The future is electric?

[radddogg]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23603751

What do you guys think?

[rovermadman4825]

I think we need to concentrate on hydrogen cars tbh but that would put a dint in oil billion airs pockets i think concentrating on battery powered cars is a waste of time......

Ross

[peteT16]

Interesting idea, but I can only see it having limited use due to the cost of re laying roads to incorporate the equipment.

[pengy_666]

I worked for nissan and they had the leaf. (off topic but related slightly)

I tell you it could accelerate like fook! but the battery would lose power like crazy. ON a normal drive as a petrol driver it would average under 100 mile range, It took 10 hours to charge the batterys and to replace the batteries.....

approx £19000, the would lose 5% charge capacity in under 5 years!

POINTLESS!

[radddogg]

This is about having an electric car that recharges itself off the road so no matter if the battery capacity drops.

I'm biased because of the Prius but I think alternative fuel cars are ace. I love when people get in it first time and are stunned when it pulls away silently and they're like wtf where is the engine noise?

[pengy_666]

lol, I hate hybrids.

driven lots. Cannot see the point of them.

Recall this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTDi4U6nBRA

[Marty]

I built the hydrogen fuel powered taxi's at Lotus me and another bloke done them for the 2012 Olympics. The first one cost 5 Million pounds the develope that includes CAD and all that ect.. Its interesting how it all works there could possibly one day be a future in it. Google intelligent energy that work hard to develope hydrogen fuel cells.

[pengy_666]

it is such a great fuel.

Oil companies don't want it to happen though this is what I guess is the issue.

[Marty]

Its not clean power though as the process to extract the hydrogen and to make the batteries has a bigger carbon footprint then a car of today has in its life. Its all a bit of a gimic yes its another form of energy but its still not exactly footprint friendly.

Its like when LPG came out best thing since sliced bread the government got people to invest in it people fitting LPG conversions then as if we did not see it coming the government got there teeth into it and whacked the price of it up.

Same as the VAT break taking it down to 15% like it was not obvious they would try and claim back the lost money and they have done and some by putting it upto 20% where it has been for far longer then it was at 15%. What ever happens the government will get there teeth into it and shaft the people.

Petrol is not going to run out in my lifetime or my kids so im not really bothered to be honest not like you come back is it.

[rovermadman4825]

But you can garnte itll be the oil companys who will produce the hydrogen as they will be the only people with the money to invest in such a big new future but as their still plenty of oil for now they will stick with it for the near future.....

Al wait till hydrogen has kicked off am not going to get suckered in to battery powered cars.

Ross

[radddogg]

lol, I hate hybrids.

driven lots. Cannot see the point of them.

Recall this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTDi4U6nBRA

You know when Clarkson talks about 'consumer advice' its all a parody right? Don't tell me you seriously think a Prius is less economical than a 4L BMW M3???? Next you'll be telling me you've bought a Hovervan.

The point? Better urban mpg than extra-urban and £10 vehicle excise duty.

When you say you hate hybrids are you referring to the Hammerhead Eagle i-Thrust ?

[mg-richard]

I think certain types of electric vehicles will work.
Just look at mobility scooters, they are brilliant and work well
The future is diverse

[pengy_666]

A hybrid Prius ain't no good for people like me, I drive all country side and I am always flat out,

I don't care about mpg.

[maestrovdpt16]

The most interesting new fuel technology has to be hydrogen fuel cells. Mainly ones that crack water venting the oxygen and feeding the hydrogen into the engine. This can be done on any engine.

Electric production is already tricky and will get worse, there is no way the national grid can support everyone draining it to feed millions of cars.

[stefaclese]

That's certainly an interesting technology. As is pretty clear it's not viable as a total solution, however as part of a mix of things I could see that being rolled out gradually if the receiving equipment on the vehicle can be made small enough to package well and cheap enough.

The biggest issue with battery related vehicles is that there isn't enough lithium kicking about on the planet. Nickel Metal Hydride technology was suppressed by Chevron from the 90's until 2009 when they were finally forced to sell off the rights, I think Samsung and Panasonic jointly bought them up iirc so that can be developed further instead of a total reliance on lithium ion. Again though it has plenty of draw backs, it's not as efficient and can't store as much power but the battery packs last a hell of a lot longer than anything else - the handful of Rav 4 EV's kicking around that survived the cull when California dropped it's environmental laws are still going strong on their original batteries well over 10 years from new.

I have nothing against Hybrids as such, they're a means to advance technology further one way or the other and valuable lessons can be learnt. What I object to is how they're presented as though it were the second coming of the flying spaghetti monster, the latest Toyota Avensis Hybrid advert makes me cringe every time. And lets not forget of course that hybrids are the leading cause of smug...

[Roboscot]

I can see the point in electric vehicles in cities but they will never be the future of motoring unless/until there's a massive breakthrough in battery technology. Even if this did happen tomorrow it would be too expensive for joe public, and even if it wasn't and everyone went out and bought an electric car it would place a huge extra demand on the grid.

Every new technology which is perceived as progress is just a new way of stimulating the economy, making some obscenely rich people richer and not really doing anything towards carbon emissions like they want us to believe. As with everything these days it's all about the marketing and people tend to buy into it.

[radddogg]

hybrids are the leading cause of smug...

I know that's not aimed at me and more a generalisation of the Hollywood types.

I've given my reasons for driving a Prius already.

Anyway, I've already got enough reasons to be smug

[pengy_666]

Overtaking hybrids is funny. Especially when they think I ain't got the power in a old rover 25

[radddogg]

[pengy_666]

Lol

[mg-richard]

Electric production is already tricky and will get worse, there is no way the national grid can support everyone draining it to feed millions of cars.

Totally agree, would lead to brown outs

[stefaclese]

I know that's not aimed at me and more a generalisation of the Hollywood types.

I've given my reasons for driving a Prius already.

Anyway, I've already got enough reasons to be smug

Were you saying that in a patronising tone with your eyes closed?

Could be worse I suppose, I actually saw an old Honda Insight the other day! I think that's about the 2nd time I've actually seen one on the road. I'm sure they call it a 'Hindsight' in that SP episode, and the Prius a 'Pious'

[mg-richard]

The mk1 Honda Insight is pure Win
Google it

[stefaclese]

That's the one I was referring to

[james3990]

The future for cities is electric, everything else is turbochargers.

[Cableguy]

JC's teeth are fecked

[Punx0r]

The future is almost certainly electric. The drivetrain and electronics are already there (already much greater power density than internal combustion), it's the batteries letting down the show.

Battery capacity needs to increase 2-4 times before electric cars will be feasible/acceptable for the majority of users. That'll take the next generation of battery beyond lithium-ion, got to be 5-10 years away for reliable, mass-produced batteries there. The journey from lead-acid (Ford EV1) to lithium-ion represents approx 3.5x increase in capacity (energy density).

My money is on battery electric being the future, as it's simple and already quite close. Fuel cells seem to have been a huge waste of money and effort. Hydrogen combustion cars suffering from the same infrastructure problems as the fuel cells.

There's some research using sunlight and split water into hydrogen, which may improve things, but don't hold your breath...

Battery electric would be good for the power grid as they can charge at night and support the grid during the day (still plugged in at home or at work). Evening out the night/day demand would be a godsend for the grid.

BTW, the recharge times usually quoted in the motoring press for electric cars are based on using a household 13A plug. Think how fast the lipo pack in your RC car can fast charge... The limit is not the batteries, it's the available mains supply.

There are now free fast charges being installed at motorway service stations that will fully charge a Leaf in under an hour IIRC.

[Marty]

Yes I run a lipo polymer battery in my RC touring car.

They are a very volatile battery and have to be charged with a special charger that monitors the cells. Its also advisable to balance charge them to get all cells at the same voltage. The charge rate must not exceed the mah of the battery I run 5600 so I charge at 5 amps. Also batteries have to be charged in a lipo sack as they can go thermal and you cant stop them swelling up and going off. Go on YouTube and search lipo batteries

You also have to have a safety voltage cutoff on an RC its built into my speed controller its 3.2 volts per cell if you was to let it go below that you stand a big chance of trashing the battery.

You also get different C ratings thats how quick the battery will let a motor pull the power from it the higher the C rating the bigger the punch.

[Roboscot]

The future may very well be horse and cart after the implosion of civilisation due to overpopulation, but that's another debate

[peteT16]

Long live chariot racing

[mg-richard]

The future may very well be horse and cart after the implosion of civilisation due to overpopulation, but that's another debate

how about this
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=390_1376054407

[Punx0r]

That..is...brilliant

[Nom]

Ah !

[Nom]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9o15EALghp0

I hope the guy was okay.

[Semproxion]

I think we need to concentrate on hydrogen cars tbh but that would put a dint in oil billion airs pockets i think concentrating on battery powered cars is a waste of time......

Ross

Honda already have a production ready model hydrogen car and have had for 6 years. James May even drove it around LA on Top Gear. A Honda engineer said on the program that they were 18 months from having a viable extraction unit that could work "in-home" Since then there has been NOTHING more about it.

Excuse the tin-foil hat mode but I believe Honda have been paid to sit on this development by those oil barons because the minute we start switching to hydrogen fuel cells with the ability to fill up at home they have no income.

By insisting on the push for electric battery there's still a big demand for oil/gas as it's used for power stations. A bigger demand in electricity will be needed to charge EV's so they still get their money.