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Posted by Dave on July 28, 2006, 10:49 pm
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Just remember that total electric cars just shift the pollution to the
power plants, most burying coal or oil.
Tony Belding wrote:
> Several days ago Toyota announced that they are developing plug-in
> hybrids. These are hybrids with larger battery packs. They're designed
> to be plugged into a socket and charged at night, then you can drive up
> to, perhaps, 8 or 10 miles on battery power alone before the gasoline
> motor kicks in. You should get many of the benefits of an electric car,
> but still retain the long range and ability to "fill her up" at gas
> stations during those extended highway trips.
>
> Some people have already developed conversion kits to make the exsting
> Prius into a plug-in hybrid. It does void your warranty,
> unfortunately. It seems likely that these homebrew kits, plus the
> higher price of gasoline, spurred Toyota to give plug-ins a proper try.
>
> As with pure electric cars, batteries are the limiting technology. Not
> only are they expensive, but the discharge cycle of an electric car is
> much more demanding on batteries, and they are prone to degrade faster
> than the batteries in a "conventional" hybrid.
>
> One interesting aspect of this is that it could eventually pave the way
> for fully electric cars. I can imagine future models that move more and
> more work onto the electrical system, with improved battery technology,
> until it becomes practical to jettison the gasoline engine completely.
>
> Now, speaking of electric cars. . . I was floored by the recent
> unveiling of the Tesla Roadster. It's going to be an expensive car and
> very much a toy rather than a practical, economical car -- but what a
> toy! You are looking at 0-60 MPH in 3.7 seconds, upwards of 250 miles
> driving range per charge, and top speed about 135 MPH. It appears that
> battery technology is just beginning to edge over the line of adequacy
> for electric cars. Storage technology (both batteries and
> supercapacitors) is being heavily researched around the world, so it's
> only going to get better.
>
> I can imagine five or six years from now, electric cars becoming really
> practical. The benefits can be huge. These cars can get energy
> efficiency equivalent to 135 MPG. Mechanically they are very simple: no
> complex engine to repair or keep in tune, no oil changes, no filters or
> hoses, no spark plugs, no exhaust system. They could have a long
> lifespan with very little maintenance. Based on some storage technology
> that's in labs today, it's just possible they might achive 400-mile
> range, fast recharge, and much reduced battery degradation over time (or
> practically none, in the case of supercaps).
>
> We aren't there yet. But I'm beginning to feel optimistic, there's a
> light at the end of the tunnel for electric cars. It's getting close
> enough to think about buying one sometime before I get onto Social
> Security. :)
>
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