04:56,680 --> 00:04:59,320 Speaker 1: I found a very interesting timeline that that suggested that 81 00:04:59,360 --> 00:05:02,840 Speaker 1: it was us oddish inventor Robert Anderson who came up 82 00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:08,200 Speaker 1: with a a very very basic electric car with non 83 00:05:08,279 --> 00:05:12,880 Speaker 1: rechargeable batteries. That seems like a problem, especially in eighteen 84 00:05:13,160 --> 00:05:16,400 Speaker 1: Somewhere in the early eighteen thirties as when he started 85 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:19,800 Speaker 1: working on that, and uh, you know they kept working 86 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:23,440 Speaker 1: on that. Uh. I also have a Gaston Plante, a 87 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:26,480 Speaker 1: French physicist who in eighteen fifty nine had a rechargeable 88 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:29,920 Speaker 1: lead acid battery. Actually, the lead acid battery has been 89 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:34,400 Speaker 1: sort of the staple for electric cars for a while. Um, 90 00:05:34,520 --> 00:05:38,480 Speaker 1: but they're extremely heavy, probably because of the lead relate 91 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:43,760 Speaker 1: and just a guess um um, but also a camille 92 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:47,880 Speaker 1: of it doesn't have the accident on it far. Uh. 93 00:05:47,920 --> 00:05:51,120 Speaker 1: In eighty one improved upon that idea, and then in 94 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:55,960 Speaker 1: in Des Moines, Iowa, H. William Morrison came up with 95 00:05:56,200 --> 00:06:00,480 Speaker 1: an electric car in the United States here um, and 96 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:02,680 Speaker 1: uh you know they were working on those. They even 97 00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:05,960 Speaker 1: had a fleet of electric taxis in New York. Yes, 98 00:06:07,680 --> 00:06:11,520 Speaker 1: because the first first pedestrian fatality in the Western hemisphere. 99 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:16,560 Speaker 1: As I recall, now you're just being you know, am 100 00:06:16,560 --> 00:06:18,520 Speaker 1: I not? Am I not correct? Wasn't there someone who 101 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:20,560 Speaker 1: stepped off a trolley and then was hit by an 102 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:25,360 Speaker 1: electric taxi? Okay, well I don't have that in my notes, 103 00:06:25,960 --> 00:06:29,560 Speaker 1: So that's possibly that's possible trivia that may live somewhere 104 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:33,520 Speaker 1: in Jonathan's head. And could have possibly been made up entirely. Well, 105 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:36,160 Speaker 1: let us know, send your email to tech stuff at 106 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:40,160 Speaker 1: Discovery dot com. True enough, the yeah, they had, they 107 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:43,640 Speaker 1: had about sixty of them in New York. Um back 108 00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:47,800 Speaker 1: in the about the turn of the twentieth century. And um, yeah, gosh, 109 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:50,640 Speaker 1: that's right. I have to say, I have to specified 110 00:06:50,640 --> 00:06:53,280 Speaker 1: turn of the century. Yeah, it just shows that I'm 111 00:06:53,320 --> 00:06:57,240 Speaker 1: still not thinking in the twenty century frame of mind. Yes, 112 00:06:57,320 --> 00:06:59,679 Speaker 1: but in this case it was a New York state 113 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:03,720 Speaker 1: of mind. Yes, it was so. Yeah. They As a 114 00:07:03,800 --> 00:07:06,200 Speaker 1: matter of fact, this had I found a really cool 115 00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:09,120 Speaker 1: timeline on NPR, which is National Public Radio here in 116 00:07:08,960 --> 00:07:12,840 Speaker 1: the in the United States. Um, that said that at 117 00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:15,840 Speaker 1: the turn of the century, twentie century, there were about 118 00:07:15,880 --> 00:07:19,040 Speaker 1: four thousand cars on the road and at that point 119 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:24,280 Speaker 1: it was split about thirty three pc each steam, gasoline 120 00:07:24,280 --> 00:07:29,760 Speaker 1: and electric cars. Um. Basically they were clean. But um, 121 00:07:29,920 --> 00:07:35,000 Speaker 1: cold weather and batteries don't get along. If, yeah, lead 122 00:07:35,040 --> 00:07:38,000 Speaker 1: acid battery gets really cold, it's harder to get that 123 00:07:38,120 --> 00:07:42,360 Speaker 1: juice flowing. The electrochemical reactions that need to take place 124 00:07:42,480 --> 00:07:46,720 Speaker 1: are are slowed down by the cold. That's one of 125 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:49,960 Speaker 1: those things where you know, I've heard people say that 126 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:53,560 Speaker 1: in order to preserve your batteries you should put them 127 00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:57,240 Speaker 1: in some place cold, like a freezer refrigerator. Don't do that. 128 00:07:57,640 --> 00:08:01,400 Speaker 1: It actually makes it much more difficult for those electrical 129 00:08:01,840 --> 00:08:06,320 Speaker 1: electrochemical reactions to take place. So it you might think, oh, 130 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:09,520 Speaker 1: it's it's slowing it down. So therefore the juice will 131 00:08:09,600 --> 00:08:11,440 Speaker 1: last longer even when I'm not using it in a 132 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:16,320 Speaker 1: in a UM device, But it's not going to work 133 00:08:16,440 --> 00:08:19,960 Speaker 1: very well when you plug it back in. So uh, 134 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:21,760 Speaker 1: the same sort of thing is true in cold weather. 135 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:24,240 Speaker 1: You get in the car and you turn it on, 136 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:28,160 Speaker 1: you just barely creeping along because that electrochemical reaction is 137 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:30,400 Speaker 1: taking place so slowly you're not getting the juice you 138 00:08:30,440 --> 00:08:36,240 Speaker 1: need to get get moving now. It's you know, we 139 00:08:36,240 --> 00:08:38,600 Speaker 1: we've made some advances since then, so there have been 140 00:08:38,640 --> 00:08:41,360 Speaker 1: some more electric cars and we don't necessarily use lead 141 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:44,600 Speaker 1: acid batteries and all of them anymore either. Um No, 142 00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:47,720 Speaker 1: but that was that was state of the art and 143 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:51,480 Speaker 1: then not terribly distant past. Um. You know, there are 144 00:08:51,480 --> 00:08:53,640 Speaker 1: there are other types of rechargeable batteries, and of course 145 00:08:53,640 --> 00:08:56,520 Speaker 1: they do need to be rechargeable. It's very important, of course, 146 00:08:56,880 --> 00:09:00,240 Speaker 1: otherwise we would have to have these stations every where 147 00:09:00,280 --> 00:09:02,920 Speaker 1: that would have you know, batteries who had to buy 148 00:09:02,960 --> 00:09:04,839 Speaker 1: a new battery every time your car was running out 149 00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:06,800 Speaker 1: of juice. You know, I'd switch them out and that 150 00:09:06,840 --> 00:09:09,640 Speaker 1: would not be very economical, and it would also take 151 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:13,839 Speaker 1: up I mean a ton of space. Yep yep. Now, 152 00:09:13,880 --> 00:09:17,880 Speaker 1: of course some you might say, well, what what happened? Uh, 153 00:09:18,160 --> 00:09:22,400 Speaker 1: Henry Ford happened? He Boy did he happen? Well? He 154 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:25,800 Speaker 1: and and from what I've read about him, uh, he 155 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:30,440 Speaker 1: was a convert to the idea of using petroleum based cars. Um. 156 00:09:30,520 --> 00:09:34,400 Speaker 1: He did like the internal combustion engine, but preferred alternative 157 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:38,840 Speaker 1: fuels to uh, to gasoline. But the thing is, you know, 158 00:09:38,880 --> 00:09:47,199 Speaker 1: once then the Model T was released in forty dollars um. 159 00:09:47,559 --> 00:09:50,200 Speaker 1: Basically that that you know, it was affordable for so 160 00:09:50,280 --> 00:09:55,839 Speaker 1: many people, and his production system made these cars so 161 00:09:56,640 --> 00:10:00,120 Speaker 1: easily available. Um that they were you know, they we're 162 00:10:00,200 --> 00:10:02,920 Speaker 1: undercutting the prices of electric cars and they were far 163 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:07,199 Speaker 1: more available. So it took off. And uh then like 164 00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:09,480 Speaker 1: you know, the infrastructure gets built around it, and then 165 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:14,840 Speaker 1: we're kind of not stuck so much as committed to 166 00:10:14,920 --> 00:10:17,960 Speaker 1: a particular type of vehicle. And it takes a lot 167 00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:21,360 Speaker 1: of effort to change that. And the reason for the 168 00:10:21,440 --> 00:10:27,520 Speaker 1: effort behind changing that is largely through an environmental concern, 169 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:30,120 Speaker 1: but it goes beyond environment too, But we'll cover all 170 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:32,680 Speaker 1: of these things. So you know, if you if you 171 00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:37,920 Speaker 1: just think about it from a very basic point of view, uh, 172 00:10:37,920 --> 00:10:41,480 Speaker 1: and you're and you're really oversimplifying things, it'd be easy 173 00:10:41,559 --> 00:10:44,679 Speaker 1: to say, oh, electric car makes sense because it does 174 00:10:44,720 --> 00:10:49,520 Speaker 1: not produce pollution the way a gas powered car does. 175 00:10:50,160 --> 00:10:55,640 Speaker 1: It's not emitting uh you know, any sort of uh 176 00:10:56,040 --> 00:10:59,400 Speaker 1: gas that could could pollute the environment. You're not worrying 177 00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:03,839 Speaker 1: about all the the particles that would come out of exhaust, 178 00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:07,120 Speaker 1: all of that sort of stuff, um applies. And so 179 00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:08,920 Speaker 1: there is that part of the argument where if you 180 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:11,760 Speaker 1: were to just look at that part of the equation, 181 00:11:11,960 --> 00:11:14,480 Speaker 1: it would be very easy to say, ah, well, electric cars, 182 00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:16,280 Speaker 1: I mean, that's better for the world, so we should 183 00:11:16,320 --> 00:11:20,560 Speaker 1: we should totally switch to that. But you should know, 184 00:11:20,640 --> 00:11:24,240 Speaker 1: of course, that nothing is ever that simple to to 185 00:11:24,880 --> 00:11:27,480 Speaker 1: take in other considerations. You have to think, well, how 186 00:11:27,559 --> 00:11:30,840 Speaker 1: was the electricity generated? The electricity that is charging those 187 00:11:30,840 --> 00:11:33,480 Speaker 1: batteries in that electric car, which you know you have 188 00:11:33,600 --> 00:11:38,679 Speaker 1: to recharge. Most electric cars have well around forty to 189 00:11:38,840 --> 00:11:42,959 Speaker 1: fifty miles of range for a full charge and then up. 190 00:11:43,720 --> 00:11:45,680 Speaker 1: You know, you need to have at least that because 191 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:49,559 Speaker 1: otherwise you would you know, look, just on a regular 192 00:11:49,600 --> 00:11:52,680 Speaker 1: commute to work, you could end up stranding yourself because 193 00:11:52,880 --> 00:11:54,880 Speaker 1: on the drive there and then half to drive back, 194 00:11:54,920 --> 00:11:58,520 Speaker 1: you've already gone further than what your car can accomplish 195 00:11:58,559 --> 00:12:01,720 Speaker 1: on its own. YEA. Thomas Edison was working on that 196 00:12:01,760 --> 00:12:05,720 Speaker 1: problem in he came out with a a nickel steel 197 00:12:05,720 --> 00:12:10,200 Speaker 1: battery that would last for about six miles according to 198 00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:13,679 Speaker 1: the NPR timeline. Um and uh you know that would 199 00:12:13,720 --> 00:12:17,520 Speaker 1: that would make it far more appealing for reasonable commutes. 200 00:12:17,559 --> 00:12:20,120 Speaker 1: I mean, uh, back at that time, people were not 201 00:12:20,200 --> 00:12:23,080 Speaker 1: driving the distances they do now released here in America. 202 00:12:23,720 --> 00:12:27,040 Speaker 1: Um to do different things and uh so, so that 203 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:32,559 Speaker 1: was an improvement. But um, I think another um peg 204 00:12:32,760 --> 00:12:36,840 Speaker 1: on the side of the gasoline car was Charles Kettering 205 00:12:37,360 --> 00:12:43,280 Speaker 1: who came out with the electric automobile starter. And you know, 206 00:12:43,320 --> 00:12:45,679 Speaker 1: so rather than getting out and cranking your car up 207 00:12:45,760 --> 00:12:48,320 Speaker 1: with crank in the front to get it started, that 208 00:12:48,400 --> 00:12:51,480 Speaker 1: made the gasoline engine easier to start. And when you 209 00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:54,840 Speaker 1: had the combination of that and the lower prices of 210 00:12:54,920 --> 00:12:58,719 Speaker 1: the gasoline powered cars and the infrastructure. I think that 211 00:12:59,360 --> 00:13:01,800 Speaker 1: helped make a serious difference on the in in the 212 00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:06,000 Speaker 1: in favor of gasoline power cars, right right, And so 213 00:13:06,080 --> 00:13:07,800 Speaker 1: I mean, of course it's a totally different world than 214 00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:10,400 Speaker 1: the one we have today where we're looking at the 215 00:13:11,040 --> 00:13:16,040 Speaker 1: various uh impact of the gasoline cars out there on 216 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:19,080 Speaker 1: the street. But getting back to the idea of the 217 00:13:19,200 --> 00:13:23,120 Speaker 1: environmentally friendly, if your electricity is being produced by coal 218 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:30,199 Speaker 1: uh power power plants, then there's pollution going out into 219 00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:33,840 Speaker 1: the environment on behalf of the electricity you're using, so 220 00:13:34,640 --> 00:13:37,840 Speaker 1: you're not you know, the car is not as clean 221 00:13:38,200 --> 00:13:41,400 Speaker 1: as you would first think necessarily. Now if you're if 222 00:13:41,440 --> 00:13:44,800 Speaker 1: your electricity is coming through other means, like you have 223 00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:49,240 Speaker 1: a huge solar panel farm attached to your house, and 224 00:13:49,360 --> 00:13:53,560 Speaker 1: you might then that's much more clean. I mean, you 225 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:56,880 Speaker 1: still have to consider things like what materials went into 226 00:13:57,120 --> 00:14:00,160 Speaker 1: producing both the car and the solar panels, because than 227 00:14:00,200 --> 00:14:03,400 Speaker 1: we might get into rare earth minerals. But we did 228 00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:06,920 Speaker 1: an entire episode of tech stuff on rare earth minerals, 229 00:14:06,960 --> 00:14:08,920 Speaker 1: and I suggest you go back and listen to that 230 00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:13,240 Speaker 1: right now, we'll wait. So anyway, now you know I'm 231 00:14:13,280 --> 00:14:15,959 Speaker 1: assuming you're all on the honor system that you did listen, 232 00:14:16,280 --> 00:14:19,000 Speaker 1: but now you know those rare earth minerals. That's a problem, right, 233 00:14:19,160 --> 00:14:21,560 Speaker 1: So that's another thing you have to think about with 234 00:14:21,600 --> 00:14:25,640 Speaker 1: this electric versus gas. Beyond that, you have to think 235 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:29,160 Speaker 1: about things like the cost of the batteries, because depending 236 00:14:29,240 --> 00:14:31,880 Speaker 1: upon what kind of batteries are in your car there 237 00:14:31,960 --> 00:14:35,800 Speaker 1: electric car, they do eventually have to be replaced. They 238 00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:39,040 Speaker 1: will eventually run out of enough of the chemicals to 239 00:14:39,080 --> 00:14:42,960 Speaker 1: make that electrochemical process happen, and you'll have to change 240 00:14:42,960 --> 00:14:45,200 Speaker 1: them out, and they can be really expensive, so I 241 00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:48,280 Speaker 1: can add to the price of an electric car. Uh 242 00:14:49,280 --> 00:14:51,440 Speaker 1: And and price is another one of those issues, like 243 00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:53,320 Speaker 1: if you look at how much does it cost to 244 00:14:53,400 --> 00:14:58,080 Speaker 1: drive an electric car versus a gas powered car, and 245 00:14:58,120 --> 00:15:01,200 Speaker 1: you have to take into consideration everything like not just 246 00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:03,720 Speaker 1: the fuel prices and the electricity prices. I mean, that's 247 00:15:03,760 --> 00:15:07,040 Speaker 1: that would be easy to compare because I'm guessing that 248 00:15:07,080 --> 00:15:09,960 Speaker 1: in almost every case the cost of electricity is going 249 00:15:09,960 --> 00:15:12,200 Speaker 1: to be lower than the cost of gas. So from 250 00:15:12,200 --> 00:15:14,880 Speaker 1: that perspective, they're the same. But then you have to 251 00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:17,160 Speaker 1: think of things like, all right, well, replacing batteries you've 252 00:15:17,160 --> 00:15:19,680 Speaker 1: got to factor that into the cost. You know that's 253 00:15:19,720 --> 00:15:22,880 Speaker 1: going to happen, So that drives the electric prices up. 254 00:15:22,880 --> 00:15:25,720 Speaker 1: But then you think, well, gas powered cars tend to 255 00:15:25,760 --> 00:15:30,840 Speaker 1: require more maintenance because they have more moving parts. They 256 00:15:30,880 --> 00:15:34,000 Speaker 1: have fluids that they have to handle, like the gasoline 257 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:35,880 Speaker 1: and things of that nature. So you've got tubes and 258 00:15:35,920 --> 00:15:37,880 Speaker 1: pipes and stuff that you don't have an electric cars. 259 00:15:37,880 --> 00:15:40,560 Speaker 1: They don't. They don't have those those things. There's the 260 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:42,560 Speaker 1: only fluids you have to worry about, things like break 261 00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:46,760 Speaker 1: fluid and uh, when should wiper fluid and of course 262 00:15:46,800 --> 00:15:51,600 Speaker 1: headlight fluid. Um. Well, but otherwise, yeah, you know, it's 263 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:54,080 Speaker 1: so what I'm trying to get at is that this 264 00:15:54,160 --> 00:15:57,760 Speaker 1: is a really complex issue, and it's really really, really 265 00:15:57,800 --> 00:16:02,160 Speaker 1: tricky to do a direct comparison between the two. In general. However, 266 00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:06,400 Speaker 1: most the information I see shows that in the long run, 267 00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:11,160 Speaker 1: being five years and longer, an electric car properly maintained 268 00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:16,600 Speaker 1: versus a gas powered car properly maintained is a better deal. 269 00:16:16,760 --> 00:16:20,040 Speaker 1: But it does take a few years for that to 270 00:16:20,640 --> 00:16:22,880 Speaker 1: kick in. Yeah, I do feel compelled to point out 271 00:16:22,880 --> 00:16:28,240 Speaker 1: that most automobile manufacturers believe that their batteries were outlast 272 00:16:28,280 --> 00:16:30,600 Speaker 1: the life of the car. So it is unlikely that 273 00:16:30,640 --> 00:16:33,440 Speaker 1: you will have to replace the array of batteries in 274 00:16:33,760 --> 00:16:38,440 Speaker 1: a battery powered vehicle. Unlikely. And it also depends on 275 00:16:38,480 --> 00:16:42,480 Speaker 1: how long you keep the vehicle too, I mean most people. Uh, 276 00:16:42,600 --> 00:16:45,800 Speaker 1: the the lifespan of of cars has been increasing here 277 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:48,560 Speaker 1: in the United States. UM. Where once it was in 278 00:16:48,600 --> 00:16:53,000 Speaker 1: the single digits, it's now you know, in the double digits. UM. 279 00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:55,080 Speaker 1: But of course you do, as Jonathan said, need to 280 00:16:55,120 --> 00:16:58,040 Speaker 1: take care of your vehicle in order for that to happen. UM. 281 00:16:58,080 --> 00:17:00,840 Speaker 1: And there's also you know, there's is also a matter 282 00:17:00,880 --> 00:17:05,159 Speaker 1: of shipping costs to m because parts for some of 283 00:17:05,200 --> 00:17:09,600 Speaker 1: these these things, um have to come from different places 284 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:13,440 Speaker 1: and so um. You know, I know that a few 285 00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:17,119 Speaker 1: years ago they were talking about the early hybrid vehicles 286 00:17:17,200 --> 00:17:20,200 Speaker 1: and people were buying them because they used less gasoline 287 00:17:20,240 --> 00:17:22,119 Speaker 1: because they were you know, like a mixture of of 288 00:17:22,200 --> 00:17:25,600 Speaker 1: battery power and gas power. But they said, well, you know, 289 00:17:25,920 --> 00:17:28,240 Speaker 1: the thing is the parts come from so many different 290 00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:32,320 Speaker 1: places that it takes fossil fuels to you know, to 291 00:17:32,359 --> 00:17:35,240 Speaker 1: be burned, to get those parts to one place to 292 00:17:35,359 --> 00:17:38,280 Speaker 1: have them assembled and then take them to the place 293 00:17:38,320 --> 00:17:42,960 Speaker 1: where you buy the vehicle and some of the uh, 294 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:49,040 Speaker 1: the green hue that you're either partly or completely battery 295 00:17:49,080 --> 00:17:55,160 Speaker 1: powered vehicle has is sort of tinged by um, the 296 00:17:55,240 --> 00:17:59,480 Speaker 1: offset of the oka. Yes, it gets an oily tin 297 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:01,800 Speaker 1: was I was waiting. I was just waiting because I 298 00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:04,480 Speaker 1: was like, I was staring at Chris, thinking where's this going? 299 00:18:06,240 --> 00:18:10,440 Speaker 1: But I get it. I get it. It's yeah, it's 300 00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:13,840 Speaker 1: definitely a complex issue. And and on top of that, 301 00:18:13,920 --> 00:18:17,240 Speaker 1: you know, you might say, well, the the cost of 302 00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:22,080 Speaker 1: an electric vehicle often right now as we're recording this 303 00:18:22,119 --> 00:18:25,639 Speaker 1: podcast anyway, tends to be more expensive than a comparable 304 00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:29,840 Speaker 1: vehicle that is gas powered. It's been improving, right, and 305 00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:32,040 Speaker 1: it's one of those things like any technology, where the 306 00:18:32,119 --> 00:18:34,520 Speaker 1: earlier versions tend to be more expensive, and as we 307 00:18:34,720 --> 00:18:39,360 Speaker 1: improve our manufacturing techniques and and everything around that, then 308 00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:42,080 Speaker 1: the prices can come down. On top of that, we 309 00:18:42,119 --> 00:18:44,440 Speaker 1: have to remember the political side of this, where in 310 00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:48,400 Speaker 1: the United States, there are especially within particular states we're 311 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:51,560 Speaker 1: talking about both federal and state level here. UM, there 312 00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:55,480 Speaker 1: are incentives in many places to purchase an electric car 313 00:18:55,840 --> 00:19:00,480 Speaker 1: where you can get tax credits or rebates and helps 314 00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:04,040 Speaker 1: bring the overall price of the vehicle down closer to 315 00:19:04,080 --> 00:19:08,720 Speaker 1: within the range of other cars in that class. Hey, guys, 316 00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:11,119 Speaker 1: Jonathan from two thousand nineteen, I'm here to pump the 317 00:19:11,119 --> 00:19:14,000 Speaker 1: brakes a little bit on this classic episode for us 318 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:24,160 Speaker 1: to take a quick break. A lot of complex issues here. 319 00:19:24,200 --> 00:19:27,240 Speaker 1: Some of them are economics, some of them are environmental, 320 00:19:27,280 --> 00:19:30,119 Speaker 1: some of them are political. And that's why it's really 321 00:19:30,160 --> 00:19:33,160 Speaker 1: been kind of a hot button issue. I mean, particularly 322 00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:36,000 Speaker 1: that political part with the the tax credits. I've seen 323 00:19:36,640 --> 00:19:39,600 Speaker 1: I've seen praise for that where where people have said, 324 00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:42,879 Speaker 1: because of this, you have put electric vehicles within the 325 00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:47,080 Speaker 1: grasp of more more folks than otherwise would have that 326 00:19:47,119 --> 00:19:50,159 Speaker 1: opportunity because otherwise it would be too expensive for them 327 00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:52,920 Speaker 1: to buy. On the flip side, there are people saying, 328 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:57,600 Speaker 1: this is our tax money. You're giving credits to other 329 00:19:57,680 --> 00:20:02,040 Speaker 1: people with my money. Uh. I think that's a very personally, 330 00:20:02,080 --> 00:20:05,200 Speaker 1: this is my opinion. I think that's a fairly short 331 00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:09,120 Speaker 1: sighted view saying that my money is going to give 332 00:20:09,160 --> 00:20:12,320 Speaker 1: someone else a break when you're thinking, okay. Ultimately, the 333 00:20:12,359 --> 00:20:15,040 Speaker 1: idea here is that we're trying to get ourselves off 334 00:20:15,080 --> 00:20:18,600 Speaker 1: a dependence on oil and gasoline as much as we 335 00:20:18,680 --> 00:20:22,320 Speaker 1: possibly can, and in that sense, it is a benefit 336 00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:24,600 Speaker 1: to me even if I never go out and buy 337 00:20:24,600 --> 00:20:28,359 Speaker 1: an electric car, to help reduce that dependency on oil, 338 00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:32,439 Speaker 1: particularly when you get into global politics where you have 339 00:20:32,520 --> 00:20:35,159 Speaker 1: to worry about who is it that owns the oil 340 00:20:35,359 --> 00:20:38,760 Speaker 1: that we are getting, and what is our political relationship 341 00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:43,320 Speaker 1: with them, what's our political relationship with the country surrounding 342 00:20:43,440 --> 00:20:48,120 Speaker 1: that one, what's that country's political relationship. It gets so thorny. 343 00:20:48,240 --> 00:20:51,480 Speaker 1: So in my in my view, the in the long 344 00:20:51,640 --> 00:20:57,040 Speaker 1: term game, uh, this incentive to go out and get 345 00:20:57,119 --> 00:21:01,080 Speaker 1: electric car could be of great bennet fit to everyone. 346 00:21:01,240 --> 00:21:03,320 Speaker 1: But again you have to be able to take that 347 00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:08,760 Speaker 1: long term look and just uh suppressed that that initial 348 00:21:08,920 --> 00:21:11,760 Speaker 1: urge to say this isn't fair because my money is 349 00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:13,960 Speaker 1: going to help someone else and I don't see, like 350 00:21:14,040 --> 00:21:15,800 Speaker 1: I'm not buying an electric car, so I don't see 351 00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:18,760 Speaker 1: why I have to pay this this tax money. Yeah. Yeah, 352 00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:21,119 Speaker 1: And now, of course, um, whether or not you agree 353 00:21:21,119 --> 00:21:24,800 Speaker 1: with it, it's it's easy to at least understand that point. 354 00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:27,680 Speaker 1: I mean, not all not all politics are understandable, but 355 00:21:28,320 --> 00:21:31,240 Speaker 1: it's understandable to say, hey, you know, I'm I'm I'm 356 00:21:31,320 --> 00:21:34,560 Speaker 1: paying taxes. I want to see something for my money. 357 00:21:34,680 --> 00:21:37,119 Speaker 1: And well, the thing the easy argument for that is 358 00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:40,280 Speaker 1: we'll go buy an electric car, dude. UM. But no, 359 00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:44,240 Speaker 1: that that's that's oversimplifying the argument that the thing is 360 00:21:44,560 --> 00:21:48,800 Speaker 1: because they're so expensive, they're not affordable for everyone. UM. 361 00:21:48,840 --> 00:21:52,600 Speaker 1: Perhaps somebody particularly likes their car. There. Car enthusiasts are 362 00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:56,880 Speaker 1: very passionate about certain vehicles. UM. And you know, for 363 00:21:56,920 --> 00:22:00,359 Speaker 1: a long time we've had gas powered vehicles that people 364 00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:02,520 Speaker 1: have fallen in love with, so you know, they're they're 365 00:22:02,520 --> 00:22:05,520 Speaker 1: going to be people who still love that UM, which 366 00:22:05,760 --> 00:22:09,800 Speaker 1: in my personal opinion is understandable. But I also would 367 00:22:09,800 --> 00:22:13,280 Speaker 1: like to uh see electric car succeed because I do 368 00:22:13,359 --> 00:22:16,400 Speaker 1: think there are um, you know, better for the environment 369 00:22:16,440 --> 00:22:20,120 Speaker 1: in the long haul, uh, at least in the immediate sense. Now, 370 00:22:20,160 --> 00:22:22,320 Speaker 1: there's a lot as we were talking about, this isn't 371 00:22:22,359 --> 00:22:25,040 Speaker 1: something that's going to happen overnight. There's a lot of 372 00:22:25,080 --> 00:22:26,960 Speaker 1: work that has to be done. One company that I 373 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:30,760 Speaker 1: think UM is interesting to to follow is a company 374 00:22:30,800 --> 00:22:35,720 Speaker 1: called Better Place, which is UM I believe, uh an 375 00:22:35,720 --> 00:22:40,080 Speaker 1: Israeli company, and they have been working with organizations all 376 00:22:40,119 --> 00:22:43,480 Speaker 1: over the world to test out there uh their systems. Now, 377 00:22:43,600 --> 00:22:47,080 Speaker 1: why are Magazine had an article about them and UM 378 00:22:47,119 --> 00:22:49,439 Speaker 1: their founder I don't know if I'm pronouncing his his 379 00:22:49,480 --> 00:22:54,600 Speaker 1: first name writer not shy Agassi UM and UH. Basically 380 00:22:54,640 --> 00:22:58,960 Speaker 1: they have their Their website is very informative about the 381 00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:02,280 Speaker 1: different kinds of technologies that they are looking at. But 382 00:23:02,320 --> 00:23:06,440 Speaker 1: they're working on ways to convert uh more typical cars 383 00:23:06,560 --> 00:23:09,760 Speaker 1: rather than building them from scratch to UH to electricity 384 00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:13,240 Speaker 1: and and uh basically creating the infrastructure that would be 385 00:23:13,320 --> 00:23:17,280 Speaker 1: necessary to power these vehicles. UM, which I mean no 386 00:23:17,359 --> 00:23:21,240 Speaker 1: pun intended power UM. But yeah, I mean it's some 387 00:23:22,240 --> 00:23:24,920 Speaker 1: it's I think that you know, if you poke around 388 00:23:24,920 --> 00:23:27,159 Speaker 1: on the website they have, at least they give you 389 00:23:27,200 --> 00:23:29,440 Speaker 1: an idea of what it's the kind of work it's 390 00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:32,400 Speaker 1: going to take. And it's not going to be UM. 391 00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:34,159 Speaker 1: I don't think it's going to be one company or 392 00:23:34,200 --> 00:23:37,120 Speaker 1: one person or one country around the world. It's going 393 00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:40,840 Speaker 1: to take many people in many countries, you know, working 394 00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:43,520 Speaker 1: on the problem to generate a real solution to it. 395 00:23:43,560 --> 00:23:46,600 Speaker 1: Because you know, frankly, if you look at the timeline 396 00:23:46,600 --> 00:23:51,119 Speaker 1: on NPR there there, it goes from the downfall of 397 00:23:51,119 --> 00:23:53,719 Speaker 1: the electric car in basically all the things we were 398 00:23:53,720 --> 00:23:59,159 Speaker 1: talking about before to and that's because people just weren't 399 00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:01,920 Speaker 1: working on the problem them in between. I mean they were, 400 00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:04,120 Speaker 1: but they were It was more of a I wouldn't 401 00:24:04,119 --> 00:24:06,879 Speaker 1: say hobby. It was something where they were testing ideas. 402 00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:10,679 Speaker 1: More so than we're going to build a fleet of 403 00:24:10,680 --> 00:24:13,399 Speaker 1: electric cars. We're gonna take it back from these, uh, 404 00:24:13,560 --> 00:24:18,159 Speaker 1: these gasoline powered ideas. We're gonna we're gonna completely revamp that. 405 00:24:18,359 --> 00:24:22,560 Speaker 1: And it goes from six when UH, General Motors came 406 00:24:22,600 --> 00:24:26,120 Speaker 1: out with the e V one UM, which it sold 407 00:24:26,119 --> 00:24:28,600 Speaker 1: at Saturn dealerships. I remember because I have a Saturn 408 00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:31,040 Speaker 1: and I saw one every once in a while. You 409 00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:33,600 Speaker 1: joined the cult. I did join the cult. We also 410 00:24:33,640 --> 00:24:36,640 Speaker 1: had a Saturn, So I can't I can't criticize UM, 411 00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:39,119 Speaker 1: which is now an orphan car UM. But there have 412 00:24:39,119 --> 00:24:42,199 Speaker 1: been others, of course, you know recently, UM that are 413 00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:47,200 Speaker 1: all electric. Tesla, Oh yeah, Tesla's famous and in fact, 414 00:24:47,280 --> 00:24:52,400 Speaker 1: Automobile Magazine named the Tesla Model s as its two 415 00:24:52,480 --> 00:24:55,520 Speaker 1: thousand Car of the Year. Keeping in mind we're still 416 00:24:55,520 --> 00:24:58,520 Speaker 1: in twelve and car years make no sense to me, 417 00:24:58,920 --> 00:25:02,040 Speaker 1: but no, they named the Tesla Model s uh the 418 00:25:02,080 --> 00:25:05,000 Speaker 1: car of the year and said that it was, um 419 00:25:05,720 --> 00:25:10,600 Speaker 1: uh a very impressive ride. A very quiet, very fast car, 420 00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:15,800 Speaker 1: and they and apparently we're all endangering their driver's licenses 421 00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:20,280 Speaker 1: by driving far too fast. And it well, the Tesla 422 00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:23,880 Speaker 1: Roadster um which was its first which is a sports car, 423 00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:27,040 Speaker 1: was its first car out there. Um I understand, has 424 00:25:27,119 --> 00:25:31,080 Speaker 1: a whiplash inducing acceleration. Yeah, it's it's one of those 425 00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:35,080 Speaker 1: things where just it's an incredibly fast acceleration, like just 426 00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:40,600 Speaker 1: the it's it's a really powerful vehicle. And we should 427 00:25:40,600 --> 00:25:43,960 Speaker 1: also say that according to the Energy Collective, there's been 428 00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:50,440 Speaker 1: a two increase in sales of electric vehicles from eleven. 429 00:25:51,880 --> 00:25:53,679 Speaker 1: But if you want to know that what that is 430 00:25:53,720 --> 00:25:56,639 Speaker 1: in real numbers, you know, you're two percent more. That 431 00:25:56,720 --> 00:25:59,360 Speaker 1: sounds incredible when you get down to real numbers, that's 432 00:25:59,359 --> 00:26:03,280 Speaker 1: around thirty thousand cars. So that's about the same number 433 00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:05,159 Speaker 1: of cars in an entire year that some of the 434 00:26:05,200 --> 00:26:08,719 Speaker 1: more popular models sell in a month. So you know, 435 00:26:08,800 --> 00:26:11,520 Speaker 1: you've got to take keep your perspective on there. So, yes, 436 00:26:11,720 --> 00:26:14,840 Speaker 1: the the industry is growing, which is good, but it's 437 00:26:14,880 --> 00:26:19,960 Speaker 1: still very tiny in comparison to the traditional gasoline powered 438 00:26:19,960 --> 00:26:22,800 Speaker 1: cars and even to hybrid vehicles, which have had they've 439 00:26:22,840 --> 00:26:25,760 Speaker 1: they've had a few more years to uh to really 440 00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:29,560 Speaker 1: start hitting the market, at least in the United States. UM, 441 00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:32,639 Speaker 1: and I want to talk really briefly, just explain very 442 00:26:32,680 --> 00:26:37,240 Speaker 1: quickly the what makes electric cars work. Because we talked 443 00:26:37,240 --> 00:26:39,320 Speaker 1: about how in the gas engine you have all these 444 00:26:39,359 --> 00:26:42,119 Speaker 1: tubes and pipes and stuff. You've got you're using combustion 445 00:26:42,160 --> 00:26:45,760 Speaker 1: to help drive pistons, UM you know, expanding gases, all 446 00:26:45,760 --> 00:26:48,760 Speaker 1: this kind of stuff. That's that's what's providing the the 447 00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:52,280 Speaker 1: energy you need to make the cargo. But with an 448 00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:57,040 Speaker 1: electric car, you're talking about batteries, a controller, and electric motor. 449 00:26:57,520 --> 00:27:00,399 Speaker 1: And the electric motor is what's generating all the UH 450 00:27:00,560 --> 00:27:04,120 Speaker 1: energy to make the cargo. And the basics of an 451 00:27:04,359 --> 00:27:07,560 Speaker 1: an electric motor are pretty simple, and that comes down 452 00:27:07,560 --> 00:27:11,639 Speaker 1: to UH two magnets. How do they work? We actually 453 00:27:11,640 --> 00:27:12,960 Speaker 1: have an article on it if you want to know. 454 00:27:13,160 --> 00:27:17,040 Speaker 1: But all right, so imagine that you have this is 455 00:27:17,160 --> 00:27:21,159 Speaker 1: a very super simple electric motor. Let's say that you 456 00:27:21,240 --> 00:27:25,840 Speaker 1: have you have a magnet and it's uh in sort 457 00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:30,520 Speaker 1: of a semicircle UH shape, and you've got a north 458 00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:32,200 Speaker 1: end of the magnet on one side and the south 459 00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:35,239 Speaker 1: end of the magnet on the other side. Okay, so 460 00:27:35,280 --> 00:27:37,800 Speaker 1: it's think of it like an arc. So you've got 461 00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:39,240 Speaker 1: the south end on one side of the arc, in 462 00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:40,640 Speaker 1: the north end on the other side of the arc. 463 00:27:41,359 --> 00:27:46,119 Speaker 1: In between, like mounted on a on a pole, you 464 00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:49,920 Speaker 1: have a rotor that can spin freely around in a circle. 465 00:27:50,400 --> 00:27:55,760 Speaker 1: And then you have mounted on that rotor an electro magnet. Now, 466 00:27:56,400 --> 00:27:59,119 Speaker 1: when you run a current through that electromagnet, it creates 467 00:27:59,240 --> 00:28:03,439 Speaker 1: a magnetic field, and uh it magnetizes this electromagnet. So 468 00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:05,480 Speaker 1: you have a north pole in the south pole. Now, 469 00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:08,399 Speaker 1: when the north pole and the of the electromagnet and 470 00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:10,919 Speaker 1: the north pole of that permanent magnet that's mounted in 471 00:28:10,960 --> 00:28:14,160 Speaker 1: an arc are close to one another, they repel each 472 00:28:14,160 --> 00:28:17,159 Speaker 1: other and Santa Claus flies off. And then when the 473 00:28:17,200 --> 00:28:20,240 Speaker 1: north pole of the electromagnet gets close to the south 474 00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:23,080 Speaker 1: pole of the permanent magnet, they attract one another, so 475 00:28:23,359 --> 00:28:25,639 Speaker 1: which disturb all the penguins. If you just have the 476 00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:28,919 Speaker 1: current run I'm ignoring Christopher when you when you if 477 00:28:28,960 --> 00:28:32,280 Speaker 1: you just have the current running through one direction in 478 00:28:32,320 --> 00:28:35,640 Speaker 1: this electro magnet, it's going to align itself so that 479 00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:37,800 Speaker 1: the north pole of the electromagnet is pointing at the 480 00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:40,680 Speaker 1: south pole of the permanent magnet and and the south 481 00:28:40,720 --> 00:28:42,960 Speaker 1: pole of the electromagnets point where the north pole of 482 00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:45,920 Speaker 1: the permanent magnet. But then if you were to reverse 483 00:28:46,440 --> 00:28:51,160 Speaker 1: the current, that would also reverse the polarity of the 484 00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:55,440 Speaker 1: magnet itself. The electromagnet, the poles would switch, which would 485 00:28:55,480 --> 00:28:58,320 Speaker 1: mean that now suddenly it would be pushing away from 486 00:28:58,360 --> 00:29:03,959 Speaker 1: the the permanent magnet UH as it is currently um aligned, 487 00:29:04,440 --> 00:29:08,080 Speaker 1: So it would move and rotate so that the polls 488 00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:11,840 Speaker 1: were again attracted to the opposites. So by switching the 489 00:29:11,880 --> 00:29:14,960 Speaker 1: current the direction of current inside the electro magnet at 490 00:29:15,040 --> 00:29:17,800 Speaker 1: a particular rate, you can get that rotor to turn. 491 00:29:18,560 --> 00:29:21,960 Speaker 1: And as the rotor turns, which I think was a 492 00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:26,479 Speaker 1: soap opera, it starts it's doing work. Now you've started, 493 00:29:26,640 --> 00:29:30,400 Speaker 1: you can harness that work to generate electricity. That's the 494 00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:33,120 Speaker 1: basis of the electric motor. So you're using magnets to 495 00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:37,120 Speaker 1: turn a rotor. By the way, that we usually refer 496 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:40,680 Speaker 1: to that as a a brushed motor, and the reason 497 00:29:40,760 --> 00:29:45,000 Speaker 1: for that is there there are contacts on the inside 498 00:29:45,040 --> 00:29:49,160 Speaker 1: of that rotor UH that when the magnet is spinning around, 499 00:29:49,400 --> 00:29:54,680 Speaker 1: it's what's allowing the the current to change direction. Because 500 00:29:54,800 --> 00:29:59,320 Speaker 1: you're you're getting power from batteries. Batteries are direct current, 501 00:29:59,640 --> 00:30:03,160 Speaker 1: that's e CE, so direct current is always going to 502 00:30:03,240 --> 00:30:07,520 Speaker 1: flow in the same direction. Alternating current is electricity that 503 00:30:07,800 --> 00:30:14,920 Speaker 1: is reversing the flow of current rapidly in cycles pulses UM. 504 00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:18,360 Speaker 1: So in order to convert DC to a C, which 505 00:30:18,400 --> 00:30:21,840 Speaker 1: is what we really need for things like an electric car, 506 00:30:22,320 --> 00:30:25,240 Speaker 1: you would have these um these little they are called 507 00:30:25,280 --> 00:30:29,120 Speaker 1: brushes uh inside the electric motor that once they hit 508 00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:33,120 Speaker 1: certain contacts, that's what would allow the flow of electricity 509 00:30:33,120 --> 00:30:37,960 Speaker 1: to change direction. Uh. There are also brushless electric motors. 510 00:30:38,160 --> 00:30:39,560 Speaker 1: In this case, what you do is you put the 511 00:30:39,560 --> 00:30:43,479 Speaker 1: permanent magnets on the rotor, so the rotor magnets are 512 00:30:43,480 --> 00:30:46,520 Speaker 1: never going to change, and you put the electro magnets 513 00:30:46,600 --> 00:30:49,880 Speaker 1: on the field around the rotor, and you just change 514 00:30:49,960 --> 00:30:53,560 Speaker 1: the the direction of current in the permanent magnets. They're stationary, 515 00:30:53,640 --> 00:30:55,800 Speaker 1: so you don't have to worry about figuring out how 516 00:30:55,800 --> 00:30:59,440 Speaker 1: you're gonna swap the flow of current over and over 517 00:30:59,520 --> 00:31:02,240 Speaker 1: with a move being object, and the rotor itself will 518 00:31:02,240 --> 00:31:07,280 Speaker 1: still spin and generate energy that way. Electricity Jonathan from 519 00:31:07,280 --> 00:31:09,800 Speaker 1: two thousand nineteen. Again, we're going to take a quick 520 00:31:09,840 --> 00:31:20,160 Speaker 1: break to thank our sponsor. Now you know, some some 521 00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:24,440 Speaker 1: battery you're charging is accomplished in gasoline power cars through 522 00:31:24,480 --> 00:31:28,840 Speaker 1: the alternator. Um, and uh, you know, they're there're other 523 00:31:28,960 --> 00:31:31,719 Speaker 1: regenerative breaking and some other things that help out with that, 524 00:31:32,160 --> 00:31:33,959 Speaker 1: but of course it's much more of an issue with 525 00:31:34,040 --> 00:31:38,560 Speaker 1: electric cars, um. You know. And then and the distance 526 00:31:38,640 --> 00:31:40,920 Speaker 1: the it's hard to say. It's weird for me to 527 00:31:40,920 --> 00:31:43,960 Speaker 1: say mileage because I always think, you know, miles per 528 00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:48,440 Speaker 1: gallon UM. And also kilometers to people in this is 529 00:31:48,480 --> 00:31:52,920 Speaker 1: an honest question. Kilometers, kilometer ridge, what do you call 530 00:31:52,960 --> 00:31:56,760 Speaker 1: it in Europe? Anyway? Distance distance? Um, yeah, the distance 531 00:31:56,760 --> 00:31:58,760 Speaker 1: you could travel. Let's just say that is and how 532 00:31:58,800 --> 00:32:01,360 Speaker 1: it's being silly, but I really don't know. Um, the 533 00:32:01,800 --> 00:32:04,080 Speaker 1: distance you can travel with an electric car is still 534 00:32:04,120 --> 00:32:07,160 Speaker 1: one of the big issues. It's still a reason why 535 00:32:07,400 --> 00:32:10,720 Speaker 1: people are hesitant to adopt the vehicles, although they're they're 536 00:32:10,720 --> 00:32:14,880 Speaker 1: more likely to these days. Um. But some people have 537 00:32:14,960 --> 00:32:18,680 Speaker 1: tried to get around that with sort of combinations that 538 00:32:19,360 --> 00:32:23,560 Speaker 1: uh seem you know, like they might be more challenging 539 00:32:23,560 --> 00:32:27,080 Speaker 1: than others. Chevrolet here in the United States has the Vault, 540 00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:29,959 Speaker 1: which is primarily an electric car, but it does have 541 00:32:30,320 --> 00:32:33,880 Speaker 1: a gasoline powered engine in it that can take up 542 00:32:33,920 --> 00:32:36,440 Speaker 1: It's sort of like the reverse of a Toyota Prius, 543 00:32:36,440 --> 00:32:40,240 Speaker 1: where you use your your gasoline engine to get from 544 00:32:40,840 --> 00:32:42,640 Speaker 1: like you say, on the highway, and then as you're 545 00:32:42,680 --> 00:32:44,280 Speaker 1: driving in the city where it stopped and go, it 546 00:32:44,320 --> 00:32:48,560 Speaker 1: converts over to electricity. UM. The volt is supposed to 547 00:32:48,600 --> 00:32:53,200 Speaker 1: work primarily on electricity, and when the battery runs down 548 00:32:53,560 --> 00:32:55,960 Speaker 1: and you still need to get somewhere, the gasoline engine 549 00:32:56,120 --> 00:32:58,800 Speaker 1: can help you get the rest of the way better place. 550 00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:03,320 Speaker 1: Um And visions a world in which the batteries are 551 00:33:03,320 --> 00:33:06,120 Speaker 1: not attached to their vehicle itself, so you could pull 552 00:33:06,120 --> 00:33:10,320 Speaker 1: into a battery battery replacement station and somebody will pull 553 00:33:10,320 --> 00:33:12,520 Speaker 1: the battery for you, put in a freshly charged one, 554 00:33:12,760 --> 00:33:15,120 Speaker 1: hook it up, and you're ready to go. Um in 555 00:33:15,160 --> 00:33:18,280 Speaker 1: addition to charging stations, and again that's expensive because that's 556 00:33:18,280 --> 00:33:21,120 Speaker 1: infrastructure that's more than just the car. You've got to 557 00:33:21,160 --> 00:33:23,880 Speaker 1: have the stations available to do that. But I have 558 00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:26,840 Speaker 1: to say that is a pretty practical way of looking 559 00:33:26,880 --> 00:33:29,480 Speaker 1: at it. Yeah, we've also talked about fuel cells in 560 00:33:29,520 --> 00:33:31,800 Speaker 1: the past that are not two different or a hydrogen 561 00:33:31,840 --> 00:33:34,880 Speaker 1: based car and same sort of same sort of challenges. 562 00:33:34,920 --> 00:33:37,960 Speaker 1: Applied to that where you're talking about, Yeah, the hydrogen 563 00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:40,320 Speaker 1: powered car sounds like a great idea. You get heat 564 00:33:40,360 --> 00:33:44,280 Speaker 1: and some water vapor, which granted is technically a greenhouse gas, 565 00:33:44,320 --> 00:33:47,080 Speaker 1: but it's not it's not a pollutant in in the 566 00:33:47,120 --> 00:33:50,320 Speaker 1: way that carbon dioxide is. But you know, you've you've 567 00:33:50,320 --> 00:33:55,320 Speaker 1: got UH. You know that's your your your output and 568 00:33:55,360 --> 00:33:58,680 Speaker 1: you're using it. Sounds like a hydrogen based fleet of 569 00:33:58,720 --> 00:34:00,400 Speaker 1: cars will be a great idea, But then you have 570 00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:04,000 Speaker 1: to figure out how to support the fleet of cars, 571 00:34:04,160 --> 00:34:07,360 Speaker 1: and that's where we start running into problems where you 572 00:34:07,520 --> 00:34:12,800 Speaker 1: you're looking at a multiple multibillion dollar problem with most countries, 573 00:34:12,840 --> 00:34:15,319 Speaker 1: including places like the United States, which are it's a 574 00:34:15,360 --> 00:34:18,439 Speaker 1: big country with lots of people in it. Of course, 575 00:34:18,480 --> 00:34:20,600 Speaker 1: there are larger countries with even more people in it, 576 00:34:20,640 --> 00:34:24,240 Speaker 1: and for them would be you know, a significant challenge 577 00:34:24,280 --> 00:34:30,320 Speaker 1: to switch over. Electric cars are not maybe not quite 578 00:34:30,400 --> 00:34:35,520 Speaker 1: as dramatic a a shift in the sense that with 579 00:34:35,640 --> 00:34:37,759 Speaker 1: the right adapters, you would be able to plug your 580 00:34:37,760 --> 00:34:43,600 Speaker 1: car in UH into any UH outlet that was capable 581 00:34:43,640 --> 00:34:45,719 Speaker 1: of putting out the right amount of power, so you 582 00:34:45,719 --> 00:34:51,080 Speaker 1: wouldn't necessarily have to have refueling stations designed specifically for 583 00:34:51,239 --> 00:34:53,840 Speaker 1: electric cars, except when you're talking about going on a 584 00:34:53,880 --> 00:34:57,239 Speaker 1: really long trip. If you're doing a road trip of 585 00:34:57,280 --> 00:35:00,080 Speaker 1: any length, then you're thinking, well, I I definite the 586 00:35:00,160 --> 00:35:05,440 Speaker 1: need to figure out something to supplement the distance this 587 00:35:05,560 --> 00:35:07,560 Speaker 1: car can go, because otherwise I'm never going to get 588 00:35:07,560 --> 00:35:10,600 Speaker 1: to where I'm headed, right, But you know, they've they've 589 00:35:10,640 --> 00:35:14,880 Speaker 1: made some pretty strong strides in that as well. Tesla 590 00:35:15,239 --> 00:35:18,520 Speaker 1: reports that it can with its vehicles hit two fifty 591 00:35:18,600 --> 00:35:22,759 Speaker 1: miles on a single charge, which is pretty impressive. Yeah, yeah, 592 00:35:22,840 --> 00:35:25,600 Speaker 1: But there are other challenges to UM actually some that 593 00:35:25,640 --> 00:35:29,319 Speaker 1: are very recent UM and no jokes please if you 594 00:35:29,360 --> 00:35:33,520 Speaker 1: know something about Fisker, but just just as of the 595 00:35:33,520 --> 00:35:37,200 Speaker 1: time we're recording this, it's very early November. UM. Hurricane 596 00:35:37,239 --> 00:35:41,120 Speaker 1: Sandy just hit the northeastern part of the United States 597 00:35:41,160 --> 00:35:43,480 Speaker 1: and went into Canada, UM and caused quite a bit 598 00:35:43,480 --> 00:35:46,600 Speaker 1: of damage up there. And I found this kind of interesting, 599 00:35:47,400 --> 00:35:51,120 Speaker 1: UM because I found a story about Fisker in which 600 00:35:51,200 --> 00:35:57,000 Speaker 1: sixteen UM Fisker Karmas, which are expensive electric vehicles UM, 601 00:35:57,160 --> 00:36:01,680 Speaker 1: were submerged by saltwater from the storms urge of Hurricane Sandy, 602 00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:08,879 Speaker 1: and the saltwater affected the cars and they caught fire. Yes, 603 00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:11,319 Speaker 1: there are a hundred thousand dollars apiece, so it's very 604 00:36:11,360 --> 00:36:15,960 Speaker 1: bad karma. Um. But basically they were there, apparently stationed 605 00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:20,400 Speaker 1: in Port Newark, New Jersey, and when the storm came in, 606 00:36:21,440 --> 00:36:24,400 Speaker 1: the storm surge you know, caused the tides to swell, 607 00:36:24,480 --> 00:36:29,080 Speaker 1: they got doused in saltwater, and apparently when they got flooded, 608 00:36:29,560 --> 00:36:33,600 Speaker 1: the systems in the car reacted to the saltwater poorly, 609 00:36:33,760 --> 00:36:36,960 Speaker 1: to say the very least, and the car's caught fire. Um. 610 00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:38,719 Speaker 1: Now they've been accused of the reason I had said this, 611 00:36:38,760 --> 00:36:40,800 Speaker 1: if you're not familiar with them, they have been accused 612 00:36:40,840 --> 00:36:45,560 Speaker 1: of fires before. But I think in general this could 613 00:36:45,640 --> 00:36:48,760 Speaker 1: be a hazard. Um, if you live in a storm 614 00:36:48,840 --> 00:36:50,759 Speaker 1: prone area, this might be something that you have to 615 00:36:50,760 --> 00:36:53,080 Speaker 1: worry about. You might say, well, I have to evacuate, 616 00:36:53,120 --> 00:36:54,799 Speaker 1: not because I think the storm is gonna be bad, 617 00:36:54,800 --> 00:36:57,399 Speaker 1: but they will be flooding and if it's flooding enough 618 00:36:57,440 --> 00:37:01,200 Speaker 1: for my car will be largely submerged. Um. You know 619 00:37:01,280 --> 00:37:04,480 Speaker 1: people have that problem now with with combustion engines. When 620 00:37:04,480 --> 00:37:07,120 Speaker 1: a gasoline powered car, if the water gets to a 621 00:37:07,160 --> 00:37:10,879 Speaker 1: certain depth, you know your gasoline power car won't work. 622 00:37:11,520 --> 00:37:15,120 Speaker 1: Diesel might sort of depending. Yeah, so there are a 623 00:37:15,120 --> 00:37:16,640 Speaker 1: lot of things to think about. I mean, I think 624 00:37:16,719 --> 00:37:20,680 Speaker 1: I think for the general approach your the move towards 625 00:37:20,840 --> 00:37:26,200 Speaker 1: electric cars is I think more positive than not positive. 626 00:37:27,320 --> 00:37:29,879 Speaker 1: I think it could happen, the thing as my will 627 00:37:29,960 --> 00:37:33,120 Speaker 1: to podcast. No, I think it could happen. I think, 628 00:37:33,320 --> 00:37:36,919 Speaker 1: but it's gonna take work and people need to realize that. Yeah, 629 00:37:36,960 --> 00:37:39,040 Speaker 1: it's it's going to be more expensive at first, but 630 00:37:39,520 --> 00:37:41,880 Speaker 1: you know, in the long run, the technology will improve, 631 00:37:42,320 --> 00:37:46,120 Speaker 1: the infrastructure will improve, and and in the long run 632 00:37:46,160 --> 00:37:48,319 Speaker 1: it might be uh, we all might be better off 633 00:37:48,360 --> 00:37:51,960 Speaker 1: for it. I hope you guys enjoyed that classic episode 634 00:37:52,040 --> 00:37:56,480 Speaker 1: of text Stuff. It's always great to listen to Chris 635 00:37:57,080 --> 00:38:00,360 Speaker 1: chat away about anything really, And if you guys have 636 00:38:00,360 --> 00:38:03,799 Speaker 1: any suggestions for future episodes for the show, you can 637 00:38:03,840 --> 00:38:06,760 Speaker 1: email me. The address is tech Stuff at how stuff 638 00:38:06,800 --> 00:38:09,440 Speaker 1: works dot com, or pop on over to our website 639 00:38:09,480 --> 00:38:12,319 Speaker 1: that's tech Stuff podcast dot com. You're gonna find an 640 00:38:12,440 --> 00:38:17,120 Speaker 1: archive of every single episode ever published ever since we 641 00:38:17,160 --> 00:38:21,080 Speaker 1: started this eleven years ago. You will also find links 642 00:38:21,080 --> 00:38:22,880 Speaker 1: to where we are on social media, so you can 643 00:38:22,880 --> 00:38:25,759 Speaker 1: reach out on Facebook or Twitter, and you'll find a 644 00:38:25,840 --> 00:38:29,279 Speaker 1: link to our online store where you can purchase merchandise 645 00:38:29,760 --> 00:38:33,200 Speaker 1: from text Stuff that will make you super duper cool. 646 00:38:33,680 --> 00:38:35,160 Speaker 1: And on top of that, it goes to help the 647 00:38:35,200 --> 00:38:38,040 Speaker 1: show and we greatly appreciate it, and I'll talk to 648 00:38:38,040 --> 00:38:45,920 Speaker 1: you again really soon. Text Stuff is a production of 649 00:38:45,960 --> 00:38:49,040 Speaker 1: i Heeart Radio's How Stuff Works. For more podcasts from 650 00:38:49,040 --> 00:38:52,799 Speaker 1: my Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 651 00:38:52,920 --> 00:38:54,920 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.