Electric cars are really a great alternative once perfected enough to the point where they can be daily practical for an average person, and production numbers are high enough where costs will drop down where an average consumer can afford them.
What is the charge time nowdays on them? 3 hours IIRC?
So basically even if you run out, with photo-voltaic cells you can just sit for a while to charge back, or find a nearest plugin to charge (unless specific socket is needed which I assume it does).
However since ever gas station has some kind of electricity going to it, getting an Electric “gas” station nozzle at every gas station is not that much of a stretch.
A full charge can be had in around 3 hours, line voltage varies and thus so will the actual time of a full recharge. In order to see that charge you need to be on a charging station, which comes with the car. It also comes with a standard 110v extension cord, but a full charge will not be realized for around 11 hours. If batteries can get just a little better and solar a little better the logical thing to do is put them together and you’ve got a home run.
It won’t work for everyone, and at first it will be expensive. I like supporting technology that I feel is moving in the right direction, if I were to drop 100k on a sports car no doubt in my mind that the Tesla Roadster would be one of the top contenders, seeing as I’m in a position to do it in a few years I am watching it closely. If even 10% of the population moved to electric cars the savings would be HUGE, and the price would start to drop. While I know my life and driving habits are far from the norm, I am sure with minor changes many could live with a fully electric car.
Solar just has to get a little bit better and it will solve the bulk of our short term energy problems. I’m sure we’ll figure out cold fusion eventually, but in the mean time we need a bandaid to hold it all together. Much like how our parents and grandparents saw huge changes in their lives, our lives will be the same, if not even more impressive in terms of technological change.
you mean regular fusion, ‘cold fusion’ so far seems to be a bunch of pseudo-scientific bs.
100lk electric car would probably work for seeing as a car in that range is something you can afford,
but unless we see electric cars priced the same as regular ones and being on par in all other aspects, don’t expect the general population to jump on that bandwagon any time soon.
Of course humans will continually get better at creating fusion, though I have a strong suspicion humans will be able to prove or disprove the possibility of cold fusion, right now its mere folklore. In terms of collective knowledge the human race has progressed at an alarming rate just in our lifetimes, things are moving so fast no one can keep up with it and all we can do is speculate what the future holds. With how fast things have moved in our lifetimes I think our wildest fantasies will become reality, i.e. rapable robots for Bennyfizzle. The point being, our knowledge surrounding this is at the very early stages and will continue to grow at an exponential rate, with what’s already going on at places like CERN, the future is already here, most are just unaware.
Its foolish to say a $100k electric 2 seater sports car with a 220 mile cruising range is practical, but if people like me get on board more R&D can be done and breakthroughs will take place, then the trickle down will happen. For something like this I am willing to overpay based on what it can provide to society in the future. If the Whitestar stays on target I think it has potential to be very competitive in its market. In particular with oil prices continually rising and while electric energy is increasing, it is at a much slower rate and we may see a point in our lives where it goes down. The next 20 years will be interesting because there won’t be enough oil to meet current demands, so the price is going to go through the roof, or humans will find new way, something that we have become very good at through out history.
My dad rented a pruis on a bussimess trip in oklahoma last month, he said some of them have built in solar panals to keep the charge going longer. All trickles down to how far/hard, you drive it. he drove 5 hours total in 2 days and didnt charge it.
Timmay are there any other alternative Electrical cars? What about the 4 motor mini with motors in the wheels?
Wonder if anybody has a “kit” yet :ponder
I also wonder how efficient Electric gas stations, or Electric stations would be. Since anybody can “fill up” at home, very few people would use them, then again, they would almost have no overhead besides lease.
It would make sense to put them on long stretches in the middle of nowhere, but that would also cut down on traffic volume of customers.
There are a few alternatives right now, but none of them are remotely cost effective. I didn’t even save the link, but there is an independent company that will convert virtually any car to full electric, the problem is to get 200 mile cruising range it costs over $300k plus the donor car. There is a guy who makes(or at least made) an electric Atom and it’s a rocket with similar limitations to the Tesla Roadster, I wouldn’t be surprised if it uses similar battery configuration and DC/AC converters with 3 phase AC motor. Right now the only way they can make it work well is in light cars, as we can make cars with better/lighter materials it will make implementing the technology feasible.
Electric gas stations are highly unlikely, think about it, would you pay a premium to charge your cell phone when you can just do it at home or in your car for pennies on the dollar? Between solar, better batteries and more regenerative energy use I think we will see 350 mile cruising ranges with in 5 years. If you’ve ever seen the movie “Gattaca” I think that is more of a reality, charging available at parking lots, perhaps with credit car payment as an option. Even then it would cost a few dollars to fill’er up compared to what we see now. If a full charge can be had in about 3 hours now, that will only get better. At first it will be in an inconvenience but the technology will continually get better and it will be so much better for our economy and environment the sacrifice will be worth it for many, assuming the initial cost is not outlandish.
If we can reduce the gasoline/diesel cars by a percentage or two a year, the benefits will impact all of us and make the technology more affordable. The only expensive part of this technology is the batteries, as we get better at making them, and make more of them the price will come down. Assuming we(Americans) have the foresight to consider this technology as oil production starts slipping to the point were it won’t meet current demands, its MUCH closer then most think, it may not impact us near as much as it will China and India(who’s oil consumption has sky rocket in the last 10 years) which will give our economy the leverage it once had.
As for electric motors in the wheels I think that is a scary idea, if the successful electric vehicles are running 3 phase AC current to the motors(the best way to keep the motors themselves small/light and using less amperage to accomplish the same goal) it would be a very dangerous to be running AC power into the wheel/hub area. Debris, water and ice could pose a large problem as would the implementation itself, you’d have to have a gear reduction hub similar to an H1 hummer, and those tend to be a lot more headaches then they are worth, at least from my limited experience with them. If the motor to move these vehicles weighs 40-50lbs and can move the car it would require probably a 10-14lbs motor on each wheel, which is adding a lot of unsprung weight and potential rotational mass. Motors as a whole are very reliable and are easy to change, a few bolts and 3-8 wires and your back in business. The only reason I would think multiple motors would be better would be in severe service use, military and government vehicles who cannot afford the risk of failure from one, a back up so to speak. Or if you want to build a crazy all wheel drive vehicle, one central motor with advanced traction control that controls another 4 motors, one on each wheel, to transfer instant power/torque to which ever wheel needs it the most, just think of that implementation in a drag car with advanced launch control! That would certainly change the world of drag racing, press a button or two and floor it and you’ll knock off sub 9 second quarter miles all day long, no paddles to manage or anything.
“A British engineering firm has put together a high-performance hybrid version of BMW’s Mini Cooper. The PML Mini QED has a top speed of 150 mph, a 0-60 mph time of 4.5 seconds. The car uses a small gasoline engine with four 160 horsepower electric motors — one on each wheel. The car has been designed to run for four hours of combined urban/extra urban driving, powered only by a battery and bank of ultra capacitors. The QED supports an all-electric range of 200-250 miles and has a total range of about 932 miles (1,500 km). For longer journeys at higher speeds, a small conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) is used to re-charge the battery. In this hybrid mode, fuel economies of up to 80mpg can be achieved.”
Reading into the Mini actually goes along with my first points of generators.
"If a full charge can be had in"Each wheel develops 160bhp - 640bhp in total. The original Mini One develops less than 100bhp with an engine that weighs nearly double the weight of the four electric wheels! Apart from wheel bearings there are no wearing parts in the electric wheels; this means the horsepower stays for the life of the vehicle - and beyond.
As the battery level reduces, the rear mounted ICE/generator starts to automatically top up the battery. So when you arrive at your destination you can simply park the vehicle knowing that when you return the battery will be replenished. Alternatively you can take advantage of lower cost mains electricity and plug in to recharge. So you never need to worry about battery capacity or how to recharge. During operation, as the battery level falls the generator cuts in, enabling an average speed of 60 – 70mph to be sustained with no further battery depletion. "