How can I stop my dad being an idiot?

[RadiusXd]

Whenever I try to argue that hydrogen's better he just says "oh but its just as bad to the environment to extract hydrogen" which I'm aware of but I know they're making progress in making it clean, and he just denies that the pwoer for electric cars comign from coal burning is bad because "they're just going to burn it anyway." To that I argue that we mayaswell just use petrol because they're going to pump oil anyway and then he starts getting angry at me.

but you can get hydrogen just by running electricity through water, electricity that we supposedly will "just be made anyway". hydrogen is a much more potent form of energy storage, and one that can be easily transferred into a cars fuel tank. it can then either be burned (which produces water), or combined back into water by what is essentially the reverse process by which it is produced. with all that it is still more weight and cost effective then battery power, and can be refuelled quickly.

 

[Radoh]

Have you tried punching him with fists of justice? If not, you should totally try that.

 

[goldendriger]

Borrow the car and crash it, or failing that have it "Stolen" GG Father

 

[RadiusXd]

explain that walking is better for the "green-world", if that doesn't, tell him the new models coming out next year will be better, repeat annually. perpetual savings. also, the whole green-hype was because a lot of people with power in the world got a lot of oil shares, and new the value would e world more if the world went "eco-freak-hippy-hype", as "rumors" have pointed out. I don't know if it's right, but seems logical.

could you rephrase and/or elaborate on that? I am having some difficulty understanding 'the whole green-hype' onwards.

the only reason people are trying to be green is that they were convinced it would put ease on their conscious, because the industry figured out the could make money on it.

simple: people found a way to make money and lied to people, who no line their pockets.

so you are saying that people dishonestly sell people "environmentally friendly" products by playing on their guilt?

no, it's that even though they ARE eco-friendly, the industry is STILL MAKING MONEY off of it. They merely play on guilt, as a jumping point to get it in full swing.

I have no soul.

can you think of another way to get people to forgo cheap power in favour of environmentally friendly methods?

guilt is the knowledge that what one has done/is doing is wrong. its a perfectly natural feeling to have and one that we damn well should have about what we've done to this planet.

So what if people profit from it, they are providing a morally preferable alternative to what we currently use, and in turn we give them money. its capitalism sir.

 

[SnowyGamester]

Already working on that, but he's very reluctant to let me buy my own car right now. I show him a 2nd hand Subaru Liberty with 200000 kms or so (about 125000 miles), which isn't too bad, libertys can do a lot more than that, and he just starts up his smug "its combustion so the engine will break within 2 minutes" speech.

You won't have any trouble polluting twice as much with one of those...I'm selling one of those on eBay right now because it gets about 100km for 12-14L of fuel (premium only). I strongly suggest you don't buy it, unless it's a Silver Wagon with 190k km on the clock in NSW...then by all means bid it up. It's great I swear.

 

[viranimus]

Except that your opinion is no more/less valid than his. Actually perhaps it is, considering that Hydrogen is a pipe dream fuel source that is likely never going to see fruition and honestly prolly never should.

The only "use" Hydrogen has in any sort of practical application is to be used to try to divert peoples attention away from electric as some promising new technology that is perpetually just a few months over the horizon and has been since the late 80s.

Or... quit trying to impose your opinions on your fathers money. Either or.

 

[CulixCupric]

i have nothing against capitalism, i was stating how the "eco-green-hype-thingy" started politically.

also, i see that this is irrelevant to the original topic. plus, as the guy above state, no opinion is more/less valid than any other.

 

[somonels]

Think positively, think how much better off the converters will be. Perhaps they can finally buy the kid some food and buy that bike the dog wanted for christmas.

 

[RadiusXd]

i have nothing against capitalism, i was stating how the "eco-green-hype-thingy" started politically.

also, i see that this is irrelevant to the original topic. plus, as the guy above state, no opinion is more/less valid than any other.

I have seen some pretty shocking opinions in my time. That all opinions are equally valid argument is really only applicable to matters of art and enjoyment, as different people react to things in different ways.
but in regards to matters of efficiency or practicality there is very much an objective conclusion to be reached.

 

[CulixCupric]

i have nothing against capitalism, i was stating how the "eco-green-hype-thingy" started politically.

also, i see that this is irrelevant to the original topic. plus, as the guy above state, no opinion is more/less valid than any other.

I have seen some pretty shocking opinions in my time. That all opinions are equally valid argument is really only applicable to matters of art and enjoyment, as different people react to things in different ways.
but in regards to matters of efficiency or practicality there is very much an objective conclusion to be reached.

ok, not ALL are equally valid, i mean to say "everyone is entitled to their own opinion"

 

[aPod]

So my dad recently became reeaaalllyyy enthusiastic about electric cars. I always argue with him about how hydrogen will be much better when they develop the technology to cleanly extract it (I still dislike green cars, too boring, but if I had to go with them hydrogen FTW). So anyway he decided to buy an electric car from some company that converts them, which I was against considering it was a $40k converted Hyundai Getz. And then despite everyone else in my family telling him not to, he bought a second POS electric Getz. They're due to arrive in december and since then he's been ringing people up about more converted cars (prius' with better electric motors etc). I understand having to be more green but he's going to bankrupt us, and he just refuses to listen to me anymore because "I don't know anything and am just trying to piss him off."

TL;DR My dad keeps wasting money on buying several electric cars.

Any way to stop this? Thoughts?

EDIT: I know this is bit of a *****-about-my-dad fest but its really pissing me off and I need somewhere to express my anger.

You need to do a science experiment. Building a miniature hydrogen engine. There are videos on youtube. But once you have it walk up to your dad set your concoction on his desk, take a lighter and watch his face when you are making water explode.

It's still totally baddass even if he isn't sold on hydrogen.

 

[RadiusXd]

i have nothing against capitalism, i was stating how the "eco-green-hype-thingy" started politically.

also, i see that this is irrelevant to the original topic. plus, as the guy above state, no opinion is more/less valid than any other.

I have seen some pretty shocking opinions in my time. That all opinions are equally valid argument is really only applicable to matters of art and enjoyment, as different people react to things in different ways.
but in regards to matters of efficiency or practicality there is very much an objective conclusion to be reached.

ok, not ALL are equally valid, i mean to say "everyone is entitled to their own opinion"

debatable, but good enough. It just really gets my goat when people say that all opinions are allowed because opinions are what people believe. people act on beliefs, and when say a man rapes a woman and says she was asking for it by dressing suggestively, it fills me with rage. especially because deciding whether someone's attire is suggestive is one of those things which are entirely subjective.
I would prefer some opinions to be considered taboo, yes.

 

[Jaime_Wolf]

Your dad is right.

Hydrogen cars are, at this point, a distant and extremely questionable alternative. Ever notice how just as we finally get a decent handle on one energy source (electric cars), suddenly we can't adopt it because there's going to be something way better in the near future. The end result - we never make any progress because we're always being told that we should wait for the next thing. One wonders if perhaps the fact that we're expecting the people making so much money from oil to tell us all to stop using might be slightly foolish.

The better electric vehicles are very economical and pretty unquestionably better than gasoline in almost every way.

 

[RadiusXd]

Your dad is right.

Hydrogen cars are, at this point, a distant and extremely questionable alternative. Ever notice how just as we finally get a decent handle on one energy source (electric cars), suddenly we can't adopt it because there's going to be something way better in the near future. The end result - we never make any progress because we're always being told that we should wait for the next thing. One wonders if perhaps the fact that we're expecting the people making so much money from oil to tell us all to stop using might be slightly foolish.

The better electric vehicles are very economical and pretty unquestionably better than gasoline in almost every way.

distant? questionable? we I don't know what definitions you go by, but there have been working hydrogen prototypes for years now. nobody wants to put forward the infrastructure for hydrogen when it all comes from coal anyways.

 

[toothofymir]

Unfortunately, you can't. In my opinion, people (and I'm talking in a broad spectrum generalization that in no way singles out a specific person) are stupid. Other people will make choices that to you personal viewpoint are logical, but to them may be sound. So, no, you can't stop him from making choices that (from your point of view) are stupid.

As for your argument, I'm speaking from the openly admitted viewpoint as a future petroleum geologist, so my logic train is clearly biased. That being said, the fact is electric cars are very inefficient. They get at most ~250 miles of range, they're incredibly expensive when compared to the same automobile using a fossil-fueled powered engine, and the infrastructure necessary to maintain/charge them doesn't exist in the same way that there is for a fossil-fuel powered car. In addition, the source of energy needed to charge them (which, for the most part, comes from fossil-fuel burning power plants) almost completely negates the "Green" aspect which is what I'm assuming is why he bought the cars in the first place.

If he's really looking for moderately clean, proven, safe, and no fuss way of getting from point A to point B, point him at a diesel car. They're cheap, they get great gas mileage, and you can find diesel stations all over the place.

 

[Chesterfield Snapdragon McFisticuffs]

get him drunk and when he's in this state get him to sign over to you power of attorney, put all his money in a spendthrift trust, he can only get money out when its approved by a more level headed person.

Haha, unfortunately there are laws against that mate. It's called unconscionable dealing.

 

[Jaime_Wolf]

Your dad is right.

Hydrogen cars are, at this point, a distant and extremely questionable alternative. Ever notice how just as we finally get a decent handle on one energy source (electric cars), suddenly we can't adopt it because there's going to be something way better in the near future. The end result - we never make any progress because we're always being told that we should wait for the next thing. One wonders if perhaps the fact that we're expecting the people making so much money from oil to tell us all to stop using might be slightly foolish.

The better electric vehicles are very economical and pretty unquestionably better than gasoline in almost every way.

distant? questionable? we I don't know what definitions you go by, but there have been working hydrogen prototypes for years now. nobody wants to put forward the infrastructure for hydrogen when it all comes from coal anyways.

They're working in a very broad sense. They're not remotely economical and hydrogen storage is still extremely difficult compared to batteries or tanks of gasoline. But that's somewhat beside the point. Even if the issue is a lack of infrastructure, you still can't use one right now. It's much better to do something now (and change over if and when it does become economical) than to hold out for a technology that shows no signs of becoming available in the near future while using gasoline. And, given the track record of the organizations involved, I am not at all confident that research into hydrogen won't be abandoned as we approach feasibility for the next much better than hydrogen alternative fuel.

It's like perpetually holding off on buying a new CPU because you know that next year there'll be a better one. Except in this case, the manufacturers are also holding off on producing them becuse next year there'll be a better design.

Edit: I will admit to being rather curious as to why the OP's father needs multiple cars like this though.

 

[Rodrigo Girao]

Tell your lawyer about it. As your father is squandering money to the point of causing hardship to the family, maybe you can get a court to declare him unfit to manage his own finances.

 

[RadiusXd]

Your dad is right.

Hydrogen cars are, at this point, a distant and extremely questionable alternative. Ever notice how just as we finally get a decent handle on one energy source (electric cars), suddenly we can't adopt it because there's going to be something way better in the near future. The end result - we never make any progress because we're always being told that we should wait for the next thing. One wonders if perhaps the fact that we're expecting the people making so much money from oil to tell us all to stop using might be slightly foolish.

The better electric vehicles are very economical and pretty unquestionably better than gasoline in almost every way.

distant? questionable? we I don't know what definitions you go by, but there have been working hydrogen prototypes for years now. nobody wants to put forward the infrastructure for hydrogen when it all comes from coal anyways.

They're working in a very broad sense. They're not remotely economical and hydrogen storage is still extremely difficult compared to batteries or tanks of gasoline. But that's somewhat beside the point. Even if the issue is a lack of infrastructure, you still can't use one right now. It's much better to do something now (and change over if and when it does become economical) than to hold out for a technology that shows no signs of becoming available in the near future while using gasoline. And, given the track record of the organizations involved, I am not at all confident that research into hydrogen won't be abandoned as we approach feasibility for the next much better than hydrogen alternative fuel.

It's like perpetually holding off on buying a new CPU because you know that next year there'll be a better one. Except in this case, the manufacturers are also holding off on producing them becuse next year there'll be a better design.

Edit: I will admit to being rather curious as to why the OP's father needs multiple cars like this though.

if you source your electricity from the grid its all pointless though, you'd be better off with bio-diesel