Posted on 12/15/2019 5:25:39 AM PST by Kaslin
Imagine being stuck in a full-stop traffic jam on a freeway full of electric cars during a Minnesota arctic blast. With temperatures sub-zero, batteries start going dead. Electric motors grind to a halt, further blocking traffic. The situation cascades downward as others start to lose power. Soon the icy interstate is completely plugged with helpless electric cars. All going nowhere. Worse, without electric power, passengers have no heat. Now consider that these vehicles will need recharging before they can go anywhere. That will take many hours, perhaps days.
If you’re in sunny California, this problem is easy to ignore. In Minnesota it gets cold. Very cold!
Elon Musk has already taken his place among some of the great industrialists. Like Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison, he has applied his genius to a variety of game-changing innovations.
We first met at a nondescript warehouse not far from LAX. Elon was largely unknown then. The warehouse was sparsely populated with pipes and tanks. It didn’t look much like the world headquarters of a rocket factory he called SpaceX.
Elon invited us into his small office where he told his life story. Born in South Africa, he came to the States for college. He wound up at Stanford for a PhD. in applied physics. His family roots actually run through SW Minnesota. Musk’s ancestors were missionaries who were sent to South Africa. He left Stanford after only a few days to develop software with his brother. They sold their company for several hundred million dollars. Wisely getting cash. With a wry smile, he said, “That was good.”
He determined that if this web thing was going to become a new marketplace, there would be a need to securely transfer payments. So they created a platform that would be sold to another startup, PayPal. He had always been fascinated with rockets and space. He believed he could build rockets at a much lower cost than the government-sponsored incumbents in the industry. His intuition and creative genius proved him correct.
From there he launched the electric car named after the father of electric motors, Nicola Tesla. The brand quickly became an iconic status symbol. Elon knew two things. First, environmentally conscious consumers would love the zero emissions. Second, electric motors are inherently more efficient than internal combustion engines. The computer guidance systems he used to put satellites safely into space could be modified to make travel here on earth safer as well.
Competing with companies that had been building automobiles for a long time proved to be far more difficult than he’d anticipated. His perseverance again paid off.
But, electric vehicles have an Achilles Heel: the battery. Tesla’s rechargeable batteries rely on rare earth minerals. They are expensive (around $7,000 installed) and take considerable time to recharge. Like the batteries in your phone, as they get older or very cold (think Minnesota) they don’t hold a charge as well.
Elon has focused on lowering battery costs by building mega factories. He must know that what he really needs is a genuine breakthrough in battery technology. He needs a cheaper battery that will recharge much faster and hold that charge longer. One that will be less vulnerable to extreme temperatures. A battery that is lighter and isn’t dependent on foreign-sourced mines.
There may be good news on that front. Another brilliant scientist named Dr. Sam Weaver at Proton Power Inc. has discovered an inexpensive way to produce a material that is rich in graphene. He calls it ProCene. Graphene is an amazing substance. It is lighter than aluminum and 100 times stronger than steel. It has other fascinating qualities. Graphene is one of the best conductors of electricity known to man. It can also concentrate electrons (store electricity) better than current batteries. In other words, ProCene could be the key to creating lightweight batteries that will finally make electric vehicles practical for the masses.
Elon may want to make a trip down to Knoxville to see this. It might just be the cure for his Achilles Heel.
Better than gold?
They just need a slightly redesign a GAS Generator that fits Nicely in the Trunk of their Tesla, Then they can Charge and Drive!!
Do you have a Tesla?
Yes.
Why gold is a good conductor of electricity?
Here is one Example
This is because the electrons in gold have less resistance and can move more easily than the electrons in iron. If the energy needed for electrons to detach is low, more electrons are in their conductive state, making this metal a better conductor of electricity.
Last winter during one of our Minnesota arctic vortices with temperatures hovering about -10, I witnessed a Chevy Volt struggling down the highway at barely 50 mph. I could tell that the small lawn tractor sized gasoline engine used to keep the battery charged and the vehicle running was straining at full capacity. The car windows were frosted up as the battery was being drained and could not keep up with defrosting and running the electric motor. I imagine the occupants were freezing as the heater would also have been straining the battery. Fortunately it was daylight and clear as I doubt the battery could have managed to also support the headlights and wipers without leaving the occupants stranded by the side of the road. I am sure drivers of pure battery driven vehicle like a Tesla under these conditions would be frantically searching for the nearest charging station and preparing to wait hours for a recharge.
“If you’re in sunny California, this problem is easy to ignore.”
Unless you are subject to prolonged and planed power outages from the electric co.
Baloney. Tesla batteries run resistance heaters that keep them operating properly in cold weather. This reduces the range, but they don't simply die because it gets cold.
The same thing would happen if gas powered vehicles sat there long enough to run out of gas.
It is true that it's much easier and faster to "refill" a gas powered vehicle.
IMHO, the Achilles heel of the electric vehicles is their cradle to grave embodied energy. It takes one heck of a lot of energy to create and get rid of a lithium battery. And 83% of our electricity is produced from non-renewable sources. Teslas are far from "eco-friendly" (but Elon is one helluva sales guy).
The enviro movement is the motherload of irony. On one side you’ve got a collection of yahoos calling for a carbon-free energy regime, and along with them you’ve got visionaries hoping to find salvation in the next generation of battery technology dependent on graphene (which is pure carbon).
I have never understood why they didn’t design Teslas, in fact the entire electric car industry, with portable battery packs.
Pull up to a battery station.
Select replacement battery pack.
Open the door/trunk/compartment (just like you do now to get gas).
Pull battery pack onto specially designed cart/transfer mechanism.
Unhook quick disconnect.
Connect replacement battery pack that is fully charged.
Slide battery pack into car and latch into place.
Away we go.
Don’t tell me that can’t be done.
Instead of designing exotic recharging/quick-charge battery packs, go with more robust and mature technology.
Of course, if you have a lot of drivers show up at the same time, you still have to wait for the conveyor to fully charge whatever is in the loop.
I'm sticking with good ol' gasoline for now.
Its interesting that Elon Musk is the descendant of missionaries. It shows. Much of his success derives from his ability to inspire people by addressing their emotional needs. He has developed a cult like following and his company behaves as an atypical organization. Very little can be believed of its public statements and rants.
Achilles heel? Musk has a few. First and foremost are his character flaws. He is an intelligent and driven narcissist who regularly uses drugs. His behavior is erratic and at times he appears paranoid and delusional. However he has had solid accomplishments with Space X and the cars he has created at Tesla.
His business Achilles is as others have mentioned. Electric vehicles have significant limitations in range, durability and all terrain, all weather performance.Unless severely coerced the average consumer overwhelmingly prefers a vehicle with an internal combustion engine. Tesla has had some success catering to a wealthy “wok” niche market in California but it has learned ( as have Ford, GM and VW), that there is a very limited market for these electric vehicles. Also even in the “wok” market people have a second vehicle powered by gas and are not likely to buy a second Tesla. Also it is not possible to power an American sized fleet with electricity that was generated with wind and solar sources. There probably is no environmental benefit in the widespread deployment of electric vehicles considering the amount of fossil fuels burned to generate the electricity. Just ask the Chinese.
Ultimately market forces and the laws of physics will doom Tesla as a viable business. Also it is very dubious that Space X will make a sustainable profit with its services.
You can believe whatever you want in your fairyland imagination, but the laws of thermodynamics will not be denied in the real world.
Good points.
Seems a traffic jam would force an EV to stop using charge except for heating in a cold environment.
Thermal packs could be used in such a situation so traffic jams would be of no consequence except for general inconvenience.
Uh, that's what tow trucks are for. 1000's of people abandoned their cars on 128 in the blizzard of 78. They were pretty much all towed out of there.
Another miracle battery breakthrough story.
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