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> Each battery weighed around 1.75 tons and could power a bus for just 60 kilometers. Charging took almost 8 hours But clearly it was the fact that one electr
by travisoneill1 7y ago
> Each battery weighed around 1.75 tons and could power a bus for just 60 kilometers. Charging took almost 8 hours
But clearly it was the fact that one electric bus company was run by crooks in 1906 that held back electric cars for a century.
- tomatotomato37 7y agoI always thought it was crazy how all those alternative history folks think that the material & chemical sciences of the time that could barely rev an IC engine made out of the most industrialized material ever over 1000 rpm without knocking or throwing a rod could also handle batteries which today require rare-earth materials and exotic chemistries.
- mattmaroon 7y agoYeah even today after several more decades of battery science we can just barely make an electric car economical. We still can't get one down to Camry prices.
- _red 7y agoElectric cars are really fun to drive from a sports perspective, its just a shame they have such huge carbon footprints. Singapore, who has some of best pollution regulations of any modern state, has rated electric cars as "super polluter" status.
- ethbro 7y ago> Singapore, who has some of best pollution regulations of any modern state, has rated electric cars as "super polluter" status. Because they measure CO2 emission at the electrical generation point. Not Tesla's fault Singapore plants are almost 100% natural gas. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/electric-car-tesla-slapped-with-15000-tax-surcharge https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/electric-ca... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_sector_in_Singapore https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_sector_in_Singap...
- tim333 7y agoThough in the future there are plans to run a cable to solar panels in Australia. (Slightly surprisingly - you'd think Malaysia was closer and sunny enough). https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jul/14/just-a-matter-of-when-the-20bn-plan-to-power-singapore-with-australian-solar https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jul/14/just-a-m...
- gsich 7y agoLead batteries don't.
- rightbyte 7y agoThe biggest andvantage for lead batteries is probably that you don't need cell balancing which would have been really hard at that time. You just overcharge all cells and call it a day. Really nice batteries from a robustness perspective.
- tomatotomato37 7y agoTo a 1910 industrialist acid batteries were exotic chemistry. Don't forget IC cars were hand-cranked during this time, and magnetos for spark plugs only came into commercial availablity 4 years before this article is based. It took another decade for starter motors and auxiliary electronics to make their way into IC automobiles. Basic commericially avaliable electronics were cutting-edge back then.
- rightbyte 7y agoThe gasoline engine was probably equally exotic. Sulfuric acid has been manufactured since to 18th century. And you don't need permanent magnets to make a DC motor. And electrical motors were even used to power vehicles before Otto constructed his gasoline engine. I guess heat engines just were something people were more used to? Going from steam to gasoline seems like a smaller step.
- drewcoo 7y agoThe assertion that this is "crazy" and "alternative history" because it makes claims it never made is not even wrong.
- Tade0 7y agoOut of the most popular battery chemistries only NiMH, requires rare-earths - specifically Lanthanum, which is also used as a catalyst in... oil refining.