Tony Posted December 22, 2019 Report Share Posted December 22, 2019 A future problem happening today? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoffers Posted December 22, 2019 Report Share Posted December 22, 2019 It's an absolute shambles. The National grid is under strain as it is, so it's not going to cope without massive investment. As electric cars become more popular, they are likely to be busy at the same time so no electrical diversity. The government is talking about cost incentives to charge out of peak hours but they would have to be very good for people to take their car out of a night just to charge it. On top of that, there are over 30 companies with different prices. Each has their own 'deal' of pre-paying something monthly for cheaper charging but you couldn't have contracts with them all as it would cost way more than recharging. Some do not allow you to charge without a pre-payment plan. The same applies to the charging protocol - no set standard so the charging stations won't do all cars. On top of that, there are exclusive contracts stopping other companies putting their charging stations in. Welcome Break for example has a Ecotricity only contract. Ridiculous move. Because of the obvious problems of turnaround being slow, people don't stay with it like they do when filling with liquid fuel. Off they pop for something to eat, maybe a bit of shopping, etc. so don't return when it's finished. Not all stations can notify you via phone message or people just ignore it so the turnaround per vehicle is even longer in an already long process. Until charging points are in the majority of normal everyday parking places, it will be increasingly difficult. It will get there but is a long time off. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted December 23, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2019 Do you think "battery" exchange is more viable assuming there could be a manufacture's battery slandered size and connections? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoffers Posted December 23, 2019 Report Share Posted December 23, 2019 Yes, definitely, assuming there was a standard set of battery sizes and capacities but even then it wouldn't be easy. Lots of checks would need to be in place, the main one being capacity testing on board the battery with full display of history and energy used. This could be fed to the car. Without that you wouldn't know it's true capacity, only the usual vehicle voltage tests and maybe a quick cycle test. I wouldn't like to hire a 100kWh battery only to get 88kWh. They would have to be laden with a lot more stress sensors if in and out of cars. Minor bumps measured and that sort of thing too because you wouldn't know what's happened on previous trips if it wasn't your own battery pack. Maybe the answer is for everyone to have two packs - one on the car and one in the wash? At 500kg would still need a method to store and swap but possibly something to look at. Negates cost savings but still goes to help using more fossil fuels. We'll still need charging stations for a long time into the future though. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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