3 ms·

I wonder if electric cars were to approach the maximum range that most people would ever want to drive in a day, about double the stated range of the current lo

I wonder if electric cars were to approach the maximum range that most people would ever want to drive in a day, about double the stated range of the current longer-ranged cars, if that might trigger a rather profound and sudden tipping point. Who cares how quickly they charge if you’re stopping to sleep for the night anyway?

DoingIsLearning 3y ago
You are looking at it from an American viewpoint. If you are in US, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Argentina, you might reasonably need to cover huge distances in a day. However there are a _lot_ of people in countries across Europe, Indian sub-continent, SE Asia for whom the current EV range is actually enough.
- guidoism 3y ago
  The US’s cars also emit a huge percentage of the world’s greenhouse gases so solving that problem is kinda important.
  - DoingIsLearning 3y ago
    My point is for a lot of people around the world the technology has reached their non-anxiety range. Which doesn't mean we should stop battery and motor innovation.
  - applied_heat 3y ago
    US is 14% of global co2 emissions, vehicles are 29% of US emmissions, so US vehicles are 4% of global. I don’t know if I would call 4% a huge percentage but it is certainly significant.
mtlmtlmtlmtl 3y ago
It would be nice if EV batteries were standardised and modularised enough that one could just swap out the battery for a charged one at a gas/charging station in a couple minutes.
- williamdclt 3y ago
  I saw that in Taipei for electric mopeds. Spread through the city, there’s racks of batteries ready to go: just grab one, put your empty one in the slot where it’ll charge for the next person and be on your way. Probably more complex for cars (the weight alone might make usability a challenge), but a cool concept
- wcoenen 3y ago
  Tesla explored this and found it to be unpractical. A battery swapping station can cost millions to build, compare that to something on the order of $50K per high power rapid charger. https://www.powersystemsdesign.com/articles/why-did-tesla-give-up-on-battery-swapping/35/18891 https://www.powersystemsdesign.com/articles/why-did-tesla-gi...

DoingIsLearning 3y ago

You are looking at it from an American viewpoint. If you are in US, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Argentina, you might reasonably need to cover huge distances in a day. However there are a _lot_ of people in countries across Europe, Indian sub-continent, SE Asia for whom the current EV range is actually enough.

guidoism 3y ago
The US’s cars also emit a huge percentage of the world’s greenhouse gases so solving that problem is kinda important.
- DoingIsLearning 3y ago
  My point is for a lot of people around the world the technology has reached their non-anxiety range. Which doesn't mean we should stop battery and motor innovation.
- applied_heat 3y ago
  US is 14% of global co2 emissions, vehicles are 29% of US emmissions, so US vehicles are 4% of global. I don’t know if I would call 4% a huge percentage but it is certainly significant.

mtlmtlmtlmtl 3y ago

It would be nice if EV batteries were standardised and modularised enough that one could just swap out the battery for a charged one at a gas/charging station in a couple minutes.

williamdclt 3y ago
I saw that in Taipei for electric mopeds. Spread through the city, there’s racks of batteries ready to go: just grab one, put your empty one in the slot where it’ll charge for the next person and be on your way. Probably more complex for cars (the weight alone might make usability a challenge), but a cool concept
wcoenen 3y ago
Tesla explored this and found it to be unpractical. A battery swapping station can cost millions to build, compare that to something on the order of $50K per high power rapid charger. https://www.powersystemsdesign.com/articles/why-did-tesla-give-up-on-battery-swapping/35/18891 https://www.powersystemsdesign.com/articles/why-did-tesla-gi...