Electric cars

Westside Steve

Just thought I would offer a Mia Culpa. You guys know I have no problem with electric cars and think they are part of the future of Transportation. That being said I remember floating my theory that they could have power stations within gasoline stations in which the someday standardized battery could be removed and replaced by one that was already charged.

Never occurred to me the size and the weight of the battery inside the car which would make that plan completely unfeasible. Duh.

Meaning until technology makes smaller batteries that hold the same charge and or faster charging stations it is what it is. An inconvenient form of some travel that would be very convenient in many circumstances.

WSS

Vambo

Browns149

I could probably get away with having one to go back and forth to work, and for errands around here.
But when I come to Cleveland to see family, it wouldn’t be practical at all

Westside Steve

@browns149 said:

I could probably get away with having one to go back and forth to work, and for errands around here.
But when I come to Cleveland to see family, it wouldn’t be practical at all

Yeah probably they're good for what about 300 mi? Don't know how long they take to charge back up. If it's a couple hours you can plug it in at your parents house. Overnight? Probably would be a lot more of a pain in the ass. Then again we all remember using dry cell batteries. Well a lot of us.

WSS

DieHardBrownsFan1

I use AA and AAA batteries all the time. They are dry cell batteries.

Westside Steve

@diehardbrownsfan1 said:

I use AA and AAA batteries all the time. They are dry cell batteries.

Yeah I guess alkaline batteries are still called dry cell. But they're pretty far Advanced from the ones we had in the 60s and lithium are lots better than alkaline. I'm assuming some new improved technology will come along soon enough. If it hasn't already.

WSS

Neo

@westside-steve said:

Just thought I would offer a Mia Copa. You guys know I have no problem with electric cars and think they are part of the future of Transportation. That being said I remember floating my theory that they could have power stations within gasoline stations in which the someday standardized battery could be removed and replaced by one that was already charged.

Never occurred to me the size and the weight of the battery inside the car which would make that plan completely unfeasible. Duh.

Meaning until technology makes smaller batteries that hold the same charge and or faster charging stations it is what it is. An inconvenient form of some travel that would be very convenient in many circumstances.

WSS

Batteries should not be the main source or only souce of power for a car, ever. Hybrids are the way to go. Hydrogen is the way to go whether it be by fuel cell or Hydrogen burning internal combustion engines combined with a battery. Being able to make it's own power when a charging station is not availible would be extremely beneficial. From what I understand, hydrogen burning engines still give off some harmful gasses but the main byproduct is just water vapor. Hybrid make the most sense not putting a huge strain on the electical grid and the lack of charging stations.

Westside Steve

@neo said:

Batteries should not be the main source or only souce of power for a car, ever. Hybrids are the way to go. Hydrogen is the way to go whether it be by fuel cell or Hydrogen burning internal combustion engines combined with a battery. Being able to make it's own power when a charging station is not availible would be extremely beneficial. From what I understand, hydrogen burning engines still give off some harmful gasses but the main byproduct is just water vapor. Hybrid make the most sense not putting a huge strain on the electical grid and the lack of charging stations.

All of that is true, and more. Converting to Natural Gas makes sense as well. As of now it seems the focus is on battery powered cars. (Probably for other reasons than efficiency economy safety or the environment, if you get my drift.) I don't know if you are familiar with PJ O'Rourke kind of a hip conservative back in the day, somewhat along the lines of Dennis Miller, who started a tongue and cheek pants down Republican party. I wish I could find it all but one of the platforms was "not being a pussy about nuclear energy."

We tend to make the perfect be the enemy of the good or the better. That and the fact that the people who have a financial stake in one particular energy source will probably try to demonize the other energy sources.

WSS