Electric cars

[Knock-on]

Can't remember discussing this recently so as they are going to be a part of the future, what do we think?

Something to get the discussion started. Hmmmm, I would

BBC News - Drayson Racing electric car sets new world speed record

[Mark]

As has been the case since they have been first trialled, range and recharge time are the issues. The problem being that both are poor. If you can fix the range issue then the recharge becomes less of a problem, fix the recharge time then the range (as long as it's around 100 miles) becomes less of an issue.

[Starter]

As has been the case since they have been first trialled, range and recharge time are the issues. The problem being that both are poor. If you can fix the range issue then the recharge becomes less of a problem, fix the recharge time then the range (as long as it's around 100 miles) becomes less of an issue.

Mark has it correct. If the vehicle is only used in the city, then it could be quite practical. Outside city limits, not so much. Here in the US, where distances can be fairly long, its even less practical for most people. Get a range of two to three hundred miles, even in winter (which is where most electric cars fail miserably), and a recharge time of two hours or under and you might have a winner. Of course that begs the question of building the recharge infrastructure which will also be key to general acceptance.

[donKey jote]

I'll be the first to get one at my workplace, but only when they're worth it and they sort the range out for a 96km round trip on the Autobahn in Winter.
I've tested a few at the tracks, and I like them. The only problem is having to recharge between tyre sets, or between laps if you drive them on the handling courses

[Corvettian]

Would it not be better to design the cars so that the batteries could be exchanged at a charging station, rather than waiting for fixed batteries to charge in place? It might not be as compact an installation as fixed batteries, but a lot of time would be saved.

[Corvettian]

Obviously the above would need an automated machine to remove the "flat" batteries and insert fully-charged ones, but that can't be so hard to design, can it? It could be set into the garage floor; the cars would simply be parked over it, like a maintenance pit.

[Starter]

Obviously the above would need an automated machine to remove the "flat" batteries and insert fully-charged ones, but that can't be so hard to design, can it? It could be set into the garage floor; the cars would simply be parked over it, like a maintenance pit.

Think about a charging station which would have to change the batteries in cars as often as a gas station pumps a tank of gas (actually more often as cars get at least 300 miles to a tank and electrics maybe 150 average). Think about as many charging stations as there are gas stations. Assuming it worked well, the infrastructure would take decades to put in place.

[Corvettian]

Think about a charging station which would have to change the batteries in cars as often as a gas station pumps a tank of gas (actually more often as cars get at least 300 miles to a tank and electrics maybe 150 average). Think about as many charging stations as there are gas stations. Assuming it worked well, the infrastructure would take decades to put in place.

How long did it take to build the infrastructure for refuelling petroleum-powered cars, though?
I'm not proposing a sudden, complete changeover from one energy source to another; it would have to be a gradual process of introduction, probably over a number of decades anyway.

[Corvettian]

Unfortunately, profit has a big influence on how quickly things are done, too. If the companies providing the battery service (or any alternative fuel supply service) made as much of a profit as the oil companies have made over the years, I'm sure the network would be built up slightly more quickly...

[Rollo]

I think that electric does have a future, though not in the way that anyone is suggesting:



The Jaguar CX-75 prototype had two microjets which charged a set of batteries which drove electric motors. The beauty with jet engines is that they're crudely simple and can be made to run on practically any hydrocarbon which includes canola oil and sunflower oil. The microjets in a jet-electric could be run at constant speed which given enough development time would increase efficiency and by that stage, we'd work out which crop could give us the best yield of oil.

But as for pure electric cars? Really all you've done is move emissions from the tail pipe to a power station. An increase in the number of electric cars would necessitate increased demand on national grids, so is there really any net gains to be won?