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Otherwise I have shit to do.
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If you need to drive beyond the range capacity of the battery then you do need to consider the charge time. But if you are going to do less than the range capacity, and then park up overnight, you really don't need to worry.
Of course, most of us do use a car for longer distances at least occasionally. But we could look at car hire or trains for those occasions. If you do it regularly, then maybe petrol/diesel is your only option.
How about if a scheme existed where you could book an electric car journey, with pre-arranged vehicle swaps so you didn't have to wait for charging?
Anyway, this fuel cell claims to be swappable in 90 seconds. So, the tech you're asking for might be there soon.
All our cars being electric wouldn't work though (I currently do about 650 miles a week and having to constantly charge each time I park up would be an annoyance)
https://www.thechemicalengineer.com/news/producing-sustainable-aviation-fuel-in-the-netherlands/
If synthetic car fuels can be made in the same way, that would have the great advantage that the existing cars and the vast infrastructure that goes with fuel supply would not need to be scrapped.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Oh, and Fuji solved the problem while still using water as the electrolyte.
Yes, Al-air fuel cells have a vastly higher energy density than any current battery type, but it's not really a practical solution for mass production. Glass electrolyte batteries still have a higher energy density than Li-ion (roughly three times, so on the same order as the difference between Al-air and Li-ion), but are also properly rechargeable and are much faster to recharge than current-generation batteries.
Bigger battery capacities and faster charging would help a lot, but our current grid will need massive (and expensive) upgrades to make the fast charging feasible. I don't think you would ever get to the point of being able to charge in 5 minutes though. You would be talking about hundreds, maybe thousands, of amps.
As far as I can tell, the energy density of these Al-air cells isn't actually that much bigger than the glass electrolyte batteries, so the mass reduction benefits would probably be of a similar order of magnitude.
It does bring up a significant point, though - would we be better off trying to work out how to make lighter cars? All the safety gubbins that have been brought in over the last couple of decades have made cars quite a bit heavier, so figuring out a better way to implement such measures might actually have measurable environmental benefits.
We would be far better off working out how to use personal transport less. Just as an example, my dad (born in 1938) used to walk four miles each way to work and back, every day, rain, shine or blizzard. Lots of people of his generation did the same.
How many people do that now or would be willing to do that now? Nah, hop in the car, innit!
Business has to change too. Using my previous example of my dad, how many people have jobs within four miles of their home? Some, but not many, I'd wager.
Decades ago towns and villages were built around jobs for local people, nowadays the average commute is something like 45 minutes. We build commuter villages in the suburbs for people who commute to the cities.
So bassackwards.
There is no 'H' in Aych, you know that don't you? ~ Wife
Turns out there is an H in Haych! ~ Sporky
Bit of trading feedback here.
I'm sure that a lot of people thought that those new internal combustion engines would never replace steam locomotives and horses either - but they did within about fifty years, for most purposes.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Most people need to put enough KWh in a battery to get to work and back and maybe go to the supermarket or offy .... a battery pack giving a range of 30 miles would do for a lot of people. Especially in a car that only weighed 1\4 ton and not 1 ton
Electric planes are coming !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0DHhiwvatQ
I’ve got shit to do as well... :-)
Look at something like a Tern GSD, there's a bike that could genuinely replace a second car for a lot of families. We do need to get legislation and infrastructure to make it work though (increasing the e-bike speed limit to 20mph and improving cycle lanes would be a start).
E-bikes *might* be slightly more popular, but for most people it's still not going to be an attractive option unless the journey is under a few minutes.
I would like it not to be so... but it is.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
It's a shame that the modern world has gone that way, but most of us would possibly be the same: I don't have time to wait around for a car to charge. Well, why not?