Electric Car Capable of 180mph

niclas_b writes "This electric car is pretty cool. It's not cheap and maybe not very practical. But very cool nevertheless." Might as well throw in a link to their homepage as well.

Comments

Re:How is that useful?

[Osty]

Drinking and Driving still kills more people than speed.

Speed never killed anyone. It's how they decided to stop that caused the problem. <rimshot /> But seriously, most "speed-related deaths" statistics you'll find are artificially inflated. The way the statistics are counted is that if anybody involved was speeding (ie, going at least 1 mph over the limit), then it's categorized as speed-related. That's ignoring any of the true factors, like being alcohol-related, or caused by that little brat in the backseat that wouldn't sit down, or the driver was just an idiot (reading the morning paper while driving counts as idiocy).

Electricity is more effecient that gasoline.

[MikeFM]

Even the worst electric plants are more effecient than the ebst internal combustion engines at producing and transporting the resulting energy. Even counting the loss of transferring the energy into batteries.. hauling the batteries around in the car.. converting the electricity into making the car go.. the electric is still more effecient. The main downside of electrics however is that it's harder to store at the same space efficency... meaning that batteries need to be a lot bigger that a tank of gas to get the same range. Batteries are getting better but they still can't squeeze as much into the same space. They can also be slow to charge unless you have the money to spend on a fast charger and batteries able to stand being charged that fast. However common EV's can more than provide enough range for the average person to drive to work.. go to lunch.. go back to work.. make a few stops on the way home.. and get home. The cost of fuel is typically way cheaper than gasoline even if you just plug into an outlet in your home and of course you have the option of using solar and wind to recharge your vehicle which of couse costs you nothing other than the upfront cost of installing your system. Insurance is usually cheaper for EV's also as they are usually very safe to drive as they have no parts that can explode and the batteries absorb impact during a crash.

Battery technology still a problem

[panurge]

The big problem I see is the availability of batteries. For instance, companies like Ovonics are supposedly commercialising NiMH (the technology BEFORE lithium.) I have been trying for two years to design a half way reasonable electric bicycle. I have a battery specification which is within the range of claimed traction battery designs in NiMH (12 or 13.2V, 5-60AH, 600W over 5 minutes and 400W average over discharge. Hardly rocket science.) Yet a battery of this spec is still not available on the commercial market except in limited series production to large customers. The obvious conclusion is that the technology isn't yet marketable. Which means that lithium ion has a chance when...2020? As for fuel cells, they have been a promising technology for the last 50 years plus, but the problems (world supply of platinum limited, high temperatures needed for high efficiencies, corrosive media, thermal management, carbon monoxide and dioxide poisoning, seem always on the verge of being solved but never getting there. And don't forget that unlike a battery, a fuel cell's output is limited by the membrane capacity: the ability to produce high peaks for short periods is missing. The last time I read an article on the future of fuel cells was the dead wood version of Scientific American in 1999. I'm not aware of any real breakthroughs since.

Meanwhile, the direct injection electronically controlled turbo diesel just goes on getting more and more efficient, and cleaner. And smaller. And lighter. And more reliable.

And the point of this vehicle is?

[Colin Smith]

I mean, it's a 400kW vehicle. Why electric? 400kW is 400kW whether it's petrol or batteries. You still have to generate and store the energy so you're still throwing similar amounts of C02 into the atmosphere when you use it.

So, at 400kW, I don't see the point of the thing. BioDiesel or methanol fuel cell based, I could see the point of.

Better Alternative - The Air Car

[Pratip]

I think the Air car has a better chance of working, not only due to cost, but the licensing model as well. They will grow through selling the factories, not the cars. Check the website to see how many licenses have been sold.

None in North america, 40 in China alone. http://www.theaircar.com