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To: Steely Tom

Why electric cars will never be mainstream.


87 posted on 02/11/2015 10:24:47 AM PST by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: central_va
Why electric cars will never be mainstream.

Sadly, I think you are correct.

Interesting to note that copper cables with nine times the current capacity of arc welding cables would be roughly three times the diameter of those cables, which puts them at about the diameter of the hose that's used on gas pumps around the world.

What's interesting is that the hose on your typical gas pump delivers usable energy to your gas tank at about the same rate that a copper wire of the same size could deliver electrical energy to a battery in your car.

Of course, I'm not counting the return cable, which would have to be just as thick.

So you can see that actually the use of liquid hydrocarbon fuel to store, transport, and deliver energy for use in vehicles isn't really that bad. At least, not when you consider the practicalities, like charging time.

Also, keep in mind that real batteries have a "leakage rate." They don't store energy for long periods without losses.

You don't expect your car to lose a half-gallon or so of gas if you neglect to drive it for a day or two. That's what would happen with battery technology, at least as it's presently constituted.

You can leave a car (or better still a diesel truck) undriven for six months, and you can expect every bit of the fuel energy that was in the tank to still be there.

That's something a lot of people take for granted, but it's really a most pleasant aspect of fossil fuels.

89 posted on 02/11/2015 10:44:38 AM PST by Steely Tom (Vote GOP for A Slower Handbasket)
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