FuturePundit garnered some interesting comments after linking to the AP's EEStor article.
(Quick ethics point: WE have to read everything we post, which explains the trauma suffered by yours truly putting together the Fashion Issue).
...A game changer advance in batteries would revolutionize transportation and make the coming of "Peak Oil" a small problem. The cost of electric power for electrically powered travel is cheap. A low cost technology that makes electric cars feasible will enable nuclear, solar, and wind power to push our vehicles down the road for two or three pennies per mile.
First comment:
Do you even think about these before they get posted? Give me a break. A puny 30hp car uses about 22kW continuously, which is about what the electrical capacity *of an entire house* is. Therefore, by using ALL of the electricity fed into an average house, 5 minutes of charges provides about 5 minutes of drive time. That's assuming perfect efficiency.
Do they propose charging at a power station, perhaps? Or is the 500 miles downhill?
Second comment
Brian Wang said at September 11, 2007 09:04 AM:
EEstor and their ultracapacitors have received a lot of internet attention.
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/01/31/
more-on-eestors-ultracapacitor-can-we-believe-the-hype/
http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9771053-1.html
the charging situation has also been discussed. To get 5 minute charging time then you have to
go for an industrial charging station at gas station equivalent locations.
Putting 225 megajoules into a car in five minutes (300 seconds) requires a power supply of 750 kilowatts.
In a U.S. household, the highest voltage available is usually the 240V service for ovens, clothes dryers, and the like. This service is usually limited to about 60 amps...but fast-charging an electric car as we've described would require 3,125 amps.
Ready to plug your car into 52 outlets at once? 480V service--as high as you'll probably ever see in a garage--wouldn't make enough of a difference.
The overhead wires in your neighborhood might be carrying "7200/12470Y" power--three-phase AC with each phase carrying 7,200 volts referenced against a common neutral. The effective voltage is that 12,470 kilovolt figure.
Toyota won a 24 hour race using a hybrid with supercapacitors
http://www.greencarcongress.com
/2007/07/toyota-hybrid-r.html
The rest of them are
here. His readers are sharp, CI's may be sharper, which is one reason for our current "No comment" policy. We do respond to all emails.
Second comment
The rest of them are here. His readers are sharp, CI's may be sharper, which is one reason for our current "No comment" policy. We do respond to all emails.