WGAF what Tesla is doing....without huge subsidies Tesla would be doing nothing...
Tesla is not economically viable...remove the subsidies it gets and the whole thing collapses.
And the fact that they have a longer range battery still does not confront the primary limitation of batteries...
Batteries are never 100% efficient-—they never and can never put out the amount of energy that is put in. And battery efficiency degrades from the very first charge-discharge cycle. It will always take more and more energy input for the same amount of output.
And batteries die...the greatest determining factor of its’ lifespan being the number of charge-discharge cycles-—IOW, the more you use it the shorter its’ lifespan. That will NEVER change...again, basic battery physics.
And the cost of replacing that battery...1/4 or more than the entire cost of the car....how can that ever compete on any scale with a modern internal combustion engine?
And of course none of this includes the cost of disposal/recycling of the batteries....nor the cumulative amount of resources spent on EV battery R&D, most of which is heavily subsidized without the prospect of any return on that money spent anywhere on the horizon...
Why is it so hard to accept that the ICE is by far the most efficient form of transportation energy, and will be for the foreseeable future?
Why is it so hard to accept that the ICE is by far the most efficient form of transportation energy,
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True now. Except the “by far” part is steadily shrinking.
and will be for the foreseeable future?
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Less true. An article of faith—unless the foreseeable future is less than three years or so. If this is a tough notion and you need to see in order to believe—then visit Reno Nevada where the Tesla battery gigafactory is now ahead of schedule. Tesla now figures it will start production next year. That will cut the cost of batteries in half.
Yes, but no mechanical system in the world is 100% efficient, so you are creating a straw man. Battery efficiencies are in the high 90s, so this is a not a real world issue.
With the cost of electricity being equivalent to around a dollar a gallon, you save money without needing to be absolutely 100% efficient.
“And battery efficiency degrades from the very first charge-discharge cycle. It will always take more and more energy input for the same amount of output. And batteries die...the greatest determining factor of its’ lifespan being the number of charge-discharge cycles-—IOW, the more you use it the shorter its’ lifespan. That will NEVER change...again, basic battery physics. And the cost of replacing that battery...1/4 or more than the entire cost of the car....how can that ever compete on any scale with a modern internal combustion engine?”
These aren't your smartphone batteries. From an article from a couple of weeks ago:
“Based on 84 data points from the 85-kWh version of the Model S and six from 60-kWh cars, the study concludes that the Model S will retain about 94 percent of its capacity after 50,000 miles, with losses thereafter shrinking to about 1 percent per 30,000 miles. That means that after 100,000 miles, the typical Model S is projected to retain about 92 percent of its battery capacity and range.”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3258415/posts
92% after 100,000 miles means that all the fear-mongering about EV battery life was way overblown.
“And of course none of this includes the cost of disposal/recycling of the batteries...”
These batteries are too valuable to be thrown away, even when they have lost 30% of their capacity and are no longer suitable for automobile use. There are programs set up to reuse these batteries for home electricity storage. Tesla also has a recycling program in place. And the Prius battery, for example, is completely recycled:
“Forget those fears that hybrid and electric vehicles will result in landfills full of dead batteries. When Toyota hybrid battery packs reach the end of their lives, every piece is recycled. And it's all because of a program launched a year ago by Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. and its dealers.”
http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120102/RETAIL07/301029980/1147
“Why is it so hard to accept that the ICE is by far the most efficient form of transportation energy, and will be for the foreseeable future?”
With electricity costing around a dollar a gallon equivalent, and battery prices being cut in half every few years, your statement is not based on the reality of the situation.