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Inductive Charging For EVs To Be Tested In Berlin
cylonlover writes "The increasing availability of more practical electric vehicles has seen inductive charging technology attract the attention of those looking for for a cable-free way to charge EV batteries. German automakers are taking the opportunity to put inductive charging of EVs to a real-world test as part of the 'Effizienzhaus-Plus mit Elektromobilität' project. The project is a German government-backed initiative to build an energy-efficient house that generates more electricity than it consumes, with the surplus being fed back into the grid or used to charge the occupants' electric vehicles."
I suppose when you only need a few watts of energy for a cellphone or something, I can understand the use of inductive charging. But if you lower your efficiency by a significant amount in a single step while charging a car (a few dozen kWh), and this is multiplied across a population of EV owning people, this is potentially adding a lot of unnecessary strain to the electric grid.
Is it so hard just to plug the dang thing in? We don't have tubeless fuel transfer do we?
Who would? I'd much rather be caught alive in one.
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Who's the idiot who decided to put 'inductive charging' and 'energy-efficient' in the same paragraph? If you're trying to be efficient, inductive charging is the LAST thing you want to do. If you really are that opposed to having to plug in, come up with some innovative solution using contacts embedded in the garage like cordless phone cradles. Or do something like bumper cars. Though I bet people wouldn't like the thought of having exposed high voltage contacts...but I'm sure they could figure out a way to make it safe. Hell, even a plug on the front of the car that drives into a receptacle. Inductive is just stupid.
Wikipedia cites an 86% efficiency for inductive charging. I would bet that efficiency is hurt as this scales up from a cell phone to a car. Other than helping to improve EV adoption by making it more convenient, why would we want such a system?
Given the current costs of an EV, plus the length of time it already takes to charge, it seems there are other areas of research that would be better focused on. This technology only makes an EV more expensive to own and would probably take longer to charge with. People seem to do just fine connecting a short, thick, clunky hose to their cars now.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inductive_charging#Disadvantages)
Smart fortwo EV is doubleplus good.
[Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
The project is a German government-backed initiative to build an energy-efficient house that generates more electricity than it consumes
Problem, thermodynamics?
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People are too stupid to plug their cars in, I mean, connecting something to the car to make it go? It just baffles the mind! That's why we all fuel up by driving into a pool of petrol and letting osmosis take its course!
Admit it. You post strawman arguments as AC so you get modded Insightful for refuting them, rather than Troll
They should just build that stuff into the roads so we can drive our cars like bumper cars. Charge while you drive.
They're trying this out with some electric buses in Chattanooga, Tennessee: CARTA's electric buses to charge on the go
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but you have to promise not to laugh.
No it isn't. For one the test was mostly show. Without accelerometers a crash test is of limited value. But visually, the car holds together but it is so rigid the passengers would have to take almost the full force of the acceleration of the impact. There is no real crumple which is what helps reduce the G forces on the passengers in bigger nosed cars if they crash. Even the windshield of the Smart Car crashed in the test lab didn't break. And when they crashed a Smart Car into concrete at 70 mph the driver's door still functioned. Given that the door basically starts at the front of the car, this thing didn't crumple hardly at all. As unscientific as the tests in that video are even the presenters noted this (I transcribed a short excerpt on it):
The downside of the shells rigidity is that there is a greater potential for the crash forces to be transmitted through to the passengers. Ideally you ought to slow them down as slowly as possible.
If the people have to take the acceleration of a crash at any sort of speed, they will die. But maybe the resale value of the car would still be good. Personally I wouldn't feel comfortable riding in one at any sort of highway speed. But what am I saying??? I ride a motorbike. Never mind... I still wouldn't feel comfortable.
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Have to agree here, cars that do well in collisions tend to compress as much as possible to dissipate energy, so a smart cart bouncing off a wall at 100km an hour probably isn't solid evidence.
see smart fortwo
:P
vs BMW 5 series
not too much of a difference, except that you have higher chances to kill pedestrians in a BMW
smart uses some tech to compensate for the lack of crumple. ;)
Basically some slightly-time-delayed absorber built-into the chassis.
The german word for it is "Tilgermasse" couldn't find a proper english term for it.
A lot of ppl fear driving smarts but being more endangered in a crash is just FUD.
Especially crumple seems to be a fetish of US car makers after their historical ignorance of it when they built massive chunks of metal that behaved the way you fear smarts would do.
It's probably already a tradition to lack behind in the automotive industry.