will electric cars start to populate our streets very soon?

Answer 1

they could

Answer 2

There has certainly been an increase in the number of electric vehicles on the streets but the numbers emain very small compared to conventionally powered vehicles.

One major drawback is that batteries are a very poor power source, the storage of electricity is both difficult and expensive. It's for this reason that power stations generate electricity on demand, unlike gas or water which is stored and used as needed.

It also takes far more electricity to charge a battery than the battery itself actually stores. This means that electrically propelled vehicles have to carry a lot of weight in batteries and have a very limited range before needing to be recharged. Practical if you're only running around locally and can charge up at home each night, not remotely practical for long journeys.

There is new technology being developed that may one day provide a practical solution - carbon nanotube paper batteries. It's in it's early stages but the team, led by Professor Robert Linhardt, of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, have already developed a battery the size of a postage stamp that can power a small lightbulb. If this were stepped up and a battery the size of a newspaper were produced it would power a vehicle. It would be an expensive way to do it, but it should work.

On the other hand, with more and more devices being powered by conventional batteries and an ever increasing demand for smaller batteries (think cell-phones of today compared to 10 years ago), there is much research and development into more efficient batteries and capacitors.

The technology is still a long way off before the era of practical electrically propelled vehicles arrives, until that time we'll continue to rely on conventional liquid fuels.

Answer 3

Not at the prices projected and the limited ranges and passenger carrying. People want cars in the price ranges, sizes and ability to travel that we have now. EVs cost too much when built to do what internal combustion cars do. EVs require electricity, which has to be made somewhere, using some energy and there is where the pollution will be. Double the number of electric generating plants, nuclear, coal-fired, and hydroelectric in order to power them. Environmentalists won't allow it, they "know better" than you do, that you should walk, ride bicycles [in rain, blistering heat or in snow and freezing cold] or pay taxis, or use buses or trains and should never own one of those nasty cars. Electric cars do cause pollution, just somewhere else.

We can't depend on oil forever, but synthetic petrol can be made from coal and we have plenty of that. The environmentalists want to ban the use of coal though. We are left with bio-fuels, but we can't grow them because someone might go hungry.

Name any means of producing large amounts of inexpensive energy and some environmental group opposes it.

However it is possible in the near future that some cars will use one fuel, some another and some yet another and so on. A mix of fuels and cars. One that could be built immediately could use any liquid or gaseous fuel, the steam-electric hybrid. It would be a short-range inexpensive EV with a built-in generator powered by a small, highly efficient steam engine to go longer distances. Less pollution than an internal combustion engine.

Answer 4

as a member of the battery vehicle soc http://batteryvehiclesociety.org.uk/wordpress/ I have enjoyed the pleasure of driving electric.
The technology is here now.

Free carparks in Westminster provide charging points, recharge at work if you don't have home facilities; or at roadside cafes, 10 minute recharge every 200 miles while you have a coffee. these could be rolled out much easier than the pertol station network we now have, or the hydrogen network Bush favours.

And because electric cars are much more efiicient than infernal there is sufficient capacity in the grid, evs will even help the grid utilisation because cars can sell energy back to the grid helping enable the deployment of variable renewable enrergy sources (a car with a range of 200 miles will normally only do 20 miles a day, that is a lot of stored capacity distributed around the grid) http://www.acpropulsion.com/releases/10-24-2007.htm

electric cars will outperform comparabel infernal combustion because max torque from 0 rpm, eg the Lotus designed Tesla, http://www.teslamotors.com
or the <8 sec 1/4mile 168mph Killacycle http://www.killacycle.com
but don't expect mentioon in the UK the revolution will not be telavised, they would rather crach a 250mph jet car, than be involved with the 350-400mph bluebird http://www.speedace.info

We could have started 10 years ago, but GM recalled and crushed their EV1s http://ev1-club.power.net/

Answer 5

People tend to assume the only reason to produce electric cars is to reduce global warming. That is not the case at all - the reason to produce electric cars is because our declining reserves of petroleum are going to increase the price of gasoline exponentially. Electric cars are more efficient users of energy than internal combustion engines. Don't forget that i.c. engines spend a lot of time idling at red lights, coasting up to stop signs, etc. It is also a lot easier to control the causes of global warming at a central location like an electricity generating plant than it is at thousands of little sources like cars.

Answer 6

Yes ...I use a car that runs on LPG is half the price of petrol and better for the planet yet you dont see that advertised across Britain...Oil will run out and thats a fact so we have to have something else that works .I believe that the ability is already out there however the goverment are taking more money everyday in fuel tax than you could wish for ...so they will wait until they have to spilll the beans

Answer 7

If they do, just remember that SOMEWHERE, emissions will be generated to produce the electricity to charge the "electric car's" batteries...

Hybrid cars will produce fewer emissions than a standard internal combustion engine - but the myth that electric cars are "emission free" is just that: A MYTH.

It's a myth, because unless the United States converts to 100% renewable energy sources that do not produce emissions, a power plant - with the odds being that power plant is burning coal to produce power, that means emissions will be generated ON BEHALF of the electric car...

Answer 8

Yes, we will. There are some really cool long-range high-speed EVs coming into production starting in about a year.

Available in October 2008, the Aptera typ-1e will cost under $30,000 with a top speed of 95 mph and range of 120 miles per charge.

http://www.aptera.com/details.php

Soon thereafter Aptera will introduce the typ-1h, a plug-in hybrid version of the typ-1e with a 40-60 mile range on purely electrical energy, and a range of over 600 miles total when in electric/gas hybrid mode, for around $30,000. On a 120 mile trip, the typ-1h will get 300 miles per gallon. The shorter the trip, the higher the efficiency.

http://www.aptera.com/details.php

Available in late 2008 or early 2009, the ZAP Alias will cost $30,000, have a top speed of 100 mph, and a range of 100 miles per charge.

http://zapworld.com/electric-vehicles/electric-cars/zap-alias

Soon thereafter the ZAP-X will be available at a cost of $60,000 with a top speed of 155 mph and a range of 350 miles per charge.

http://zapworld.com/electric-vehicles/electric-cars/zap-x

Available in late 2008 or early 2009, the Miles Javlon will cost $30,000 with a top speed of 80 mph and a range of 120 miles per charge.

http://www.milesev.com/

Phoenix Motorcars will start selling their SUT to individuals in late 2008 or early 2009. It will cost $45,000 and have a top speed of 100 mph with a range of 100+ miles per charge.

http://phoenixmotorcars.com/

Answer 9

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Answer 10

The usual crop of inane answers, but never mind, children will be children.

I think it's unlikely in the near future, as long as we still have fossil fuels.

It is a nice idea though, the big problem which no-one has addressed in this forum , is that the power stations have to be able to produce the electricity in the first place, where do they get all the fuel from?

Answer 11

electric and hybrid cars have some interesting technology options that improve the fuel performance of such cars, but batteries are limiters on the performance of such cars.
I think the electric car is a trend, that will not cause a major revolution in the automotive industry.