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Makes me wonder if the next invention would be battery packs that you can put into your car for long trips, so your car stays light for the majority of the time

Makes me wonder if the next invention would be battery packs that you can put into your car for long trips, so your car stays light for the majority of the time, when you just need it for in-city commute. Ideally the battery packs would be shared so the "gas" station of the future has them ready for you to rent. Obviously the issue is high demand during weekends and school vacation times, and much lower demand otherwise...

wrycoder 4y ago
I recollect that the original Teslas towed a small gas generator for long trips.
- FullyFunctional 4y ago
  I don't recall that at all. It was true for Tzero, the vehicle from AC Propulsion that inspired the Roadster (and provided the very initial, but broken electronics). Tesla has never promoted hybrid propulsion.
  - wrycoder 4y ago
    That’s possible. I remember an interview with Eberhard back in the day, I think before Musk, where he described the trailer and also the concept of plugging the cars into the grid during the day to contribute energy to the grid.
    - FullyFunctional 4y ago
      I believe that but no Roadster was produced before Elon and I’m not aware that Tesla ever made such a trailer
tzs 4y ago
A few years ago there was a company building test cars with aluminum air batteries. Aluminum air batteries have something like 4x as much energy for a given volume as lithium ion, and they were getting over 1000 miles of range. The downside of aluminum air batteries is that they are not rechargeable, so the idea would be to design the cars so that the batteries can quickly be swapped. The discharged battery can be recycled. It was an interesting idea.
elihu 4y ago
It's possible for that to be a thing, but batteries are pretty heavy. Moving hundreds of pounds in and out of your car could be a rather aggravating chore just to avoid a few stops. There's also issues of standardization. You'd need a common battery form factor and connectors and voltage, and you might have to deal with fluid connections too since most EV batteries use liquid cooling. I think the better long-term solution is electrified roads. (There are some pilot projects in Sweden that use rails embedded in slots in the road surface. The underside of a car or truck has a device that makes electrical contact.) With the right infrastructure it should be possible to drive non-stop from, say, Seattle to New York with a battery pack that's only good for a hundred miles or so. I think giant batteries on EVs the same way I think about pontoons on commercial airliners: if, like Pan Am, you need to rely on existing port and harbor infrastructure because the airports you want to use haven't been built yet, sea planes make a lot of sense. But now that we have modern airports they don't.

wrycoder 4y ago

I recollect that the original Teslas towed a small gas generator for long trips.

FullyFunctional 4y ago
I don't recall that at all. It was true for Tzero, the vehicle from AC Propulsion that inspired the Roadster (and provided the very initial, but broken electronics). Tesla has never promoted hybrid propulsion.
- wrycoder 4y ago
  That’s possible. I remember an interview with Eberhard back in the day, I think before Musk, where he described the trailer and also the concept of plugging the cars into the grid during the day to contribute energy to the grid.
  - FullyFunctional 4y ago
    I believe that but no Roadster was produced before Elon and I’m not aware that Tesla ever made such a trailer

tzs 4y ago

A few years ago there was a company building test cars with aluminum air batteries. Aluminum air batteries have something like 4x as much energy for a given volume as lithium ion, and they were getting over 1000 miles of range. The downside of aluminum air batteries is that they are not rechargeable, so the idea would be to design the cars so that the batteries can quickly be swapped. The discharged battery can be recycled. It was an interesting idea.

elihu 4y ago

It's possible for that to be a thing, but batteries are pretty heavy. Moving hundreds of pounds in and out of your car could be a rather aggravating chore just to avoid a few stops. There's also issues of standardization. You'd need a common battery form factor and connectors and voltage, and you might have to deal with fluid connections too since most EV batteries use liquid cooling. I think the better long-term solution is electrified roads. (There are some pilot projects in Sweden that use rails embedded in slots in the road surface. The underside of a car or truck has a device that makes electrical contact.) With the right infrastructure it should be possible to drive non-stop from, say, Seattle to New York with a battery pack that's only good for a hundred miles or so. I think giant batteries on EVs the same way I think about pontoons on commercial airliners: if, like Pan Am, you need to rely on existing port and harbor infrastructure because the airports you want to use haven't been built yet, sea planes make a lot of sense. But now that we have modern airports they don't.