An interesting take on the new technology of Electric Cars as seen by a Canadian.

[LostKiwi]

I can see quite a few positives to that method of recharging.

 

[tc smith]

The answer is already out there, decades old, Sinclair C5, battery power with renewable recharging facility, no noxious fumes (unless last night was curry night).
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technolo...rn-1980s-electric-tricycle-gets-21st-century/

 

[Craiglxviii]

We have got them in work . for the LGV autonomous robots. They bimble around doing their thing and when they get a chance they hover over a charging point and get topped up should it be required.

Ours have copper charging points embedded into the floor and the robots have a charging arm that lowers to make contact with this , seems to work well it is just the batteries that are giving up the ghost on a regular basis which is good for the profits of the local supplier , Mannbat.

Kenny

Yeah, I’ve seen that kind of thing in car plants- they have hundreds of AGVs delivering parts to cells up and down the lines.

I was thinking more about wireless charging though, contactless near-field stuff buried under the road surface.

 

[Craiglxviii]

The answer is already out there, decades old, Sinclair C5, battery power with renewable recharging facility, no noxious fumes (unless last night was curry night).
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technolo...rn-1980s-electric-tricycle-gets-21st-century/

Only problem is that it doesn’t do too well in EuroNCAP...

 

[Craiglxviii]

No need,
manufacture trailerised diesel genny's so the EV's can carry their own charger.

Now all the EV's can drive as far as they like while charging, only having to pull in for a refuel every few hundred miles. Now there's a new concept.

Hang on. The roads are badly rutted so if we raise the car above the road, maybe on two steel strips, we wouldn’t need to worry about a smooth road surface. We could do away with rubber tyres too as there’d be no bumps. Maybe we could link multiple cars together to take advantage of the slipstreaming effect?

If we gave one car a big engine, like a Deltic(!) then it could tow loads of others too.

 

[ioweddie]

I spot a writer with a vested interest....

No vested interest: Just passing on something I received to create discussion!

 

[LostKiwi]

No vested interest: Just passing on something I received to create discussion!

I meant the Canadian source...

 

[ioweddie]

I meant the Canadian source...

OK makes sense

 

[M80]

Hang on. The roads are badly rutted so if we raise the car above the road, maybe on two steel strips, we wouldn’t need to worry about a smooth road surface. We could do away with rubber tyres too as there’d be no bumps. Maybe we could link multiple cars together to take advantage of the slipstreaming effect?

If we gave one car a big engine, like a Deltic(!) then it could tow loads of others too.

Two runners, strong engine up front,
you could call it the Muscleini so it sounds strong and stable.

Then you need to get the timing right.

 

[Craiglxviii]

Two runners, strong engine up front,
you could call it the Muscleini so it sounds strong and stable.

Then you need to get the timing right.

Something with flashing lights and stripey poles you mean?

 

[Xtractorfan]

A lot of it comes to planning...

Ahh, in 50 years we’ll have rapid charging points at junctions and traffic lights anyway...

I would seriously doubt that we will have cars that will run on roads in 50 years time, flying cars will be the order of the day and possibly even the old 'Beam me up Scotty' transporters. Of course there probably will still be the classics which will run on roads but only for fun runs, and the ability to have Hologram images of any car we want and a virtual drive anywhere in the world we want, in whatever car we fancy.
Whilst the elite will be space tripping to far away Planets and Galaxies.
Gentlemen I tell you now the future is coming, and its exciting... lol.

 

[turbopete]

No need,
manufacture trailerised diesel genny's so the EV's can carry their own charger.

in a way, didn't old top gear solve this issue (in their own madcap way) when they built that milk float based electric 'car' with the generator in the back? (and yes I know that generator wouldn't be powerful enough and that many of those stunts were set up) I mean, theoretically, its ALMOST an ideal solution. not perfect, but then what solution is? I'd imagine that in practice, it would be more efficient/less polluting to just use the engine to drive the vehicle or someone would have tried harder to emulate the principle.

 

[M80]

Maybe a diesel engine vehicle could pull the milk float,

 

[M80]

Or if the EV' towed a trailer with a wind turbine, as they propel forward the create their own apparent wind to turn the turbine, sorted.
You could even put sails on the EV and then the turbine rotating could even push the EV from behind, if that wouldn't push it too fast mind.

 

[turbopete]

ok I admit the idea was far from perfect but there surely has to be SOMETHING that could be done without having to go to a petrol or diesel engine to actually drive the car that will extend the range of the batteries we have with current technology, surely?

 

[M80]

ok I admit the idea was far from perfect but there surely has to be SOMETHING that could be done without having to go to a petrol or diesel engine to actually drive the car that will extend the range of the batteries we have with current technology, surely?

As is already happening, the battery technology / capacity will improve.
It's not difficult to imagine the yufes of tomorrow wondering why us duffers ever bothered with ICE.
"The silly sods used to run gas through already complicated and inefficient engines to try and make them go fast, and they just blew up. It's no wonder they screwed up our planet."

 

[Larkone]

Combine them. A towing truck with a ginormous genset. Get towed AND charged at the same time.

Or fit diesel engines and genset to EVs, now there's an idea.

 

[ajlsl600]

its going this way. thats it . fossil fuels are going,thats it. fortunatly i will likely become compost before it adversely affects me , thats it . trying to get people to accect that an ,if yr lucky 300mile commuter vehicle costing over 100,000 and having a 6,7 yr power pack life is viable is not going to happen. thats it .
lets ressume the debate when the Ev costs 30 k, battery lasts 15 yrs and costs less than 25 percent of vehicle cost to replace that seems to put the situation under control for a fair while to me.

 

[Frontstep]

There is a lot of research going on with capacitors which if proved viable should bring costs down substantially.

 

[Frontstep]

There is a lot of research going on with capacitors which if proved viable should bring costs down substantially.