New electric car battery may change the industry and the world.

[begreen]

Going to electricity as a standard from of power whether for homes or cars makes so much sense. The infrastructure that has to be built, modified, maintained to support so many types of fuels is burdensome.

We should update our electrical distribution system to increases its efficiency and "smartness" and then feed it with whatever energy source we have available whether , NG, renewable, etc. from both regional and local (e.g. residential) energy sources.

Battery technologies such as that discussed here will enable this vision. One day we may have batteries like this in every vehicle and another set in our basement.

One day we may just hook the car up as a supplemental power supply to the house. Same thing for when it sits all day in a parking lot. A car with a big battery and/or a fuel cell is a portable storage device/power source.

 

[begreen]

I dunno. No oil changes, brakes, mufflers, filters and a battery pack that last 20 years and can be charged once/week means only people stopping for ciggarettes in the morning and beer at night. Gas stations as it is don't make any money on gas. I'm all for the charging stations. Some place where I could get a decent cup of coffee and internet access every 500 miles. Instead of a 5 minute visit it would be closer to 15-20 minutes. Maybe they'd bring back the pickle barrel and we could start talking small-time politics.

I like the idea of modular batteries, and if you only need 40 miles/day then you could keep down the cost of the vehicle. I don't know how easy it would be to design a removable battery that's light like a propane cylinder, and doesn't get hot. Even modest battery packs are going to be hundreds of pounds. A full gas tank would be 200lbs or more.

Dont like the battery swap idea. When you are paying x# thousands of $ for a battery pack you may not want to swap it for another one of questionable quality and age, not to mention you would need a forklift to move it. Hell i dont even like to swap my brand new propane tank for a old refill slopped up with paint to cover the rust. The quick charge would be much more convenient. AS for jobs if we can Mfg the majority of cars and parts HERE in the US we may get back some market share from japan and korea. Look at the volt owners most use very little gas as 90% of trips are short. This concept alone may stretch out the available liquid fuel hundreds of years. The leaf should have a small lightweight propane generator in the trunk like the campers do,provide extra range as well as heat in winter.

Most likely in this case you would not be paying for the battery or owning it. It might be more of a leasing arrangement. This would help reduce the price of electric cars dramatically and it would reduce the risk of technology obsolescence.

 

[semipro]

Going to electricity as a standard from of power whether for homes or cars makes so much sense. The infrastructure that has to be built, modified, maintained to support so many types of fuels is burdensome.

We should update our electrical distribution system to increases its efficiency and "smartness" and then feed it with whatever energy source we have available whether , NG, renewable, etc. from both regional and local (e.g. residential) energy sources.

Battery technologies such as that discussed here will enable this vision. One day we may have batteries like this in every vehicle and another set in our basement.

One day we may just hook the car up as a supplemental power supply to the house. Same thing for when it sits all day in a parking lot. A car with a big battery and/or a fuel cell is a portable storage device/power source.

That idea is out there and a good one. Why buy a backup generator when you have a Chevy Volt connected to your house with either an ICE or battery as a power source.

Some have even proposed using batteries in cars as energy sources/sinks to smooth out electrical grid supply/demand fluctuations.

 

[btuser]

Oh my gawd that would be awesome. Centralized emissions control and you take your power with your car. How heavy would a rechargeable chainsaw be?