Electric Bikes... the Future?

[Andi_Archer]

There is insufficient energy in the grid to recharge a significant number of electric vehicles and solar panels... this is the UK with very poor quality of generatorable sunlight except during Summer.

[qcnr]

As has been said before, a battery is nothing more than a means of storing energy. The same as diesel, petrol or coal.
! in the form of electrical energy, the others in the form of heat. Theat energy is then converted into other types of
energy by means of a mechanical device. So how much electricity would be needed to convert vehicles to electric
and zero emmision. Well I am sure there are statistics on the amount of petrol sold per annum.
I am also quite certain that there are not enough windturbines, solar panels and nuclear powerplants in the UK that
could cope with the demand for electricity for charging all thos batteries.
Electric vehicles have their pupose and place, but currently or even in the next 10 years they cannot replace current
ICE vehicles simply due to the lack of charging infrastructure available.
This is the case in Norway. There used to be sceptisism to EV due to range, but now the big concern is charging. As a lot
of peopple use EVs as their only vehicle, there are now considerable queues at charging stations. Added to that the average
40 min charge timeand a long journey needs to be planned carefully and plenty of time allowed.

[catcitrus]

I would bow to your superior knowledge about batteries, but I think where electric vehicles come into their own is in reducing air pollution in cities. Obviously there are better long term solutions, such as decent public transport, stopping building homes where people are reliant on personally motorised transport, rethinking how we organising working patterns and where we work. Unfortunately none of these are likely to happen in our current political climate whereas it is relatively cheap for local authorities to put in emission zones and then collect the revenue from them. So increased hybrid and electric vehicles are the immediate future.
Cheers Jak

I agree--there is a place--but what about hydrogen as a fuel?--not for a fuel cell but as a directly combustible gas--here's a thought for you--a small closed cycle Stirling engine (and I have worked with these) powered by a constant heat source that is hydrogen fuelled--emission is water! Hydrogen correctly stored is no more dangerous that a large lithium battery which, in the event of an accident, has to be disconnected and stored in a special place for a while in case it goes into meltdown!--check out the safety systems for the new electric bike series in moto GP!

[hotbulb]

But where does the hydrogen come from ?...... current favourite seems to be electrolysis of water, which requires lots of electricity, which takes us back to where we started!

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[Andi_Archer]

There is supposed to be a hydrogen powered train on the rails according to recent press releases

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/scie ... 86306.html

[video][/video]

[catcitrus]

But where does the hydrogen come from ?...... current favourite seems to be electrolysis of water, which requires lots of electricity, which takes us back to where we started!

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I like your "hot bulb" name---basically hot air engines are Stirling engines--I have a working model here at home. I agree on the energy requirement for hydrogen production--but it doesn't require additional mining or refining--and here solar panels, wind or even direct solar reflectors can be used.Way back in the 70s there were tests on reflector powered Stirling engines that had solar tracking. Basically a big dish with a 40 kW Stirling's hot source at the focal point--that gave you rotational power from which you could drive a generator and so on--but nothing is straightforward. I think the future will be in lots of small power stations supplying local requirements. There is no appetite for multi billion dollar nuclear investment.

[hotbulb]

Thank, Catcitrus...."hotbulb" engines are "surface ignition" or semi-diesel types. They'll run on almost anything that'll burn..... brandy to old engine oil, but are very inefficient and very "mucky". Look for Lanz Bulldog on YouTube! Fun, but not really an answer to the current climate chaos .

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[Tonibe63]

Maybe the answer to the fossil fuel/electric power conundrum is to look at what we actually need to use them for ie. why commute so far, why do we need to travel miles for business meetings, why do we need to use them for leisure, why do we need to transport goods so inefficiently, we do we buy so much shite to fill our houses with?
Maybe the answer is to radically look at getting rid of private vehicles?
Maybe internet2/artificial intelligence/Virtual reality can help the planet to miss out the race for an alternative fuel source?
The problem is really about changing people's way of thinking about their lives and the World, that is a massive hurdle and big business isn't going to like it.

[OB1]

When I read of objections to electric motorcycles and alternative energy, I feel quite frustrated because all of the arguments seem to be based on today's technology: length of time charging, range of vehicle and materials used in batteries. Just think back 12 years, before the iPhone came out, when you had to charge and discharge batteries completely otherwise they would have a "memory". Technology will always get better, more efficient and cheaper!

Anyone who doubts these technologies as the way forward probably needs to look at the advancements in graphene batteries as that seems to be the direction we are going in.

[Andi_Archer]

Thats not quite the same "need" for the end user .A reliable and long lasting mode of transport with a long range of travel is called for and there is no saying a model bought now will have software or even hardware support in five to ten years ala iphone models. A 1960s ford still has parts available some 50 years down the road so in essence they would just be expensive land fill acquisitions.