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Kinda interesting to ask what would have gone different if the infrastructure was in place to make electric cars 'good enough' as far as charging infrastructure
by whaleofatw2022 1y ago
Kinda interesting to ask what would have gone different if the infrastructure was in place to make electric cars 'good enough' as far as charging infrastructure.
- ben_w 1y agoAs I understand it, the core problem back then was the batteries would mass half the car and lose a third of their maximum capacity in just 500 charging cycles. Back when cars were new, there was no infrastructure for petrol either, that was something you got in tiny quantities from a pharmacy. (The diesel engine can run on vegetable oil, but I don't think Mr Rudolf Diesel himself ever did that?)
- UncleSlacky 1y agoDiesel did use peanut oil, though only after someone else showed that it was possible: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Diesel#Use_of_vegetable_oils_as_diesel_engine_fuel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Diesel#Use_of_vegetable...
- ben_w 1y agoNice find, I missed that.
- userbinator 1y agoThe batteries of the time were far less energy-dense and charged slowly. Lead-acid was the norm for EVs.
- kjs3 1y agoInfrastructure requires demand, and energy density and convenience of a contemporary battery versus gas engine means that no one was going to demand batteries when ICE was an option. We only figured the downside much later.
- noosphr 1y agoWe figured out the effects of carbon dioxide on the atmosphere not a decade after the first working car prototype was build: https://www.rsc.org/images/arrhenius1896_tcm18-173546.pdf https://www.rsc.org/images/arrhenius1896_tcm18-173546.pdf