Battery based electric vehicles of today and tomorrow.

[SylvainG]

e-Bike a danger to pedestrians? Around here most pedestrian hits are by cars, as are most bicycle deaths.

There are more cars than e-bike. I bike now about 3,000 km per year (used to bike 10,000 km per year when commuting by bike) and you always have to watch for pedestrians (and dogs, specially with long leach!) on MUP because they can change direction without looking. Happens to me several times per year, even when ringing my bell to give them a heads up (specially when they're in group). An e-bike is heavier and not as maneuverable as a 15-20 lb bike. Get hit by one at 30+ MPH and you'll feel it.

 

[RoyJackson]

Everybody says" public transportation is so great for the environment but the reason only the ignorant push for it is the math doesn't work. The cost per seat mile is enormous. Smart politicians have figured out that public transportation costs a lot for the few votes it will buy.

What’s the cost of maintaining the present road transportation system compared to the cost of a designed public transportation system?

Biggest problem with public transportation is it's only efficient in high density populated areas...which is also where most pollution originates.
I see electric vehicles efficient in cities and, maybe, suburbs...but until the batteries' range is, at least, doubled, not in the rural areas.

 

[Jchonline]

We don't need to be in that big a hurry. The transition will take decades. As has been discussed, it will be 50 years before we're converted to majority EV use. That's longer than the service life of power plants. Even the Grand Coulee is over halfway through its design lifetime. We're going to have to replace 90% of our electrical generating capacity anyway.

I agree, but grow tired of hearing about EVs ad nauseum with no real plan for powering them. I suppose its par for the course lol.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Current policies of non energy independence drive the cost of fuel up as an incentive to move to EV's.
When fuel goes up in price, more money is being transferred. Large amounts of fuel are required in agriculture and manufacturing. When fuel prices rise, the cost of just about everything else rises also.

True. That is why food produced by fermentation in time will reduce the need for tractors, fuel and land for animal factories and row crops to feed the world.

Lab-grown food is about to destroy farming – and save the planet | George Monbiot

By then the fleets of self driving electric trucks can manage getting the food from labs to distribution.

 

[Jchonline]

Shopping centers don't produce coal sludge, toxic chemicals, plug up streams. No comparison. Dirty Coal has no future.

Yes but shopping centers displace wildlife, reduce foliage/tree density, and suck lots of electricity. Evil!

Biggest problem with public transportation is it's only efficient in high density populated areas...which is also where most pollution originates.
I see electric vehicles efficient in cities and, maybe, suburbs...but until the batteries' range is, at least, doubled, not in the rural areas.

Not just the battery's range, but the battery's range in varying weather conditions (very hot, very cold). Cold temps can double the discharge rate if the batteries are not actively heated (yes the newest Teslas have battery heaters built in). Hot temps make it harder to charge Lithium based batteries.

My number is 700 miles in extreme cold temps with the heater in the vehicle running while pulling just under CDL load. It needs to be better than ICE for me to make a move!

 

[MossRoad]

Insight: Rocking down to Electric Avenue? Good luck charging your car

European and U.S. cities planning to phase out combustion engines over the next 15 years first need to plug a charging gap for millions of residents who park their cars on the street.

www.reuters.com

 

[RoyJackson]

Yes but shopping centers displace wildlife, reduce foliage/tree density, and suck lots of electricity. Evil!



Not just the battery's range, but the battery's range in varying weather conditions (very hot, very cold). Cold temps can double the discharge rate if the batteries are not actively heated (yes the newest Teslas have battery heaters built in). Hot temps make it harder to charge Lithium based batteries.

My number is 700 miles in extreme cold temps with the heater in the vehicle running.

And trees absorb CO2.
The only advantage of shopping centers is they reduce the need from driving from store to store...that's it.
And, just as important to me, is since shopping centers are not normally built in lower populated areas, less likely to kill the "Ma and Pa" shops and ruin rural life.

Good point about battery life...as I'd written, good for urban transportation, but not much else.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Insight: Rocking down to Electric Avenue? Good luck charging your car

European and U.S. cities planning to phase out combustion engines over the next 15 years first need to plug a charging gap for millions of residents who park their cars on the street.

www.reuters.com

One thing that the author failed to mention was that car ownership in cities will drop like a rock due to self driving EVs serving as Robo taxies to your location on demand.

 

[RoyJackson]

One thing that the author failed to mention was that car ownership in cities will drop like a rock due to self driving EVs serving as Robo taxies to your location on demand.

I seriously doubt that...

 

[Jchonline]

One thing that the author failed to mention was that car ownership in cities will drop like a rock due to self driving EVs serving as Robo taxies to your location on demand.

As long as Apple can keep theirs from hitting curbs!

Apple Self-Driving Car Needed a Realignment After Clipping Curb in Autonomous Mode

One of Apple's self-driving test vehicles was involved in a minor incident on September 27, according to a filing made with the California DMV...

www.macrumors.com