boxst

Having just read this: Chinese e-car makers show wares ? Register Hardware I still can't see viable electric cars coming any time soon.

Most of the ones on show wouldn't get me to and from work and require several hours of charge. So unless each workplace is fitted with chargers in the car park, it just isn't going to happen.

There needs to be some revolution in powering, whether it be from hydrogen or better battery technology.

Steve

Paul3446

Well given that I was listening to a story on the news the other day, that in 5 years we will be suffering power cuts due to the fact that our grid can't cope with demands, I think it highly unlikely that 25 million people will be charging their cars on the national grid any time soon.

johnnywrx

All that is happening is shifting the carbon footprint from 1 place to another its all a gimik just my pennys worth

SwissTony

iTrader: (19)

Well given their 0-60 times, I guess in quite a long time

JerryTerzo

They had this one on Top Gear a while back and it went like a rocket.

Tesla Roadster news - Charge up - 2009 - BBC Top Gear

Bloody expensive though.

David Lock

Since there isn't nearly enough renewable energy to go around they will just add to the climate warming scenario.

I suppose they could be feasible if you had a number of "Batto Swap" shops whereby car batteries are designed to be easily removable. You drive into one of these places and your flat battery pod is swapped for a newly charged unit. Of course you pay an annual retainer for this service plus a few quid per swap.

But I think Hydrogen power is the way forward. Still some challenges to iron out but nothing major.

dl

MJW

Oil companies have deliberately interfered with & suppressed alternative fuels & technologies for decades. While oil still flows, we'll still be using petrol, irrespective of the alleged environmental impact. As mentioned above, if everyone switched to an electric car, supply would far exceed demand on the grid.

stilover

Exactly.

Plus..............

1) Whos is going to buy one second hand knowing that in time it'll need new Batteries?
2) New Batteries will cost a fortune
3) What about all the waste from knackered Batteries?
4) National Grid will never cope.
5) The more Electric cars there are, the more polutants power stations will give off.
6) Electricity prices will go through the roof.
7) Tax on Electricity will go through the roof (green tax for power stations burning more fuel to cope with Electricity demands)


I just don't see why governments are pushing for Electric cars. To build just one car will be more harmfull to the enviroment that building a normal car. All those Batteries.

The future, if Petrol/Diesel is ever replaced, will be Hydrogen cars. As shown on Top Gear last year.

BOB.T

(have I had a post deleted?)

hux309

One thing i can't get for the life of me is why you never see a solar panelled roof, surely it'll add a bit to the mileage they can handle?

The car with the lithium iron phosphate batteries is good to see, they are truly next gen for electric cars, slightly lower capacity and voltage but they are lighter and charge in 20 minutes easily opposed to li-ion which takes sever hours, also li-ion last for around 500 charge cycles while the iron phosphate around 2000 cycles.

I did see a mini with a newly designed motor inside each wheel, it was super efficient and very powerful and showed up the competition, trouble is they own the patents so refuse to release to anyone else to manufacture.

Atm no id say electric cars aren't really a viable commodity but given 10-15 years i think they will be, we just need technology to catch up fast, carbon nano technology is on it's way which will bring lighter and stronger materials typically 30% and is a super conductor so can be used in pcb's and batteries but is a good 10 years away from mass production id imagine, only then will things get interesting.

Trouble is the danger aspect, kids won't hear the things coming and enough of them get run over as it stands.

Graphene is the next gen material, 200 times weight/strength over steel, but currently the most expensive material on earth, around £2000 for a piece the size 1/50th of a human hair.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphene

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=munIqrfGMZg

Here we go, the mini can do 150mph and manages 900 miles.

David Lock

That's interesting Hux. I agree about the rapid development in battery technology. A solar panel on the roof can only help giving, for example, a trickle charge when car parked up in daylight. Roof panels are more often seen in technical college student projects.

I think the cheap production of solar panels has long been prevented by vested interest groups. But cheap sun power could offer so much - powering water well pumps or a desal' plant in Africa where water supply is critical.

BTW I am sure the lack of noise thing from an electric vehicle could easily be overcome Reminds me of those silent killers - Sinclair's C5s.

dl

nixxon

Most people in cities park on the street. Even if you coukld run an extension cable to your car, someone's going to trip over it and sue the pants off you.

dpb

later ?

shaggy6

iTrader: (2)

At work we have been developing motor driven vehicles but most are going to still need a small engine to charge the batteries. We have been looking at using 3 cylinder and single cylinder but theirs still along way to go before cars will be totally battery driven by re-newable resources.

Leslie

The old electric trolley buses used to accelerate better than anything away from the bus stop. They had a great big flywheel turning all the time and when he put it into drive they took off like a rocket.

It was the original KERs!

Les