Comments on: Transportation Update: EVs Need Better Recharging Turnaround – What’s Out There? https://techsomogro.com/transportation-update-evs-recharging-turnaround-there/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=transportation-update-evs-recharging-turnaround-there Science, Technology and the Future Mon, 17 Dec 2012 22:43:40 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.3 By: lenrosen4 https://techsomogro.com/transportation-update-evs-recharging-turnaround-there/#comment-8095 Mon, 17 Dec 2012 22:43:40 +0000 http://www.21stcentech.com/?p=7866#comment-8095 Niccolo5. There are lots of reasons to pooh pooh the current generation of electric and hybrid-electric cars. My brother at the Honda hybrid Civic and after the lease ended turned it in for an ICE version of the Civic. The reason - the battery pack started exhibiting problems and although still under warranty it took 2 days to get fixed and he was told if the warranty expired the cost to replace was astronomical. That's not the kind of news you want to hear. But what Qualcomm is developing is intriguing because it extends the range of EVs to wherever the road infrastructure allows without stopping to recharge. Unlike you I see a strong future for EV and efficiencies dramatically improving as technologies like lithium-air batteries get commercialized.]]> In reply to Niccolo5.

There are lots of reasons to pooh pooh the current generation of electric and hybrid-electric cars. My brother at the Honda hybrid Civic and after the lease ended turned it in for an ICE version of the Civic. The reason – the battery pack started exhibiting problems and although still under warranty it took 2 days to get fixed and he was told if the warranty expired the cost to replace was astronomical. That’s not the kind of news you want to hear.

But what Qualcomm is developing is intriguing because it extends the range of EVs to wherever the road infrastructure allows without stopping to recharge. Unlike you I see a strong future for EV and efficiencies dramatically improving as technologies like lithium-air batteries get commercialized.

]]> By: Niccolo5 https://techsomogro.com/transportation-update-evs-recharging-turnaround-there/#comment-8094 Mon, 17 Dec 2012 22:23:57 +0000 http://www.21stcentech.com/?p=7866#comment-8094 As I can understand the laws of physics and well-established principles of mechanical/electrical engineering, unless vehicle propulsion battery costs fall at least 50% and achieve long life spans with rapid high current charge cycles, the Chevy Volt approach (and perhaps the soon to be released Ford Fusion plug-in) optimizes the practical execution of “electric” cars in developed countries. Even if battery costs were to fall 50%, Volt costs might fall or its battery range double from 40-miles to 80-miles. Still, no good justification for many high-current charging stations. The most rational solution to “on the road” electric car battery charging is the small “range extender” ICE.

For most drivers, charging stations don’t practically extend range on direct longer trips. Time is life and also money. Few drivers are going to wait around an hour or so at charging stations for another 100-miles worth of battery charge. They will happily drive an electric car 30-40 miles to a work place, and then plug it in to recharge while they work. For most drivers, dropping charging time from 4-hours to 1-hour wouldn’t make much difference. What if charging time could be dropped to 15-minutes? Maybe that would expand the market an extra 10%.

Consider the Tesla S. The deluxe model, priced at about $90,000, with a brand new battery pack has a total battery storage capacity of 85 kWh. To extend battery life, it’s necessary to limit charge and discharge levels to about half of that. So just figure that for practical purposes, a new Tesla S, can store about 43 usable hp hours. Suppose 15-hp hours will propel the S Model 70-miles. The Tesla S can travel about 200-miles down the highway during 3-hours, at which point a complete 43 kWh recharge is needed. The charging station is mostly of use to persons who invested $90,000 in a Tesla S.

No electric car presently on the market “saves fuel costs” in contrast with costs of similar size and weight ICE cars.

The only good reasons to own an “electric” car are because you like the way it looks and drives and it’s a great conversation piece and you can afford it. It’s silly to pretend it’s making any significant environmental difference or that costs per mile are lower than a pure ICE car. For that to be true, battery or fuel cell performance/costs would need to improve by a factor of four. That seems highly unlikely.

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