Humphrey, Timothy wrote: >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.
Yes, but that multi-kilowatt "recharge" that the ICE gets takes five minutes, including the time it takes to fork over the money (at least on any modern credit-based pump). Your 100-mile range EV will typically take 4-8 hours for its recharge. The country is about 2800 miles across, depending on exactly where you are crossing it, so you've just added a minimum of about 100 hours - which is to say, more than 4 full days - to your cross-country trip. Seems to me that this is not going to convince anyone that an EV is terribly useful invention. The way to "prove" EVs to people who may otherwise have doubts is to use them in everyday applications that maximize their strengths and minimize their weaknesses. Commuting is perfect for this. EVs waste no energy at stops or in traffic jams, the range limitation is minimized (particularly if charging can be done during the day at the office), the environmental benefits are maximized, and a purpose-built EV can be optimized for this use. One things battery EVs are unlikely ever to be is the sole vehicle for a one-car family. So design and marketing efforts should stress their use as a special-purpose "errand" vehicle for a two-or-more-car family. In that niche market, I think battery EVs could eventually be a significant success. Efforts to convince doubters should be specifically targeted at that use group, in my view. -- -Adam Kuehn
