Jon \"Sheer\" Pullen 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. > >But that 4-8 hour limitation isn't because of the maximum rate that the >batteries can accept current - most batteries can accept staggering recharge >currents in the 20%-80% SoC. Even my Evercels have been tested to 60A [and, >when I stop avoiding Rich, I want to parallel two PFC-50s and try 100A.. I'm >pretty sure it'll work]. Industrial lead acids are regularly charged at >300A. And, for the cost of a gas pump, gas tanks, and all the complex >handling equipment needed to buy gas, I'm pretty sure a 200A+ charging >station could be made.
All perfectly true, of course, but entirely misses my point: If you want to convince the unconvinced that EVs are a good idea, you have to show them that they work as well or better than what they already have - not that they could do all that, if only we had a certain wish list provided. Doubters will just use your wish list as a justification for their doubt. A cross-country trip may be worthwhile as a proof of concept for high-amp charging stations, but since they don't exist right now, you can't very well use them on a trip right now. In the meantime, a trip that's actually possible will be so tedious that it won't convince many people to buy EVs, and may end up having the exact opposite effect of convincing them that EVs can never be useful. What's more, even your high amp charging stations may have their practical problems, so it is difficult to count on them as a sure-fire way to compete with ICEs. I just don't think a cross-country use sufficiently maximizes the strengths of EV technology, and instead needlessly focuses attention on the limitations. On the other hand, showing doubters a commuter vehicle that can *right now* replace the second family car, and at a significant environmental benefit, may really convince some people that this is something they could legitimately consider. A whole lot of the people who consider the idea will reject it for one reason or another, but some will convert. The more who convert and the more common the phenomenon becomes, the more other people will be willing to toss an EV into their mental hopper of the truly possible. I like "Sheer's world", don't get me wrong. I just think that we need closer-term visions to really get EVs accepted into the mainstream. -- -Adam Kuehn
