Slashdot Mirror
Company Builds Fast Charging Station For Electric Cars
thecarchik writes "Japanese based JFE Engineering has released its ultra-fast charge station. Designed to comply with the CHAdeMo standard developed by Tokyo Electric Power Company, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Subaru and Toyota, the system is capable of charging a 2011 Mitsubishi i-Miev from empty to 50% full in just three minutes. Even just three minutes plugged into the fast-charge station was enough to enable a standard 2011 Mitsubishi i-Miev to travel a further 50 miles before further charging was required."
This thing is putting nearly a quarter megawatt (240kw) drain on the power grid during use.
I wonder if it has some sort of means of load smoothing and a limited duty cycle, or if it's going to need its own substation.
"Prefiero morir de pie que vivir siempre arrodillado!"
The burning of oil is non-reversable. Once used it is gone for good. Batteries may degrade with use but the original material is still there and available for reconditioning.
http://michaelsmith.id.au
The Atom is a ridiculous car. I'd actually like to see a drag race between it and the Tesla Roadster.
-- If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done? - Uli's moose
Electric engines are roughly 3-4 times as efficient as gasoline ones. So you get 3-4 times the effective energy density out of batteries.
More importantly you don't need that much energy, almost all car rides are short and electricity can be recharged at home unlike gasoline.
Oh and you math geeks, figure out how many pounds of coal was burned to charge that battery halfway.
Less pollution wise than you'd get from gasoline, someone did look into it. Natural gas is a lot better, and used in quite a few places, but even coal beats out gasoline engines.
I have no idea about this sort of thing, but I would imagine that electric vehicles would do better in cold weather climates. At least you would not have to keep the motor running because it won't start if you don't...
One factor is that there is less energy lost as heat in an electric vehicle so running a heater will increase power consumption. You might be able to recover some heat from the batteries and motor though. Does anybody know how the heater (if it exists) in the Tesla works?
http://michaelsmith.id.au
"Electric engines are roughly 3-4 times as efficient as gasoline ones. So you get 3-4 times the effective energy density out of batteries."
Sure, but who wants to buy a car that only gets 100 miles, then needs to be recharged every 50 miles? This might be a good second or third car, but it's not that practical as your main vehicle, and the fact that an electric vehicle must be charged nightly limits it to only being useful to homes with garages.
This is why SUVs have been so popular in the US despite their poor gas mileage. You can fit 5 to 7 adults comfortably and still have room for luggage.
Electric cars will fail, and series hybrids like the Chevy Volt will succeed. When the batteries run low a gas generator keeps the batteries charged enough to power the vehicle. This is brilliant: I get my electric car for my short daily commutes, but I still have gas for those rare times when I need to drive hundreds of miles in a day. I have the best of both worlds with no sacrifices.
Also series hybrids means we can finally use turbines: gas turbines are the most efficient engine. While a gasoline engine is only 20-30% efficient, a gas turbine is over 80% efficient. In 1999 GM made a EV1 Series hybrid using a turbine generator. The vehicle achieved up to 100mpg while charging the battery using 90s technology and a 220 lbs turbine (modern turbines are much smaller)
In ten years when series hybrids become the norm we'll look at vehicles like the Prius the same way Prius owners look at SUV owners today.
my karma will be here long after I'm gone
Indeed, hybrids are far more practical, but it seems that you are misrepresenting the promise of microturbines. From the wikipedia article:
Typical microturbine efficiencies are 25 to 35%. When in a combined heat and power cogeneration system, efficiencies of greater than 80% are commonly achieved.
In automotive applications, the waste heat goes unused; so the efficiency will be in the 25 to 35% range.
Another promising option for hybrids is the OPOC engine, which is a simple, efficient, and clean 2-stroke engine. It is a very interesting design, with a number of other advantages as well.
When coupled with a capacitor/flywheel/etc. to allow for regenerative braking and acceleration, the requirements for the power source in a hybrid are actually very minimal. This allows for the creation of an extremely efficient vehicle, and as far as energy density goes, you can't do much better than hydrocarbons.
Sure... currently. I wouldn't get this as my main vehicle. But an electric is perfect for my commuting vehicle. Especially if I can convince my employer to offer charging in our parking garage.
Also, you need to think a little more long-term. If electrics start to become popular with the commuter crowd, then we'll see infrastructure developed to help support them. Cities will install charging stations in various parking spaces. I can imagine that one day we'll have major coast-to-coast highways with full-length induction charging available. Imagine being able to drive your electric car from New York to San Francisco, non-stop! You can't do that in a gas-fueled vehicle.
I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar.