RANGERS Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 If you want batteries, a small factory being set up in Nevada is getting that covered. Interesting stuff happening, if it all comes to pass http://blog.caranddriver.com/elon-musk-says-in-two-years-a-tesla-could-summon-itself-cross-country/ The plant is already producing batteries, but not yet for cars, afaik. I'd like to think that in ten years, battery technology will indeed have rendered the internal combustion engine as something to look back on on, however whilst battery technology has moved on in leaps and bounds, it's still at least ten years from being practical enough to be a workable solution. Thats not the issue though, battery technology is one thing but providing the power to charge those batteries with the frequency required is going to be an even bigger challenge. London is already severely challenged to provide infrastructure to convert just two bus routes to battery power, add potentially a further 50 routes, 120,000 cars, 7,000 taxis and around 5,000 commercial vehicles, and thats a lot of power. Even if the generating capacity exists by 2026, will the infrastructure be capable of delivering it to the point of consumption? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Taz Posted February 14, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 14, 2016 I think battery electric cars are just a stop gap solution. The future for motoring is the hydrogen fuel cell. All we need is the infrastructure to be put in place. We can't be far off the point where production of hydrogen becomes economically competitive with digging oil out of the ground. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RANGERS Posted February 15, 2016 Share Posted February 15, 2016 I think battery electric cars are just a stop gap solution. The future for motoring is the hydrogen fuel cell. All we need is the infrastructure to be put in place. We can't be far off the point where production of hydrogen becomes economically competitive with digging oil out of the ground. The only problem is that the commercial production of hydrogen requires a huge amount of electricity - catch 22 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Ron Ron Posted February 15, 2016 Share Posted February 15, 2016 If the exhaust from Hydrogen Fuel Cell powered cars is H2O... ...with rising sea levels the last thing we'll need is hundreds of millions of cars around the world making even more water. In no time it'll be boats we'll need, not cars. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Ron Ron Posted February 15, 2016 Share Posted February 15, 2016 There is a lot of activity in the electric car sector and Tesla are making some very impressive cars. I've been in their Model S as a passenger a few times on visits to Norway and the Netherlands and they have really impressed. I think many assumed that the Tesla would be a bit half baked and compromised in comparison to established luxury car makers but I think it is remarkable just how good the Model S is given the market it is competing in. I saw quite a lot of Tesla Model S' on three separate trips to the USA and Western Canada last year. They seem to be coming quite popular in and around the big cities. Interestingly, there appear to be quite of few of them starting to appear here in the UK, particularly in the South and SE. There are at least 3 somewhere in my neighbourhood, as I see them quite frequently locally. I also spotted two in the same car park in the NW recently...Cheshire, so it must be a fashion thing? I'd be quite tempted myself if it wasn't for the price. . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted February 15, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 15, 2016 Batteries also have environmental issues as they use a lot of heavy metals and lithium can catch fire. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jjb1970 Posted February 15, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 15, 2016 I'd go for a Tesla Model S if I had the money, although it is an expensive car if you compare it with similar very high performance luxury saloon cars it doesn't look that expensive relative to cars from the German luxury marques. I think it has shown that there is no reason why an eco car cannot also offer serious performance and luxury and the bigger battery versions have adequate range for most people most of the time I think, it is a very impressive achievement from a young company. The battery vs. fuel cell debate has been going for years, not helped by both technologies improving. The elephant in the room of hydrogen is indeed the cost and energy demand of producing hydrogen but there is serious money being thrown at that problem and some interesting proposals to develop a hydrogen infrastructure as part of a renewable energy strategy (for instance, using wind turbines to produce hydrogen rather than export electricity to the grid). When I worked for E.ON they came down on the side of batteries, interestingly they saw that as being less lucrative for their own operations than hydrogen fuel cells but decided it would be the more attractive technology. I really do think we are into the run out period for the internal combustion engine in cars, it won't happen overnight but I think the electric car will increase its market share steadily. At the moment petrol electric range extenders seem the best compromise. On batteries, I have a very impressive video on my work PC of a ROV (basically a robotic submersible) blowing up on the deck of an offshore vessel thanks to the battery going up. And I mean blowing up, it is like the ship has been hit by a 1000lb bomb. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titan Posted February 15, 2016 Share Posted February 15, 2016 A tank full of petrol can catch fire too... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Dunsignalling Posted February 15, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 15, 2016 A tank full of petrol can catch fire too... Actually, very unlikely. It's the vapour in a part-full tank that is really dangerous. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium MJI Posted February 16, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 16, 2016 I'd like to think that in ten years, battery technology will indeed have rendered the internal combustion engine as something to look back on on, however whilst battery technology has moved on in leaps and bounds, it's still at least ten years from being practical enough to be a workable solution. Thats not the issue though, battery technology is one thing but providing the power to charge those batteries with the frequency required is going to be an even bigger challenge. London is already severely challenged to provide infrastructure to convert just two bus routes to battery power, add potentially a further 50 routes, 120,000 cars, 7,000 taxis and around 5,000 commercial vehicles, and thats a lot of power. Even if the generating capacity exists by 2026, will the infrastructure be capable of delivering it to the point of consumption? Problem was solved many years ago by trolley busses Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
edcayton Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 Actually, very unlikely. It's the vapour in a part-full tank that is really dangerous. When Dad's Cortina caught fire the Fire Brigade attended quickly. Dad said how worried he had been about it exploding. The Fire Chief said "they only do that on TV". When our Cavalier was set on fire maliciously the only bits that went bang were the tyres. Ed Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymw Posted March 1, 2016 Author Share Posted March 1, 2016 http://www.networkworld.com/article/3037473/security/nissan-leaf-owners-prepare-to-be-pranked-by-hackers-thanks-to-insecure-api.html trivial way to hack into some Nissan leaf features -Nissan are aware, but have done nothing to fix it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymw Posted March 1, 2016 Author Share Posted March 1, 2016 more google car stuffhttp://arstechnica.com/cars/2016/02/google-self-driving-car-strikes-bus-in-california/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymw Posted July 1, 2016 Author Share Posted July 1, 2016 Unfortunately http://www.reuters.com/article/us-tesla-investigation-idUSKCN0ZG2ZC Seems to be a fair bit of speculation at the moment wrt what the driver was doing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
runs as required Posted July 2, 2016 Share Posted July 2, 2016 More on fatal US Tesla crash - had the dead Tesla driver been watching a Harry Potter movie? dh Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 30801 Posted July 2, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 2, 2016 More on fatal US Tesla crash - had the dead Tesla driver been watching a Harry Potter movie? dh Hardly an independant witness... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
runs as required Posted July 2, 2016 Share Posted July 2, 2016 Hardly an independent witness... Which is why I appended the question mark. But it does highlight the need for 'fail safe' protocols for 'assisted driving' as distinct from fully 'automated driving'. I read DiN standards are being drafted for autobahns, and believe are being discussed here (whenever we are lucky enough to have some kind of government) dh Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted July 2, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 2, 2016 More on fatal US Tesla crash - had the dead Tesla driver been watching a Harry Potter movie? dh It is reported that after the car had passed under the trailer removing the roof it continued for some distance demolishing a fence and a telegraph pole, so what speed was it doing? Also if the trailer was fitted with under-run bars as is required this side of the pond the driver may have survived. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jjb1970 Posted July 2, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 2, 2016 Standards are funny things, few read them and assume they provide more than they actually do in many cases. A few years ago I was developing class rules for fuel cell power systems and as benchmarking looked at the automotive fuel cell standard published by ISO and was quite surprised at how little real guidance and requirements it offered yet most will assume that a fuel cell car designed and built in accordance with that standard has satisfied a reasonably robust risk management requirement. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 30801 Posted July 3, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 3, 2016 It is reported that after the car had passed under the trailer removing the roof it continued for some distance demolishing a fence and a telegraph pole, so what speed was it doing? Also if the trailer was fitted with under-run bars as is required this side of the pond the driver may have survived. I thought that the autopilot feature would not speed. But after some googling it goes at what you tell it. It does know the current limit however. More than physically stopping the car, under-run bars would have made the trailer more visible and probably have averted the whole thing... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robatron86 Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 (edited) Post deleted by user Edited July 7, 2016 by Robatron86 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
w124bob Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 (edited) Interesting spotting day yesterday, first a late 60's or very early 70's Mustang converible in blue heading into Stockport then almost immediatley a very rare Ford Thames 400E dropside, not mint but being used as Ford intended. Finally at the back of Old Trafford (cricket) a 60's 4 window Citroen 2CV,ripple bonnet, French reg. Mustang was '71 or '72. Edited January 12, 2017 by w124bob 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jjb1970 Posted January 12, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 12, 2017 Probably not a good day to be a Fiat Chrysler shareholder. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jjb1970 Posted January 13, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 13, 2017 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38607678 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38603723 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymw Posted April 28, 2017 Author Share Posted April 28, 2017 Interesting long piece wrt Tesla cars http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/06/how-tesla-will-change-your-life.html in particular the graphs wrt energy usage in various countries. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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