P3 Kill A Watt EZ Appliance Efficiency Monitor (P4460) $20 + Free Ship-to-Store

Quote from HJM : What do you think will happen when more and more people buy fuel efficient hybrid / electric cars? The government relies on gasoline taxes, and more efficient vehicles mean less gas sold, thus less tax collected. Government solution: tax people on miles driven. Who does that punish? The people who, wanting to conserve gas to save money or the environment, paid a little more for a more efficient car. You can't win! That doesn't even take into account how increased demand for electricity to power electric vehicles will drive up the cost of electricity for powering everything else, plus increase pollution via power plants instead of tailpipes.

Well, I read through the whole thread & since no one else did, I have to reply briefly. 1st Electricity companies are not the Govt. #2 - tax people on the miles driven - So you think they are going to pull odometer readings? You are inventing a tax & a straw man where one doesn't exist; why IDK so you can become upset. No mainstream politician has proposed or suggested any such thing. That's is besides the point of this device / electricity use.
#3 That doesn't even take into account how increased demand for electricity to power electric vehicles will drive up the cost of electricity for powering everything else, plus increase pollution via power plants instead of tailpipe - That is a total fallacy. 1st the majority of the country would charge their vehicles at night, power plants on most nights (dependent on regional variables - and weather factors high heat etc.) maintains a higher output than required (although much lower than the day) in order to be able to handle / cope with spikes and sections that go down. People would/should be incentivized to use high powered items after 9PM when supply is high vs demand. (Our local energy Co-Op refuses to offer this unless you pay into a much higher plan - rather than with the new digital meters that can record when power is used they should credit or charge less in off peak/demand times for high use appliances (vacuums, washer/dryer, car charging... but in some areas & with enough pressure it will happen).

The second false statement or misconception is that switching over to hybrids or fully electric cars would "increase pollution via power plants instead of their tailpipes" This is incorrect. It would be a significant net decrease in pollution. Yes, power plants output would have to increase if everyone switched over to electric, but the reality is that total pollution would decrease significantly. This would be a measurable step in the right direction.
The internal combustion engine as powerful as it is, is inherently WASTEFUL! The MAJORITY of the available energy that is contained in gasoline never comes close to reaching the road in propulsion forward. Only about ~15-20% of the energy in Internal combustion engines is realized even with modern vehicles. Compared to ~75% in electric motored vehicles (electric not hybrid).

So not only do the electric cars operate more efficiently (lighter, far less loss of energy in the conversion to momentum) and they require less energy to charge than to fill the tank to propel the vehicle forward (and despite what many think they can extremely fast (see tesla cars)). They can take advantage of idle/wasted power plants operation levels if there was a true push / mandate for electric cars then electric production would have to be increased on scale but the point is it's a far less (lesser of two evils). The environmental footprint is WORSE by burning (oil refined into gasoline) than it is using primarily coal in the US, some natural gas, and a small amount of nuclear/wind/solar. The by products of coal not to mention the strip mining are TERRIBLE, but it's still better than oil refined gasoline (environmentally and politically).

The true negatives are that we haven't yet begun to take advantage of the ample sources in many areas of this country to implement solar and wind, and Nuclear as a stop gap. One day hopefully Nuclear Fusion (using non-radioactive material) - literally a thimble full of water to produce a massive quantity of clean electricity will happen. But funding is next to non-existent since the 1970's and what happened in Japan (with good reasons) will set it back another 20 years unfortunately.
http://www.ehow.com/list_6454862_...gines.html
http://www.consumerenergycenter.o...osses.html
http://ffden-2.phys.uaf.edu/102sp...20main.htm
http://www.beyond-the-edge.com/au...-your-car/