Electric cars
Comments
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silverwhistle wrote: »I don't know when your transformer was replaced
Early 2014.but even a couple of years ago peak loads were coming down as LED bulbs and more efficient TVs, appliances and computing came in. Electric cars were a very distant future.
I think time's going a bit faster than you think, y'know...
Nissan Leaf, Renault Kangoo ZE van - launched in UK in 2011.
Tesla Model S - launched in UK in 2012.
Renault Zoe, BMW i3 - launched in UK in 2013.
Mitsu Outlander PHEV, Nissan e-NV200 van - launched in UK in 2014.It sounds like a few domestic solar panel installations wouldn't go amiss to reinforce your local network, although if it's in Wales I can understand from my experience of the weather why they aren't there.
We're not in Wales. That doesn't start for another half a mile... Our own solar is water, rather than PV. I would have put PV on an outbuilding when we re-roofed it in 2013, but the ridiculous EPC laxness meant we'd only have had half the FiT.0 -
Hi
... and for those with regular very long journeys - that's where hybrid technologies come into play ... for the number of long journeys the average motorist does (holidays, visits etc) a small(ish) optimised-speed generation backup unit to keep the battery pack charged makes far more sense than over-specified battery capacities ... yes, it's not as clean as pure batteries, but then again, it's a solution which is far superior to what we use at the moment ....
Problems have solutions ...[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif] [/FONT]'There is no more neutrality in the world. You either have to be part of the solution, or you're going to be part of the problem.' .... effectively, change is going to happen whether we personally welcome change or resist it ...
HTH
Z"We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit. " ...... Aristotle
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Cuba was having a power crisis and it wasn't practical, partly due to embargoes, to build more power stations. They bought a load of modern fridges and low energy light bulbs from China and gave everyone a free swap of a fridge and lightbulbs. No new power stations required.silverwhistle wrote: »This reminds me of a social chat with a distribution engineer colleague probably mid to late 80s: he was lamenting the cost of upgrading a sub-station for an expanding housing estate. He was only half-joking when he said 'it would be cheaper to give them all CFL bulbs'.
I don't know when your transformer was replaced but even a couple of years ago peak loads were coming down as LED bulbs and more efficient TVs, appliances and computing came in. Electric cars were a very distant future.0 -
... and for those with regular very long journeys - that's where hybrid technologies come into play ... for the number of long journeys the average motorist does (holidays, visits etc) a small(ish) optimised-speed generation backup unit to keep the battery pack
And it doesn't even need to be part of the base car. Nothing stopping you connecting a trailer (or potentially a roof box) with a generator or battery pack in it, to charge you're battery on the move.
No reason you couldn't rent them from service station to service station in the way you would have done with a removable battery.
Imagine having a light car with a 20Kwh battery good for 100 miles, but being able to plug in a 180kwh batter on demand, which would get you 1000 miles, at the start of your journey and disconnect it at the end.0 -
And it doesn't even need to be part of the base car. Nothing stopping you connecting a trailer (or potentially a roof box) with a generator or battery pack in it, to charge you're battery on the move.
No reason you couldn't rent them from service station to service station in the way you would have done with a removable battery.
Imagine having a light car with a 20Kwh battery good for 100 miles, but being able to plug in a 180kwh batter on demand, which would get you 1000 miles, at the start of your journey and disconnect it at the end.
Is that a joke? Do you hear how ridiculous you sound? Towing generators on trailers in order to power your car... yes that's a great way of making electric cars mainstream!
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Is that a joke? Do you hear how ridiculous you sound? Towing generators on trailers in order to power your car... yes that's a great way of making electric cars mainstream!
What's wrong with it?
The biggest complaint I'm seeing is from people who've narrowed in on a pretty obscure limitation to electric cars - single charge range - "But what if I want to do a 600 mile motorway journey without stopping?", and that provides a mechanically trivial solution.
It gives you the range you need when you need it, without having to buy or carry all of that extra battery capacity. It's not like you'd need to own one or take it everywhere with you.
I imagine almost no-one would need to actually use them, as most people will be stopping for breaks naturally long before they run out of charge.0 -
Well, you forget some minor details...
1. Towing on a post-1997 driving licence is severely restricted. 750kg trailer or 3500kg car + trailer.
2. Towing restricts top speed to 60mph on a motorway.
3. Towing means parking problems and restrictions.
4. Towing reduces fuel efficiency beyond the effect of weight alone - aerodynamic drag, mechanical drag.
5. Theft risk. Apart from the risk of it being nicked at m'way services, you do a long journey, you then want to drive around locally while you're there - you disconnect the generator/trailer, and do what with it?
Saying "Well, people can recharge when they stop for breaks" assumes adequate charging infrastructure is available en route. It isn't.0 -
None of those are insurmountable problems though - our whole car usage model is likely to change drastically when you go all electric.
No reason we couldn't have the battery/generator trailers such that you don't need additional licenses, or without the speed restriction.
No reason we couldn't provide secure storage for them; locks are already available.
No reason we wouldn't have adequate charging infrastructure by then too - we're talking about years in the future.
The usage model I see for trailers is long motorway journeys.
Say I want to drive one end of the country to another, some 400 miles. I drive in my 200 mile range EV, swing into the first motorway services, hitch up trailer, plug in, away (detour/delay of a couple of minutes), drive 380 miles down the motorway on the extra charge, pull into the services before my destination to disconnect trailer (detour/delay of a couple of minutes) and continue my journey with my 200 mile EV at full capacity.
Much more convenient than having to stop twice to recharge @ 30 min a pop, and more convenient that having to change car or battery. No issues regarding parking as I haven't left the motorway network. Keep it to say 400kg and fit it with brakes and you shouldn't have any problems with weight restrictions or driving at 70mph.
It'd be of no use to people who cover huge mileages in built up areas, taxis, couriers, salespeople.0 -
None of those are insurmountable problems though - our whole car usage model is likely to change drastically when you go all electric.
No reason we couldn't have the battery/generator trailers such that you don't need additional licenses, or without the speed restriction.
No reason we couldn't provide secure storage for them; locks are already available.
No reason we wouldn't have adequate charging infrastructure by then too - we're talking about years in the future.
The usage model I see for trailers is long motorway journeys.
Say I want to drive one end of the country to another, some 700 miles. I drive in my 200 mile range EV, swing into the first motorway services, hitch up trailer, plug in, away (detour/delay of a couple of minutes), drive 680 miles down the motorway on the extra charge, pull into the services before my destination to disconnect trailer (detour/delay of a couple of minutes) and continue my journey with my 200 mile EV at full capacity.
Much more convenient than having to stop twice to recharge @ 30 min a pop, and more convenient that having to change car or battery. No issues regarding parking as I haven't left the motorway network. Keep it to say 400kg and fit it with brakes and you shouldn't have any problems with weight restrictions or driving at 70mph.
It'd be of no use to people who cover huge mileages in built up areas, taxis, couriers, salespeople.
700 miles on our motorway network? I think not.0 -
None of those are insurmountable problems though - our whole car usage model is likely to change drastically when you go all electric.
That's kinda the whole point. If the technology means you have to change the way you use the product, then the technology is causing a problem.
So not actually, y'know, trailers...?No reason we couldn't have the battery/generator trailers such that you don't need additional licenses, or without the speed restriction.
Where? Every street corner? If these trailers are being rented from point-to-point, then they are going to have to be master-keyed. Which means an inherent insecurity.No reason we couldn't provide secure storage for them; locks are already available.
...and there was me, thinking we were talking about a short-term stopgap until the technology was actually mature enough to be usable without these inherent compromises being a problem.No reason we wouldn't have adequate charging infrastructure by then too - we're talking about years in the future.
Even ignoring my nearest motorway is over an hour from my house, and I've got friends who live nearly three hours from m'way... (I live in the English Midlands, btw)The usage model I see for trailers is long motorway journeys.
Say I want to drive one end of the country to another, some 700 miles. I drive in my 200 mile range EV, swing into the first motorway services, hitch up trailer, plug in, away (detour/delay of a couple of minutes), drive 680 miles down the motorway on the extra charge, pull into the services before my destination to disconnect trailer (detour/delay of a couple of minutes) and continue my journey with my 200 mile EV at full capacity.
So you're looking at a trailer that can recharge, say, 200 mile range (call it 60kWh) in three hours (200 miles), plus another 60kWh for actually driving the car that distance. 120kWh in three hours, 40kW.
This is what a 40kW diesel generator looks like.
https://www.generac.com/industrial/products/diesel-generators/configured/40kw-diesel-generator
With no fuel tank, it's 2m long, 1m wide, 1.2m high, and weighs just under a ton. Add another half ton for the trailer hardware. For that 700 mile range, you'd be looking at (say) 12hrs at 13 litres per hour full-load use. And, really, you'd want to go up a step - because running it flat out is not going to be at all good for life expectancy.
'course, we'll ignore the minor detail that that's far more fuel than - say - a diesel Golf would use for the same journey...
Ignoring the minor detail that it won't weigh anything like 400kg - even without the trailer hardware - towing laws don't work like that. Even a tiny box trailer is speed-limited the same as a 3.5t plant trailer. As for the weights - a Tesla Model S is over 2t kerb, 2.7t GVW. Add on a 1.5t trailer, and you're WAY over the 3.5t that somebody with a post-97 licence can legally tow. A Leaf is 2t GVW, so you might JUST squeak in. Oh, but a Model S isn't type-approved for towing. Nor is a Leaf. Nor is, well, any electric car currently in production. Even if they were, towing a 1.5t trailer with a 2t GVW car is more than a bit close-cut anyway. The caravan boys reckon a maximum of 80% of kerb weight, not GVW. Kerb on a Leaf is about 1.5t - so that's 100%+, straight off. Not what inexperienced towers need to be dragging around.Keep it to say 400kg and fit it with brakes and you shouldn't have any problems with weight restrictions or driving at 70mph.
So the people who really should be the first priority for zero-local-emission vehicles, then?It'd be of no use to people who cover huge mileages in built up areas, taxis, couriers, salespeople.0
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