The electric car revolution

[Monty]

People used to carry petrol cans in the car on long journeys, now they don't have to because the infrastructure matured.

[duke63]

People used to carry petrol cans in the car on long journeys, now they don't have to because the infrastructure matured.

The way we travel is going to have to change dramatically in the coming years.

Regardless of electric cars, oil has a limited lifespan anyway as its not a renewable source and we are using it up at a rapid rate.

[Monty]

Google how much energy the earth receives per square foot, we don't have an energy problem, we have a greed problem.

[duke63]

We waste all the free energy we could ever use, every single day by not harnessing the sun’s energy.

[Cav]

There's a huge reason there isn't a lot of investment in solar energy and that's the simple issue of inefficiency. For now, they're focusing their energies into the more efficient energies such as wind and hydro. Eventually, solar should be looked into again and will be significantly more efficient.

[Kwacky]

And there's more money in carbon based energy.

[StMarks]

.....Short answer, a very efficient heat pump.

£1600 option on some cars

Thanks for answering that query for me. I bet the "range" reduces dramatically on cold days when you combine the effect of low temps on the batteries & the substantial draw on power of the heat pump.?

There's a huge reason there isn't a lot of investment in solar energy and that's the simple issue of inefficiency. For now, they're focusing their energies into the more efficient energies such as wind and hydro. Eventually, solar should be looked into again and will be significantly more efficient.

Surely hydro & wind are also both ways of harnessing the power from the sun mate, just less direct methods.?
Actually, by the same thought process, fossil fuels are also just "stored solar power" aren't they.??

The only power sources that we currently have that are not really solar derived would seem to be nuclear fusion or volcanic.???

[Cav]

In a convoluted way I suppose you can say that rainfall is due to the sun.

Let's look at it in terms out output per input..

Scientists are still working on Nuclear Fusion which would power the world effortlessly and is meter-able. That's always a win.
Scientists are also looking to alternatives such as gravity-based energy systems. The top use for this currently would be for transportation and it's technically time travel too (just not in the teleportation sense).
With our current technologies, Nuclear Fusion is still massively underutilised and with correct restructuring following enough research they could definitely create safe isotopes for storage or reapplication.
Next would be Wind IMO, followed by Hydro. Tidal is okay too but not fantastic.
Solar is right down there and the reason you don't see electric cars with solar panel roofs is due to the fact you MAY add 5% battery life over a day. Elon Musk has spoken about this and it's not a useful tool where large quantities of energy are concerned.

[Kwacky]

Solar cells are inefficient but a lot of that is down to physics

They're still very effective at what they do. I don't think they should be discounted. A lot of countries reap the benefits of solar energy.

[duke63]

It doesn’t create any emissions either.

Isn’t the ICE a very poor use of energy in efficiency terms? Not studied any of this stuff for 40 years or so, so what was known them doesn’t compare to the current world, which also leads to the point that our way of travel in future generations will likely be something most of us have no knowledge of currently.

[Monty]

We're surrounded by energy, we're literally made from it. The problem is who owns it and how do they charge you for it? There are countless examples of oil companies buying up patents on anything that can disrupt their market.

Check out the Phoebus Cartel from the early 1900s. All the major light bulb manufacturers basically decided amongst themselves how long a lightbulb should last and fined each other in Swiss Franks if anyone made one that lasted more than 1000 hours.

CDs were unbreakable when they were designed, then someone realised that they'd never be able to sell the album more than once to someone, and they built-in obsolescence.

[Cav]

A lot of the inefficiency is more to do with material science and metallurgy IIRC. I've not read into it much for a year or so, so maybe things have changed.

Duke I'm only talking about energy "creation" rather than energy consumption (such as ICE) but to reply to you, only one ICE engine ever created has ever exceeded 50% efficiency. The saving grace to this wasted (majority) heat energy is you can use it to heat the cabin.. so technically you're increasing you're efficiency in Winter... but only technically. Btw, the 50% efficient engine is the current Mercedes F1 engine.

[duke63]

We're surrounded by energy, we're literally made from it. The problem is who owns it and how do they charge you for it? There are countless examples of oil companies buying up patents on anything that can disrupt their market.

Check out the Phoebus Cartel from the early 1900s. All the major light bulb manufacturers basically decided amongst themselves how long a lightbulb should last and fined each other in Swiss Franks if anyone made one that lasted more than 1000 hours.

CDs were unbreakable when they were designed, then someone realised that they'd never be able to sell the album more than once to someone, and they built-in obsolescence.

I have a cd at home that appears to have rusted beneath the outer coating.

[Perkles]

I mentioned to Kwacky last week there is a large amount of electric mx bikes at practice days now, they are really taking off

[StMarks]

I mentioned to Kwacky last week there is a large amount of electric mx bikes at practice days now, they are really taking off

Despite the weight of their battery packs??

[duke63]

The underwater 'kites' generating electricity as they move https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59401199" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Very clever stuff. But simple too.

Too many people and companies with a vested interest in nothing changing on a vast scale like this innovation, sadly.

[StMarks]

The underwater 'kites' generating electricity as they move https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59401199" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Very clever stuff. But simple too.

Too many people and companies with a vested interest in nothing changing on a vast scale like this innovation, sadly.

Love the "seaweed cow fodder" idea too, very smart indeed.

[StMarks]

Found an alternative idea, for anyone on here thinking of buying a Tesla & not wanting to splash out the extra £2k for an optional heat exchanger

[Jack]

That ^ also does away with the need for a cigarette lighter further reducing strain on the battery , you could also use it to make tea and bacon butties .
I like it .

[D41]

The guy is a regular Casey Jones, isn't he??