Electric Cars

[Garawa]

Been watching more propaganda on tv about electric cars and I really cannot see how on Earth they propose to be anything other than a gimmick! As they cost considerably more than a fuel car, I will ignore any tax breaks or massively expensive fast charge stations as this would push them well out the price bracket of most families and these silly toy cars also as its like comparing a Focus to a bike!

The article was on the new Ford Focus Electric car. As this is a family vehicle it is one of the few that can be adequately compared. When we honeymooned in the Lake District 9 years ago we set off at 4am and got there at 10 with a stop just outside Manchester. It was precisely 350 miles meaning we could just about do there and back on a tank that would now cost £70. This new Focus has a range of "up to" 76 miles meaning the same journey would require an additional 9 charges! This is quite a lot hunting for a fast charge station assuming there are some along the way instead of being half a charge away to get to! Also, without expensive fast charge system at home, at 13A a full charge would take around 8 hours to complete! This is the benefit I see (and my maths may be wrong) as this equates to 25kWh meaning a charge at current rates only costs £1-2 and £8-9 over the equivalent range of a tank of petrol.

How long would it take to make 9 charges to go anywhere decent? The only way I see them working is having solar panels making up the roof but this would make the car far more expensive, a lot heavier and far more cumbersome probably losing every seat bar the drivers. A better solution would be to fit the batteries in way that means they can be removed easily. You would go to the garage, drive to a machine that removes the spent ones and replaces them with charged ones for a fee that would may be a quarter of a tank of fuel. This still has time issues involved and would be very expensive to put in place however. However this would also limit space for petrol impacting forecourt profits. The solution is hydrogen. Currently difficult and expensive, high demand would rapidly lower the price. The range is miles better and the "fumes" created is water vapour. Again this would impact on profits as a low demand item would be taking space of high demand/profit.

I can't see how several hundred cars with a range of 400+ miles all suddenly now having a range of a quarter all using a garage forecourt for longer. I know they would be elsewhere as well as home charges but I couldn't even do a trip to Lakeside or London! I know many will say about companies like BP being in the pocket of the government but I'm not really interested in that. This will never happen because no-one will remove space allocated to petrol pumps. Brand new dedicated stations won't work as they would be too few and far between, all forecourts would need to include the new technology. The only way would be for the government to say by say 2025 that fuel will be so rare ALL cars will need to be X. Demand would be there then to make it happen, like it did once with 4 star and unleaded. But it looks quite clear electric cars cannot have a future yet everyone harps on about them!

[CadburyMan]

Agreed on everything

[Rimshot]

Still, you can't deny Scalextric has come a long way.

[Elgrande]

The Oil companies have too much power. Hydrogen (water) based technology is workable and these electric cars are perfect for the school run Mums who do about 3,000 miles a year. Something has to be done and i am not a climate change advocate!

[Garawa]

I agree, but of them will still choose their 4x4s. What I can't work out is that electric cannot work despite all the rhetoric to the opposite. So hydrogen makes sense. If say BP really pushed this technology they would have the hydrogen AND petroleum markets and would capitalise on the demand when it takes off. Instead all the eggs are in one basket drilling for oil they know will run out in less time then it will take to develop a new market. So these companies crash along with our economy to a scale we could never dream of and we are seemingly walking blindfolded to disaster.

[gillsfan1066]

Drive a Tesla,that will change your mind about electric cars. Soon here in The States they are going to have plugs running from the parking meters that will fully charge you car in less than an hour for only a few pennies. Big problem with electric cars is keeping the battery from over heating when it is being charged,( Boeing GS Yuasa and Thalos SA are solving that as we speak)
A hundred and twenty odd years ago people did not think the automobile would be anything more than a gimmick, petrol engines were a joke, nothing would replace the 'orse, in the next 20 years electric power cars will rule the planet.
General Motors have already got a fabulous car called the Volt, gas/electric and just the start, soon it will be electric/gas, 80% electric , 20%gas for the same 350 mile journey.
Most frightening thing about them ,they are so dam quiet you can not here them comming.

[Garawa]

"less than an hour"

That's the issue! 9 charges in "less than an hour" or one tank filled in less than 10 minutes!

[lidbid46]

I think the hybrid cars may be the future - electric when ever possible, then petrol when the charge runs out. Will still save a lot of petrol use.

[Elgrande]

But you charge them when you are not using them. As for driving to the Lake District; there probably wasn't any electric there anyway! I would rather drive to Dymchurch on a fully charged battery!

[gillsfan1066]

Blimey what do you drive a Maidstone and District bus, it takes you 10 minutes to fill your tank ? lol.
Hybrids are great ,Chevy have the Volt out now, kick that pig down and she takes of like a rocket, even on battery power. If you are going to be driving 300 miles a day then a hybrid is the answer.
For the Mom driving the kids to school, going only 30 /40 miles, comming home and not going out for several hours, or the guy that drives from Gillingham to Maidstone to work and the car then sits for 6 hours, electric cars are the answer, or will be, real soon.
Garawa you sound like Jeremy Clarkson,lol I watched him and his side kicks drive electric cars on a show the other night,lol, did nothing but complain.