I thought the battery swapping was a great idea…how come it doesn’t work…not enough electric vehicles I guess.
Battery cost is the big problem. Half the cost of the vehicle. How to stock them, how many different kinds? They can’t even standardize chargers.
^@Tom777 : It’s the “tragedy of the commons”: you take your (known quantity) battery pack, and exchange it for whatever-quality battery the last guy dropped off. Remember, batteries cost around $5000! Would you do this with a brand-new pack? Probably not–you’d sooner wait on a charge and keep your nice, new battery. Would you do this with an old, worn-out battery on death’s door? Of course…you’d hope that whatever “random” pack you got, was at least better than what you dropped off.
The problem is that the whole market understands this, and only old, tired batteries get dropped off…leading to all available batteries being pretty sketchy…feeding back and reinforcing the above tendency! This is a pretty straightforward ECON 201 concept. This system (just barely) works for propane cans (which cost $50, empty)…it fails horribly at the $5000 price point.
Tesla battery pack is more like $30,000.
well, even worse then–who’d play “Russian roulette” with a power pack if you’re out 30 large when you crap out?
Think what you want guys, be as pessimistic as your choose, but if you change your mind and decide to buy a Tesla you’ll have to wait at least a year… they’re all sold out.
A great deal of progress has been made in recent years. We now have a luxury EV comparable to any other luxury car in its price range with a range of over 200 miles and free recharging if you’re near one of the 16,000+ U.S. (50,000 worldwide) charging stations that Tesla has already set up or one of the thousands still to come. No more oil changes. No more tuneups. No more headgasket problems. No more excess oil burning. Not even transmission problems or servicing. And acceleration comparable to a Porsche 911. Fifteen… make that ten… years ago if you’d have told me we’d have this I would have wondered what hallucinogen you were on. Now it’s real.
And it was all borne from scratch, from a car company that never even existed. You can deny the magnitude of the achievement if you like, but EVs are here. And cars that are 100% electric are bound to drive more breakthroughs in battery technology. My evidence? History.
EV technology right now is about where computers were when the TRS-80 was created. Remember the “trash 80”? We’ve only just begun.
No, they’re not for everyone. There are those that simply drive too many miles to make one usable. But I’d wager that for the majority of users 200+ miles is sufficient range for use as a daily driver.
EVs are 100 years old. Batteries are improving, cost is still a big issue. Teslas are great $100k cars. I think their use of proprietary chargers is wrong, as is payment of EV credits. Still waiting for the affordable one
My prior comments were about battery swapping, not the car.
Have to agree with Mean and the rest,the battery swapping would never work out,how about a power cart range extender on the cars that would be capable of towing something?I could foresee a doubling in range without too much hassle of course the extra weight would carry its own penalty,but the math would be pretty straight forward,when you had to make a long jaunt,seems like that would be doable,I get uneasy when I would have to depend on a charger waiting for me at the end of my trip.But if it takes off you can probaly find convenience stores peddling electricity and yes there has to be a standard,for the industry to be viable for the average man,right now a Leaf or Spark,would work for me,but unfortunately the cost precludes ownership of said vehicles.
EV technology right now is about where computers were when the TRS-80 was created. Remember the "trash 80"? We've only just begun.
I agree we’re at it’s infancy. Right now there’s just a handful of players. Competition breeds new development. Tesla invented a new way to look at the problem and came up with a GREAT idea. I’m with you…it’s our future. And things can only get better.
I just like cars and planes that don’t burst into flames so I do hope there will be some major improvements in batteries for cars and planes.
Hey Bill, kudos on the calculations! However, it’s not apples to apples comparison. Did you watch their video? See the size of that battery pack on the back of the phone? It’s ginormous compared to a current LiON pack. Also, the storage medium is not the same. Read the text on the linked page by the video. Completely different technology. If what they claim is true, it is far more efficient means of storage and extraction. That’s why the currents required are not valid to extrapolate from one technology to the other. That being said, did you also notice the dual banana jack power connector? Ain’t no Apple lightning connector… 
@texases, increasing taxes is a very un-GOP attitude. I doubt it would be implemented at the Federal level, but some states would do it. MD just enacted gasoline tax hikes phased in over several years. I’m for it since they hadn’t been increased in something like 15 years. To be clear, I don’t like the tax increases, but I believe they are necessary to pay for highway infrastructure. I also think fuel taxes should be increased by the Feds for the same reasons and with the same attitude.
I know. Not a tax fan either, but much less a fan of creating a whole new system when the one we have just needs an adjustment. I quizzed a mile tracking system booster, his basic reason was because we hadn’t increased gas taxes. Money would go in the same pot, just an excuse for more government to collect it, seems to me.
The program being tested in Oregon (called OReGO…cute, huh?) replaces their current $0.30/gal state gas tax with a $0.015/mile tax. The “break-even” point is therefore 20mpg, so the tax paid by the owner of a 40mpg car would double.
A system whereby you can cheat by disconnecting your VSS/speedo cable seems impossible to enforce. I drive 25,000 mi/yr; I’d save $375/yr* by using a wrench for 15 minutes.
I’m not saying I’d do it; I AM saying it’d be tempting.
*(Yes, I’m aware I’d have to document SOME miles for plausibility.)
EDIT: A little sleuthing shows it requires an OBDII car. I suppose I’ve figured out why…
But wouldnt affect a guzzler,with a penalty.