https://www.ornl.gov/news/nano-spike-catalysts-convert-carbon-dioxide-directly-ethanol here they say its possible
Ehh I say we are well past the point where cars are safe enough, a lot of it I feel is just overkill and some people would rather not be surrounded by airbags.
When (not if) we run out of oil, we'll just find alternatives that burn as well, if not better and much cleaner. We will always have a use for fossil fuels.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2006-01-02/airbag-statistics Those numbers will be higher due to takata's lax approach to vehicle safety. But even so the chances of being killed by an airbag are very low, as in a couple thousand times lower than getting into a serious car crash where an airbag may save your life.
Ethanol. CH3CH2OH Carbon dioxide. CO2. Notice that their catalyst requires high power electrical application and water H2O to provide the other needed resources. So no. You cannot convert exhaust gas to ethanol.
Almost as absurd as routing positive crankcase ventilation to your intake. Anymore wild free energy ideas?
I don't care as long as I'm not stuck with an electric car that does 100 miles, takes 12 hours to charge and needs £5k in batteries every few years...
Hasn't current technology already passed that stage? The Model S/X is much better than that and can surely only get better?
Well those specs are pretty much what the Nissan Leaf does from what I remember and thats not exactly old. 100 miles in generous for that car too considering turning the AC on and driving on a cold day you get like 70 miles... Tesla is the first one to do anything even close to practical but charging still takes multiple hours. They are more middle class toys than they are practical motor vehicles in their current state, it will get better with time I'm sure.
guy at work has a zoe, that has the leaf drivetrain, does closer to 150 per charge --- Post updated --- CEO also has a tesla roadster. Pair of them concur that range isnt an issue. You have it on charge at home. You have it on charge at work. Its never low on battery. They've saved more time with electric than they have with petrol having to babysit a fuel pump
Was basing it of this, sure you *can* get 140 miles if you drive on the perfect day on flat ground take off the mirrors and have someone push. But this is reality. Yes you can charge them at home, but they still take forever, which is fine if you never go anywhere but the shop as even taking a road trip for more than 100 miles would be a total nightmare. No idea where you get the idea that they save time because pumping petrol takes a couple of minutes at very most...
I like electric cars and the idea overall but one thing concerns me. One guy I know works at a car dealer (can't remember what right now) and he told me that the predicted battery life is maybe 10 years (again, can't remember for what car specifically) as far as he knows. Pretty much every electric car has different battery and they don't seem really changeable, so seems like the current electric cars aren't going to live much longer than that.
Have an electrician wire in whatever hi voltage system these cars use at actual recharge stations and you won't be waiting no 12 hours. More like 20 minutes. I'll say this a million times, for utilitarian transportation, the electric car WILL be king in 20 years.
A couple of minutes babysitting, versus plug in a cable and walk away. You dont even have to pull into a petrol station. Get to work, plug cable in and get on with your day. It saves time because yet the car takes hours to charge, but you dont have to actively go out of your way to charge it, its charging while you do other stuff.
Do you really think it'll be that long? Once the Model 3 is realeased and new versions of the e-Golf/Leaf/Zoe are unveiled, I think it'll be a much quicker revolution than that. Most people's car usage already fits within the electric car's range, it's simply a case of making it the norm.
Again though thats assuming you stop for an hour or so at least, have you never travelled more than 100 miles at a time? Considering I've only even seen one EV charge post thing as well doesnt give you much choice and you will end up needing to go find some stranger who has a socket they will lend you, sounds like a total pain in the arse. They are great in some environments but they simply aren't good enough for the majority. Sure, but like I said above not everyone lives in LA, travelling more than 100 miles and you will be screwed, maybe in "the future" there will be charging points everywhere and they will make actual sense then too. No way you're doing more than topping up the battery in 20 minutes no matter the charger.
I'm fairly certain that the batteries in most electric cars are changeable. The batteries in a prius are and I see no reason the batteries in other hybrid/electric cars wouldn't be. As of right now the faster you charge a battery the more life you take out of it. That will change as battery tech get better but with current tech if you fully charge your batteries in 20 minutes you will be replacing those very expensive batteries pretty often.
My Uncle has a Zoe and he has done large road trips in it (think London to north of England) and those do take longer. He uses it as a commuter car as well as for my aunty to learn to drive in (she has failed many times in manual cars) so it makes sense as an easier car to drive. However I think she has lost interest in that so it is just a cheap commuter car. He has his on a lease, where he pays a monthly fee for the car and the batteries. Then at the end of the 3 year contract he can either buy the car from them or hand it back. So it isn't costing much more than an economy hatchback, factoring in fuel it works out cheaper and has faster 0-60 than any cheap hatchback on the market. For reference the current Zoe's range is: 239.8 to 402.3 km (150 - 248 miles) To buy a Zoe outright costs about the same as an equivalent combustion car, after you factor in government grants it can be cheaper depending on spec.
Your both wrong about that. There are already batteries that will hold MUCH more and charge MUCH faster than what is commercially available. In 10 years your smart phone will take 5 minutes to charge tops. This is all existing tech that is simply too expensive now, just like there are smart phone sized 20k resolution displays. A 20 minute charge is honestly being horribly pessimistic for 20 years and I say 20 and not 10 years just to be safe.
