I guess electric cars will have to start somewhere. I guess the people bagging them out are the ones who'll also laugh at the early adopters (beta testers) that will buy these cars. Maybe to show off, maybe because of more legitimate, environmental reasons. But at the end of the day, while still using fossil fuels to create the car I'd imagine the significant petro-costs of running the car will be discounted immediately due to the fact that it won't need to be refuelled, but plugged in.
It's sad that this car won't be available world wide right from the get go. I think manufacturers can stop this crap about one car being available in Europe and another car somewhere else.
Lately, over the last 3-5 years, electric cars have been making a dent into peoples minds and starting to slowly change everyone's perception on what they think about electric cars. There are companies like Tesla motors that have created a sports car that is totally electric. Defying all qualms about electric cars. It's fast, looks good and the charge time is acceptable.
However, even with an educated opinion, people look at the facts that a petrol car offers ten times more power (though, quite a lot less torque - thank you marketing), less compromise and more driving range. You can't compete with a petrol powered car for fuel range. You can get 1000 kilometres from a tank of diesel in a new Citroen C4. You'd be lucky to get 300 kms from a fully charged electric car, which will probably only do 38 km/h and has a boot the size of my turntable.
So, the biggest developments are coming from battery technology. Longer lasting, faster charging and more powerful than ever to support all the mod cons of a car, like air-con and power steering. The other thing with batteries is that I think regardless of electric car, all the manufacturers should agree to a standard physical size, so that any battery from any car will fit into any other car.
Rather than run out of power in your Tesla, Chevy EV or whatever, you just enter a "fuelling station" and exchange the battery if you need to. This way, any car can enter the station when their battery meter is running on "empty" and top up by exchanging the pack for a fully charged one, taking less time to "fill up" than conventional petrol powered cars. Meanwhile, your old battery pack gets stored for recharging until another car comes along and replaces their pack with your old one. Which, is never really yours, just like petrol is never yours. You buy it, you deplete it, you renew your stock. You go into the station and pay for your exchanged battery pack (which is a fixed cost for all cars because all cars theoretically have the same pack (if industry standards are agreed upon)).
When not needing "refuelling", you happily drive along with your solar panels charging the system when you park. This might give you enough power to get home, park in your garage or driveway and plug in if you need to, or head for the nearest battery exchange station for a new pack and carry on with your journey.
All these manufacturers that are creating EV cars at the moment seem to be concentrating on cars with one technology in place of another, touting that their design is better. One model has solar cells on the roof like the Pininfarina design car above and below. The other has a plug hidden behind a marquee's badge or in the flap where gasoline normally goes, like the Chev EV. Why not combine all the technologies together. If you need instant fuel, top up at the station with a new pack. If you need a charge at home, leave the car in the driveway or plug it in on the rainy day, or leave it in the sun, in the parking lot at work.
My idea may or may not be original, but it makes sense to me. And please Mr. Car Manufacturers, make it look like the car above, while futuristic, not crappy like that ridiculous Honda Civic Hybrid or the Prius. I mean, really... they are an eye-sore. These cars may well be designed for efficiency and reducing drag, but I think we have the technology and the brains to also make it look good too. And since our national speed limit is really only 110 km/h, I don't think we really need to concern ourselves that much with how well a car cuts through the air when it's only really going to make a 2% difference.
The thing is, the looks of the car will probably play 90% of the part where you and more specifically your wife will purchase one... or she lets you buy one. So, it has to look good. It has to perform well. So it can keep up with today's traffic and daddy isn't bored in their new people moving tin box. Surely this won't be an issue with the likes of Tesla's cars and their level of engineering and speed & acceleration and design, from something that would be a slow car if it were made 20 years ago. It has to have the ability to travel between two of the longest points of the planet where there are no places to charge or exchange batteries. I'd say Australia would be an obvious testing ground, and I'd like to be the one to try the cars out. We have the long distances between towns, we have the heat and the cold. Our country is full of extremes. So it would be an ideal place to test for any of the current cars that are on the market or are about to appear on the market.
My biggest issue with EV cars is their inability to travel the same or close to a petrol powered car's distance before needing more "juice". Get me an electric car that can travel at decent speeds, with decent acceleration, performance and handling like any new car from Mazda or Peugeot. To travel the same distance, anywhere from 500-1000 kms from a single charge, and you could potentially make it around Australia.
Meanwhile, I'll sit back and watch the people (early adopters) buy these cars with their one tech designs until someone reads this blog entry 20 years from now and says "Crap! We've been going about this all wrong."
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