Yes Seth. I agree with you that having an oil-burner as a chase/support vehicle tends to negate the point.
HOWEVER it also stresses a point. The ICE chase vehicle or anybody else's for that matter couldn't make it across country either, except for the fact that there is a (500kw? or more?) recharging station every 3.6 miles. Like Pete says, give me a 45kw recharge station every 100 miles and it can be done alone. Since the infrastructure doesn't exist (I mean isn't tapped yet) we'll have to bring our own. Stay Charged! Hump -----Original Message----- From: Seth Murray [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Thursday, October 10, 2002 1:00 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Cross country charging challenge/Opinion Hi Everyone - I need to comment on this whole cross country EV drive thing, especially the battery swap idea. I am not attacking anyone, just have a few thoughts. They are my opinions. I think it is great to make a point - that EVs are practical. However, I feel that if in order to make this practicality statement by driving across the country, you need to rely on support vehicles (especially if you are burning oil in them), what point are you making? I thought about this some when my Dad and I were participating in the Tour de Sol this year - people were amazed to discover that my we did not have a chase or support vehicle to carry our gear and tools (we did end up needing a tow after our accident, but that is beside the point). We went into the Tour with the purpose of demonstrating to the public the practicality of a simple, home-converted EV in relatively short-range applications. If we had to carry all our gear in an F-350 pickup truck following behind us getting 10 mpgs, what was the point? If our electric truck could not reliably carry two people and their gear without a support truck for a week of driving city to city, less that 80 miles between, what does that prove to anybody?? I know this is not exactly the same case as the cross country trip, but it is very similar. I agree on proving the practicality of EVs, but honestly I don't think EVs are practical as a cross-country car. Your average American wants to get in their car and drive, not have to plan out specific stops along the way, calling ahead to make sure they have 14-50s at each location. I'm not saying driving cross country in an EV wouldn't be cool, or prove *something,* but I just can't see flying the EV flag with your support vehicles out of sight a few miles back. My two cents worth Seth -- QUESTION INTERNAL COMBUSTION My electric truck page, with lots of photos and a 25 page conversion journal. Check it out! http://users.wpi.edu/~sethm/ (no more popups!) My EV Album page http://www.austinev.org/evalbum/387.html
