What is Digg?93 Comments
- lucy22, on 07/24/2008, -0/+26I can hardly wait to get an electric car and not rely on gas.
- niccha, on 07/24/2008, -0/+18Wind still blows at 3 am, waves still crash, water still flows and the Earth keeps pumping out geothermal energy.
Not sure what you're trying to get at, but there are plenty of alternative energy sources that work in the wee hours of the morning in lieu of solar power. - Bob042, on 07/25/2008, -0/+10Those roving street gangs might be in for a surprise if they start slashing high current cables with knives.
- jughead789, on 07/25/2008, -0/+10Check out the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car. Very informative about electric cars, and where they disappeared to, hopefully they' re making a comeback.
- bellisland, on 07/25/2008, -0/+9Because wind doesnt blow at night?
- inactive, on 07/25/2008, -0/+9Great breakdown of the problem and a reasonable solution. There's no reason for me not to look into this type of car in the future.
- DNABeast, on 07/25/2008, -0/+7Yes. They'll only do that once.
- jduthie, on 07/24/2008, -1/+8Why is this more likely than street gangs going around breaking car windows?
- Tenoq, on 07/25/2008, -0/+7RTFA.
We're talking about 10 minute recharge times. People are selfish, true, but I'm pretty sure they'd prefer to pay $1-$5 to recharge their car than $100 for a tank of fuel (which is what I paid last week). I'd give up 5 minutes for $95-$99. - inactive, on 07/25/2008, -1/+8Make larger friend networks. That way you can go anywhere your friends are. A home charging network is the best infrastructure you can possibly have.
- sathias, on 07/25/2008, -0/+6Step 2) Put your junk in that high capacity nuclear power plant
- JQP123, on 07/25/2008, -0/+6"Look, people are primarily selfish when you get down to it."
Yes ... and this is precisely why it will work ... all the selfish people trying to avoid the high cost of gasoline. - idiosyncrisia, on 07/25/2008, -0/+6What I am confused about is why sell the excess energy back when you will consume it later? If that is the case, couldn't the car realize it does not need to be charged, hence saving electricity?
- airencracken, on 07/25/2008, -0/+6Infrastructure? We don't like spending money on that here in the states. We'd rather build roads in some other country than fix the potholes here.
Forget upgrading the grid.
Infrastructure. Pfffft.
(Sigh. ._.) - JQP123, on 07/25/2008, -0/+5Google the fact that electric motors are around 90% efficient while the average gasoline engine is only about 20% efficient.
- beauley, on 07/24/2008, -0/+5There have been many attempts to design an electric powered vehicle for as long as the the internal combustion engine has been around. Unfortunately, battery power was never a formidable contender to the present internal combustion engine, but it looks as though the future looks more pronising.
http://www.gomestic.com/Consumer-Information/The-E ...
The Electric Vehicle: is It the Answer? - al1encas1no, on 07/25/2008, -0/+5California already tried this. See: "Who Killed The Electric Car?"
spoiler: the gas-car industry - dreicher, on 07/25/2008, -0/+51. This is an area that the Chevy Volt (or similar concept) shines.
2. A 5-10 minute stop to recharge along the way is different than doing the same thing at a gas station how? Sally is gonna have to pee at some point.
3. Americans will downgrade slightly to save significant sums of money. Well, some of us will anyway. - starscream45, on 07/25/2008, -0/+5I'm still waiting for the Wonkamobile that runs on carbonated soda.
- apeweek, on 07/25/2008, -0/+5Hydrogen is not ready, and will not be for decades.
However, 10-minute recharge batteries are already here.
http://phoenixmotorcars.com - hobophobe, on 07/25/2008, -0/+4Because there's a law that says the way that electric cars will recharge will always be by stringing an electric cord to them.
- jughead789, on 07/25/2008, -0/+4Research has shown hydrogen cars to be much less feasible than electric cars, and much more expensive for consumers.
- CobaltBlue, on 07/25/2008, -0/+4That's because we are preparing for the "Now, if only I can fine a 11.8 mile extension cord" joke.
- deMonkey, on 07/25/2008, -0/+4The EV car being developed in Israel (I can't remember the name, but it's legit) has a 120 mile range, but the nice thing is they're setting up a battery service, so you stop for "fuel" and spend 5-10 minutes switching to a new battery. You pay a monthly fee to subscribe to the infrastructure service that charges and stocks the batteries. Combine this with better range and you're pretty much set.
The Mitsubishi EV announced recently also has a quick charge feature where it takes 15-20 minutes to recharge the batteries to 85% capacity.
Disclaimer: my numbers may be slightly skewed. It's late. - LilRabbitFooFoo, on 08/11/2008, -0/+4Alex2, he's citing what it takes to run an electric car (correct) while you are citing the amount of energy used to power a gasoline car as if the two values are equatable and comparable (incorrect).
- worldnick, on 07/25/2008, -0/+4I figured out a way when I was a boy genius. Now I am a loser posting on the internet, but anyway the gas company would replace entire batteries with a robot arm. Charge the battery and get instant gratification just like the old gas fill up.
- Tenoq, on 07/25/2008, -0/+3I'm with hobophobe. Induction pad would make more sense if vandalism is a problem.
(You really have gangs that go around cutting up cables and smashing windows?) - dreicher, on 07/25/2008, -1/+4Please cite your numbers, because my data says: 0.18-0.46 kWh per mile. Even on the high side at .46 kWh per mile, 150 miles (roughly a half-tank of gas) would be 69 kWh. On the low side you're looking at 27 kWh.
The average driver goes ~50 miles per day, so you're only looking at a 9 - 23 kWh per day increase per person. Our current infrastructure is more than adequate to handle that for the maybe 20% of people that will go down this road in the short term. - EtherGnat, on 07/25/2008, -0/+3@positron
When was the last time you had to pay $150 to replace a power cord? - cep59186, on 07/25/2008, -1/+4I can hardly wait to get an electric car and not rely on gas.There's no reason for me not to look into this type of car in the future.
- JQP123, on 07/25/2008, -0/+3Add electrocution to the list of things that will prevent cord cutting.
- Tenoq, on 07/25/2008, -0/+3RTFA?
Recharge in 10 minutes, apparently. It's not like you're going to drive 350 miles without a decent break anyway...
This whole range argument is overstated. Most of the time people drive their cars/trucks to work and back - 30-60km round trips. Some commute a little further. All of them do it as the sole occupant of a typically huge vehicle, consuming ungodly amounts of fuel (at least half of it wasted in the combustion process). EVs are for these people.
The only barrier I see is price. When an EV costs the same as the petrol alternative it'll be a no-brainer for most drivers. Hell, if there was an EV today for $30k (in Aus) I'd buy it, even if it did need overnight charging. - lou2005, on 07/25/2008, -0/+3How often does Sally go to visit grandma? 350 miles is a really long trip. Maybe a few times a year.
she could
rent a gas powered car for those trips.
if sally is in a family, not every car in the garage has to be electric. one can be gas for visiting relatives.
take the train or a plane or the bus.
swap vehicles with a friend. - LordBoreal51, on 07/25/2008, -0/+3I hear they pushed it back to 2010.
- MacBookForMe, on 07/24/2008, -0/+3Every start is hard and with loads of problems, but it's a firm Eco start anyway...
- onesojourner, on 07/25/2008, -0/+2Battery tech will continue to improve. Range will increase well over 200 miles per charge and charge times will decrease. With current tech most people can use and a electric car for almost all the driving they do. There are rental car companies for the rest. Besides how many families only have 1 car? W e use a civic for our daily driving and we keep the 4runner for camping trips and towing the skis to the lake.
http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/ - Virgule, on 07/25/2008, -3/+5They don't get it. We need battery SWAPS not recharge stations!
- MilesyMiles, on 07/25/2008, -0/+2A metric-based touché to you, sir.
- hoffey, on 07/25/2008, -0/+2Not sure why you were dugg down, that documentary is great.
- apeweek, on 07/25/2008, -0/+2Except that hydrogen cars ARE electric cars, with hydrogen used as the battery. The hydrogen itself is not the source of energy - rather it is the electricity used to extract the hydrogen that provides the energy.
Hydrogen is also used to store energy inside a NIMH battery. The difference is, for fuel cell cars, the hydrogen has been taken outside of the battery and is being shipped around the country. Talk about inefficiency!
Hydrogen is a fuel in the same sense that lithium is a fuel - except that the energy storage system I build with lithium is twice as efficient as the one you make with hydrogen. - EtherGnat, on 07/25/2008, -0/+2If Alex won't cite numbers, I will.
"A new study for the Department of Energy finds that "off-peak" electricity production and transmission capacity could fuel 70% percent of the U.S. light-duty vehicle (LDV) fleet, if they were plug-in hybrid electrics." http://www.pnl.gov/news/release.asp?id=204 - Murdats, on 07/25/2008, -0/+2yes, yes it is.
the only reason batteries cant yet match combustion is because we have been spending the last century improving combustion, do you think the first cars were as efficient as modern cars? (well maybe as efficient as modern american cars) - dreicher, on 07/25/2008, -0/+2If only there was some way to generate electricity from some heretofore unknown large, fiery ball in the sky with some sort of newfangled panel that you could buy where you wouldn't have to rely on purchasing it from some other entity.
Oh well, you're probably right. - LemonChicken, on 07/25/2008, -0/+2Could've used this a few years back...
- deMonkey, on 07/25/2008, -1/+3Every time there's a story about EVs on Digg, someone brings this stuff up, yet it's still completely wrong.
- inactive, on 07/25/2008, -2/+4 Step 1) Construct 30 high capacity nuclear power plants.
- mos6507, on 07/25/2008, -0/+2You still have to recharge the depleted batteries.
- LilRabbitFooFoo, on 08/11/2008, -0/+2Ignorance of infrastructure alert. Power plants can already store generated peak electricity for off peak usage. Solar, etc., would be collected by day the same exact way, and therefore available 24/7.
- apeweek, on 07/25/2008, -0/+210-minute recharges does not seem to be much of an inconvenience considering the advantages I get from electric cars - low maintenance, extremely low fuel costs, high resale values, etc.
Let us have our EVs, and let the marketplace decide. - EtherGnat, on 07/25/2008, -0/+2"It would take weeks to drive cross country with an electric car, drive a few hours then charge for many hours."
There are already prototype technologies that allow batteries to be quick charged. By comparison it is unlikely hydrogen will ever be remotely competitive on efficiency (it's less than 1/3 as efficient currently). -
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