Electric Revolution

[Six_Shooter]

That's pretty much a complete joke of a response.

I've used published data from Tesla and Nissan and done some simple calculations which prove your claim is complete hogwash. Unless of course the homebrew stuff has managed to achieve at least 10X the efficiency of the big players in the EV market. Thanks for that laugh....

Believe what you want, but no one I have seen reports from that actually HAVE a plug-in electric vehicle shows anything close to what you estimate as energy needed for recharge. So again Practical testing > estimates, based on speculation. ;)

[Six_Shooter]

This is a great discussion. Let's remember to keep it civil.

Personally I expect ICE hybrids will be available for many years. Not every drive is limited to 200 mi. Not every trip has available time to wait for recharge overnight. Not every trip will allow driving to and from places with battery exchange stations. While coastal areas with higher population density could benefit from pure electrics, I just don't see it working well in a place where you're 200 miles from town without a personal Mr. Fusion to create power. Finally, I wonder what's going to end up being produced as a result of the search for better batteries. Humans are great at making chemicals that are toxic to life and we don't do a great job of disposing of used batteries now. What are we likely to make in the future?

I want to build an electric to drive to work. I've got a 45 mile trip into town and that would be a good test. I've got plans and I've figured out what I need but I can't afford the components necessary to do the swap. When I do a cost comparison I can buy plenty of fuel for the price of those parts. So I definitely don't see electric in my future. Right now I'm experimenting with diesels. Our '03 TDI is getting 50mpg.

I agree, with the current battery technology that is available, distance is limited. If you believe some information that is floating around batteries could be made quite a bit smaller and last a lot longer with currently available means. Whether I think there's a big conspiracy that the oil companies are squashing it, well, I'm undecided. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if it came out that they indeed were, but I haven't seen anything more than hear-say in the matter, so I'm not convinced.

I believe there's still lots of room for improvement where batteries are concerned, but I don't think going as far as onboard nuclear generators will be needed. If you look at the Volt it has a built in gasoline electric generator that is there to improve distance, while using a lighter battery pack, than what most people would use. Tesla is making the strides to get that long distance and quick recharge to happen. They offer different sized battery packs that allow for different distance capabilities. They have quick re-charge stations that can recharge to 80% capacity from near empty in less than 30 minutes.

people are just too used to gasoline cars and don't want to change. There would need to a slight adjustment in how some people plan their daily trips or longer distances, but the adjustment could happen with little to no change in ability to get everything done that a person needs to on their current schedule. The problem is that people have talked so badly about electric powered vehicles for so long that even after seeing what advancements have been made in the arena, they still don't want to believe it.

[brian617]

Humans are great at making chemicals that are toxic to life and we don't do a great job of disposing of used batteries now. What are we likely to make in the future?

It was explained to me one time that the process of mining the elements used for making batteries and manufacturing a Prius created a larger carbon foot print than a comparable gas burning car. Not sure how true, but it does make you wonder.

[steveo]

i hvae a lot of respect for tesla motors products; i also love how their flagship product was basically a supercar.

[lionelhutz]

Believe what you want, but no one I have seen reports from that actually HAVE a plug-in electric vehicle shows anything close to what you estimate as energy needed for recharge. So again Practical testing > estimates, based on speculation. ;)

Seriously, provide then. You know what proof is? Hard facts from a reputable source for a EV car that people would actually drive daily.

Here. Take a look at the Tesla S charging calculator.

http://www.teslamotors.com/en_CA/charging#/calculator

Put in 65km which approximately equals your claimed 40 mile typical daily drive. Picking between different charging modes you can easily find that the most efficient charging mode says it'll take 13.4kWh of energy. At 60W if would take >223 hours to charge that car. 13.4kWh to drive 40 miles is HARD FACTUAL data from one of the leading EV car manufacturers which proves your claims have zero merit.

What are you claiming can be charged overnight, an electric bicycle or some mileage competition car? It's a complete pipe dream to believe anyone is driving a production-type electric car 40 miles in a day on less than 1kWh of energy.

[RobertISaar]

........ in terms of electrification, i just want one of the MANY proposed add-in solutions to come to market. i seem to remember seeing a late 90s taurus that had some hardware added into the rear wheels/brakes that allowed for a battery(or, batteries) to power the rear wheels.

i'd be pretty happy if i could at least temporarily double the torque getting to the pavement and through all 4 tires at that. if i could use it as a short-range electric only solution as well.... that would be pretty neat too.