Ch-ch-ch-changes

michaels

Generali wrote: »

So if you could swap out batteries en route rather like I swap an empty gas bottle for my barbie and collect a full one would that work?

Presumably not every vehicle currently starts the day 100% full of fuel and some way of transferring extra energy to the vehicle has been devised. In Australia we currently go to the same place to top up our cars, trucks and barbies. The only difference is that with a car or truck we have a built-in bucket to carry the fuel whereas with our barbie we swap our old empty fuel bucket for a different full one.

There was an Israeli company that went extremely.bankrupt with lots of vc money using just that business model I suspect from.trying just a few years too early but will.probably deter others. I know some are hoping hydrogen fuel cells will be the magic bullet.

Anecdote I know but our electric car and solar PV work very well together along with a suicidal by the manufacturer leasing deal...but we do need to run a second ice or hire do sometimes.

antrobus

Generali wrote: »

In the UK, the retail price of electricity for residential use is around 12 pence per kilowatt-hour (kWh). In US dollars, this is about 18 cents per kWh. So to fill up a BMW i3 will cost £2.26 (US$3.38). If we take the middle driving range of the different i3 versions to be 80 miles, then cost per mile is 2.8 pence (4.3 cents).
To put this in context, a Mini from the same BMW stable usually has a 40 litre tank, which would cost around £44 to fill at current prices. A full tank for the Mini will allow you to drive around 650 miles, giving a price per mile of 6.8 pence (10.2 cents). So i3’s fuel running cost is 40% of that of the Mini.
Meanwhile, the zero to 60 mph times for the two types of car are similar, which brings us to pricing. The i3 sells for £30,000 (US$45,000) before the UK government EV grant of £5,000. By comparison, a Mini sells for around £15,000 depending on the specification. Against this background, we have to ask whether the i3 battery price will fall sufficiently to get an i3 close to the price of a Mini.....

My rough calculations suggest that the pre-tax fuel running cost of a Mini would be 2.49p a mile, whilst the pre-tax fuel running cost of an i3 would be 2.67p a mile, so the i3's cost advantage in that respect is entirely down to tax.

michaels

Back to the before and after photos, Nissan Renault may have bet the farm on electric cars so we can expect regulation driving a wholesale switch in Paris and possibly across the EU depending on what the German car makers want....

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

Generali wrote: »

So if you could swap out batteries en route rather like I swap an empty gas bottle for my barbie and collect a full one would that work?

Yes.

But it would need a single standard across all manufacturers and we're miles away from having that.

Not to mention, the cost of the batteries is currently huge, they're designed into the cars in a way that is not easily removable, and the storage space needed to keep banks of large battery packs in a refuelling station is often just not there.

I reckon the first step will be a fast charge technology along with further development of hybrids. Although some manufacturers still see Hydrogen as the solution so it'll be interesting to watch.

michaels

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

Yes.

But it would need a single standard across all manufacturers and we're miles away from having that.

Not to mention, the cost of the batteries is currently huge, they're designed into the cars in a way that is not easily removable, and the storage space needed to keep banks of large battery packs in a refuelling station is often just not there.

I reckon the first step will be a fast charge technology along with further development of hybrids. Although some manufacturers still see Hydrogen as the solution so it'll be interesting to watch.

Brewster's Millions... or how to turn 850 mil into 450k!

michaels

You can 'fast charge' existing gen cars but 30 mins to get 70 miles plus serious battery degradation does not make a game changer...

the_flying_pig

last year the husband of one of my wife's friends bought himself fancy new tesla saloon type electric car. we took it for a quick spin. all in all it was ok...

the acceleration was definitely a bit unusual, and the level of gadgetry inside needed to be seen to be believed.

Not convinced at how easy it'd be to get fixed when something goes wrong, or by its practicality as even a medium range mode transport.

Overall a fairly daft use of the money but definite novelty value.

recently, his wife made him sell it.

it has a maximum range of 200-odd miles, maybe 300-odd with the most expensive battery. I think it takes about a full working day, that sorta time, to charge from flattish to fullish.

Mistermeaner

Cost of electric needs considering too. In the UK certainly electricity price is falsely inflated by green taxes to pay for uneconomical green technology.

If you removed this burden and allowed generation of electricity from eg shale the case for electric cars becomes more compelling.

Range is an issue of course but I think electric may suit a great number of individuals - how many people really drive more than 50 miles a day ?

patman99

A few years back, I read a blog from a chap in Yorkshire who had taken an old Bedford Rascal and converted it to an electric vehicle. He had fitted a solar panel and a retractable wind turbine to charge the batteries.

The whole build cost him £16,000 and he stated that apart from the initial charge, the van had not been plugged in to any electrical outlets since being constructed. He reckoned on doing 12,000 miles a year in it.

Just had a look and he no longer has the van conversion blog as he now concentrates on rebuilding battery packs for Honda EVs. He did however, build a mk2 version of his van, which he used in his daily commute to his job as a Police Officer.

vivatifosi

Re the battery changing thing... Tesla already doing this in the USA:
http://www.teslamotors.com/en_GB/blog/battery-swap-pilot-program

In the UK they have fast charging in 1/2 hour:
http://www.teslamotors.com/en_GB/supercharger

I recently read the Elon Musk biography where they go into some detail on this (as well as on SpaceX, SolarCity and PayPal). Fascinating:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Elon-Musk-Billionaire-SpaceX-shaping/dp/075355562X

ETA: he's worked with Panasonic (I think) to develop the battery tech too.