Electric Vehicles

[dgsselkirk]

Toyota just announced their new fuel cell car. Since the implementation is 2040 think of the improvements that will be made in the next 23 odd years to battery and battery charging technology. Think of the improvements in the last 23 years and multiply by 10...

I have 2 star nephews who graduated with Dean's honours from U of W one of the best engineering schools in the world in nano technology and they have shown me some things on the electrical power side. You have no idea what is coming my friends....

[AlwynTurner]

The worst thing about a change of technology like this is the social and economic disruption that this will cause. People will lose their jobs or need to be retrained, whole sections of the economy will disappear over time and be replaced by new businesses requiring skills that will be in short supply. This change is probably going to be the most significant in my lifetime, but totally necessary in the long term.

I just don't think it will happen in the timescales being put forward.

Alwyn

[43rdRecceReg]

Good morning,
I'm personally hoping for Hydrogen Fuel Cell Tech like BMW is pushing to become an affordable option. This thing will take longer in the U.S. ( probably because we still have the kind of F-ing idiots who think that it's cool to modify their Diesels for 'Rolling Coal', spewing out huge black clouds of exhaust. ) Courts are just getting around to making that illegal, especially here in the West where most of us value our clean air. http://www.denverpost.com/2017/05/22/co ... oal-fines/
regards,
Painless

Yes, Painless, this is a very promising technology. Cars can refuel fairly quickly and will have greater range than purely electric vehicles. They ought to be popular in hot arid countries, since the exhaust only drips water- not toxic gasses

[tomhugill]

Now that the government has announced the abolition of petrol/diesel vehicles in 2040, I am wondering how this is going to work, and have they thought it through?

An electric bicycle can go about 20 miles, top speed limited to 15mph in Europe, way faster in the US. They can be derestricted to go faster, but are then classed as a moped, so need tax & insurance. Battery recharge around 3 hours?

An electric motorcycle can go 200 miles, top speed is unlimited, anything from 80mph to over 200mph. Battery recharge about 6 hours.

An electric car can go about 200 miles, top speed is unlimited, anything from 80mph to whatever. Battery recharge about 3-6 hours.

Sound great? Except not everyone has a driveway, so to charge the battery every house, apartment etc will have a charging cable from the house to the road. Two vehicles per house...6 hours charge time...that's a lot of cables running all over the place?

Charging stations? Hmmm, who is going to be happy driving 200 miles, and then having to stop for 3-6 hours to fill their tank?

There will be no profit in recharging stations, so either they are going to charge petrol prices, or the current fuel stations will shut down. In which case, where do you charge the batteries.

The batteries have a limited lifespan, and are hugely expensive, hence after a few years the electric car will lose a huge proportion of its initial cost.

The changeover will happen within 5-10 years. Not 2040. Only E-vehicles will be manufactured and sold, it's happening already, the petrol stations will begin closing, fuel will be harder to find, so people will start buying E-cars.

As for internal combustion vehicles, it should be pretty obvious that as more people switch to electric vehicles fuel sales will drop. No sales, no profit, so they will shut down. Fuel will become increasingly difficult to find. Who is going to buy a petrol or diesel car when it will be worthless within a few years?

Which industries will collapse?

Motorhomes, Caravans, Campsites, Tourist Industry, Haulage Industry, Oil Industry, Engine design and tooling, AA/RAC etc, Call Centres, Insurance, Petrol stations, Garages, OIl tanker crews, Shipbuilding.
Anything outside of a city will be unreachable without a lot of hassle.
Mass unemployment will happen on a global scale.

Practical example?
You live 400 miles from a ferry port, and want to go on a driving holiday around France.
Drive 200 miles, stop for 3 hours. Drive 200 miles and either get to the port 3 hours early and charge the battery before you embark, or wait 3 hours in France before continuing with your journey. Every 200 miles, stop for 3 hours.
No one in their right mind will do this, so the whole industry will collapse.
What is the alternative? Fly, Rail, Coach. None of which are electric powered. They will rack their prices up as they know that the public have no choice but to use them. The volume of passengers and the logistics of travel has the potential to descend into chaos.

More power stations will be needed, and that means nuclear unless someone invents something pretty quickly.

Be prepared folks....

Your train going to France and within France will be electric for most of the journey.

[HERMAN BIX]

Guns Gentleman, just like in mad max

[Tiggr]

Don't worry guys, the oil companies will be shafting us for a good 15 years yet.

Here in Europe there is a 2 year storage reserve at any given time, yet if oil production is slowed down or increased, the price of petrol and diesel goes up the following day.....funny how it takes much longer for the price to come down though.

I have been a racing cyclist since I was 15 so I take an interest in electric bikes - you can mess with the speed limiter so that the bike will go faster than 15 mph - a guy near me has a mountain bike with a 1000W motor fitted - on the flat he does around 30mph and just sails up hills.

Most electric bikes at the moment are Fred Carno affairs, but as they become more popular, they will improve immensely, just as normal racing bikes have in the past 20 years

[Raminator]

Practical example?
You live 400 miles from a ferry port, and want to go on a driving holiday around France.
Drive 200 miles, stop for 3 hours. Drive 200 miles and either get to the port 3 hours early and charge the battery before you embark, or wait 3 hours in France before continuing with your journey. Every 200 miles, stop for 3 hours.
No one in their right mind will do this, so the whole industry will collapse.

Is this a practical example in a post-Brexit world?

[jarndice]

I think that is why people who want to do more than just commute buy a hybrid instead of a pure electric car.
Shaun.

[HERMAN BIX]

Mad Max..............Guns & Petrol

[jackalope]

Mad Max..............Guns & Petrol

But guns are illegal in quite a few of your countries