So I was thinking about Electric cars today

[erics75218]

...and first off let me say I don't like them, at least not the ones they have now, this includes the Tesla.

But at any rate, I couldn't help but notice the number of people who live in apartments, or rent places and have street only parking.

Here on the west-side of Los Angeles, I'd say that over 50% of the people do not have a "personal" parking spot for their car. Meaning...if you don't own a house, I bet you don't have any access to electricity where you park your car. BAMMO, no place to charge your new amazing car. Did anyone think of that with pure electrics.....the fact that a sh*t ton of the population doesn't have anywhere to charge the damn things?

Anyways, looks like in LA at least, electric cars will be the domain of millionaire home owners only. :-)

[Hello Kitty]

People living in condos/apartments cant afford a electric car anyways. Problem solved!

[mopho]

Originally Posted by erics75218

Anyways, looks like in LA at least, electric cars will be the domain of millionaire home owners only. :-)

Ten years ago you could say the same thing about flat screen TV's....




.

[Aedo]

London has a similar problem - so the council installed power outlets on the street with parking spaces reserved fro electric cars (which are also exempt from the congestion charge).

[slaughtr]

Speaking of which, has anyone tried wind power to help charge the batteries yet? Think about it, moving at 60 mph or so, a small intake up front could spin a small set of blades for energy use, right? There shouldn't be that much drag, internal combustion cars use intakes.

[smicker]

Originally Posted by slaughtr

Speaking of which, has anyone tried wind power to help charge the batteries yet? Think about it, moving at 60 mph or so, a small intake up front could spin a small set of blades for energy use, right? There shouldn't be that much drag, internal combustion cars use intakes.

The drag from a turbine would outweigh any electricity generated, resulting in a net loss of energy.

[erics75218]

Originally Posted by Aedo

London has a similar problem - so the council installed power outlets on the street with parking spaces reserved fro electric cars (which are also exempt from the congestion charge).

Good call, I wonder if something like that could ever happen in America though. I can see it now, all the chargers are covered in spray paint, or bums figure out that they can steal parts from them for recycling or something. How about putting gum on all the plugs lining our city street so we can't use them anymore. That's the thing about gas stations, they can be secured and guarded.



And I'm not suggesting you stop development no electric cars, I'm just saying that another HUGE hurdle is where do non home owners charge their cars.

I live a pretty nice life (We are on LOTUStalk afterall) but even me and all my RICHES (joking) I have no electricity at all in my parking garage. I then thought, how would they meter electricity for me in my parking space. I guess they'd need to install meters...outlets (you can't have cables running all over the damn place)...and as greedy as most Americans are..I can't see "The Archstone Marina Del Rey" fronting that cost.

I guess Gov could give tax incentives for companies (Like appartment building owners) to install electrical outlets.

Just seems like the Electric car will pass me by in my laughably short time on earth.

[Slipstreamer]

Originally Posted by slaughtr

Speaking of which, has anyone tried wind power to help charge the batteries yet? Think about it, moving at 60 mph or so, a small intake up front could spin a small set of blades for energy use, right? There shouldn't be that much drag, internal combustion cars use intakes.

Originally Posted by smicker

The drag from a turbine would outweigh any electricity generated, resulting in a net loss of energy.

I guess KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) which is only currently available in F1 race cars should hopefully trickle down to passenger cars eventually.

My personal choice of course would be for the mass production of fuel-celled cars. At this time only the Honda FCX Clarity is available in certain parts (because of limited filling station availability) in Southern California for lease (about 50+), where you do no have to recycle those massive and expensive-to-replace batteries.

"Honda FCX Clarity Fuel Cell Car Leasing Begins In July" Green Car Advisor

[TimMullen]

Originally Posted by slaughtr

Speaking of which, has anyone tried wind power to help charge the batteries yet? Think about it, moving at 60 mph or so, a small intake up front could spin a small set of blades for energy use, right? There shouldn't be that much drag, internal combustion cars use intakes.

Ever hear on a perpetual motion machine? Nope, neither did I.

The amount of power you would recover would only be a very small amount of the power you would consume moving the car to create the "wind" to generate the power. It would be more than offset by the increase in weight and drag requiring more power to be consumed.

[Cthulhu]

So all you need is a parking meter that turns an outlet on? Feh.

[slaughtr]

Originally Posted by TimMullen

Ever hear on a perpetual motion machine? Nope, neither did I.

The amount of power you would recover would only be a very small amount of the power you would consume moving the car to create the "wind" to generate the power. It would be more than offset by the increase in weight and drag requiring more power to be consumed.

I wasn't thinking of perpetual motion. I was just thinking it would be a way to extend the batterie's power, along with solar, regenerative braking and now they are even talking about recovering the energy from moving dampers. But I guess the drag is more than I would have thought.

[Cthulhu]

Originally Posted by slaughtr

I wasn't thinking of perpetual motion. I was just thinking it would be a way to extend the batterie's power, along with solar, regenerative braking and now they are even talking about recovering the energy from moving dampers. But I guess the drag is more than I would have thought.

Begin braking procedure!
*takes off shirt and holds it out of the window*

heh heh... simpsons references...

[...m...]

Originally Posted by erics75218

Here on the west-side of Los Angeles, I'd say that over 50% of the people do not have a "personal" parking spot for their car. Meaning...if you don't own a house, I bet you don't have any access to electricity where you park your car. BAMMO, no place to charge your new amazing car. Did anyone think of that with pure electrics.....the fact that a sh*t ton of the population doesn't have anywhere to charge the damn things?

Anyways, looks like in LA at least, electric cars will be the domain of millionaire home owners only. :-)

...i ran into that exact problem trying to get my hands on an EV1 a decade ago...

[Elistan]

Originally Posted by Slipstreamer

I guess KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) which is only currently available in F1 race cars should hopefully trickle down to passenger cars eventually.

It's the other way around - KERS is based off of the hybrid concept that has already been in use in street cars for many years.