Electric bikes and cars - get real

[petecam]

during the conversation I had we discussed computers doubling power every 18 months, thus driving technology forward and the time span of my above post was likely to be about 15 years.
His main concerns where as he described the transition from each level of automation, other than that the consensus is electric transport is coming!
We discussed "green" cars at present are not much if any cleaner than a small petrol car if you take the generation of the power and the making and disposal of the batteries

cheers Spud

Very Interesting.

If I apply the technology to my personal situation its not quite there yet, but not far off. My commute is only 17 miles each way and the science park where I work has a charging point. So no issues there.

Where the problem lies is when I go to Devon to see family. That’s a 280 mile trip each way. I therefore either need a battery that can cover a 300 mile range, probably factoring in detours it needs to be nearer 350 to be safe. Or I would need to stop to charge it. Now it does seem that a lot of services now have charging stations but for me I really need to get the car charged within say 10 minutes or a enough time for a toilet break and coffee. You don’t want to be there for hours. I do believe there are rapid chargers now but I’m not sure how quick they charge I thought they were a minimum of 30 min?

My other worry would getting low and finding out there are no chargers for 50 miles. But as the infrastructure grows I guess it wont be any different to looking for a petrol station?

I also think inter country travel is also off the menu for now, I’m not sure electric cars are so popular in mainland Europe?

cheers

[Gavinskii]

I spend a lot of time travelling and the pollution in many cities is horrific. However I also recently spent a week in London and that seems relatively clean in comparison. I’m not sure how much of that is due to the congestion charge but what I also noticed was the amount of charging points available and in use for electric cars. It was impressive. I also noticed many of the new buses were hybrid.

We have to welcome this with open arms, if not for us for our kids, we need to clean this place up a bit. There are concerns with any new technology and early adopters pay a premium but the more its adopted the cheaper and more reliable the technology gets.

I bet we will see a big change over the next 5-10 years.

Cheers

There is a Low Emissions Zone LEZ starting a fair distance outside the capital, which collects large fines for older technology diesels. This has been in place for quite a few years now and it is interesting that you have noticed the difference.

From 2020 London moves into ULEZ (Ultra Low Emissions Zone), so things will get a whole lot more unpleasant for people running older technology vehicles.

[Gavinskii]

Interesting post Spud. I had a drive in a Tesla S recently at Swansea Airport,and it was impressive! Amazing acceleration..0-60 in about 4.5sec?! Just a little road noise from the tyres. It was like driving something in a computer game. They definitely are the future. A friend has a Nissan Leaf,and he reckons the running costs are minimal using Economy7 during evenings to charge it.

This is what I have (and use the most) + charge it on E7. It works out at 1.7p per mile B)

I make lots of short journeys on a typical working day, so its perfect not creating frictional wear and tear (like on any IC car) and also not chucking out any emissions crap too (thumbs)

Being electric it is super quick and I can get past dawdling motorists safely and with ease (similar to riding a bike!).

[petecam]

There is a Low Emissions Zone LEZ starting a fair distance outside the capital, which collects large fines for older technology diesels. This has been in place for quite a few years now and it is interesting that you have noticed the difference.

From 2020 London moves into ULEZ (Ultra Low Emissions Zone), so things will get a whole lot more unpleasant for people running older technology vehicles.

Ahh interesting. My partner spends a lot of time in Paris and she commented as well how clean London is compare to there.

I was in Jordan last week (the country not the woman :side: ) and it was gob smacking the amount of old trucks blowing out black diesel smoke everywhere. A lot of people moan about emissions equipment on vehicles in Europe but I'd sooner that than what we used to have (thumbs)

[threepot]

The lack of internal noise was a big 'plus'. Manufacturers try to eliminate it. But I can see it being a problem to pedestrians? But I really can't understand why there isn't technology available to keep the batteries charged whilst it's in motion? :huh:

[petecam]

But I really can't understand why there isn't technology available to keep the batteries charged whilst it's in motion? :huh:

There is

http://www.diy.com/departments/masterpl ... 7Qod2pkMww

[Gavinskii]

The lack of internal noise was a big 'plus'. Manufacturers try to eliminate it. But I can see it being a problem to pedestrians? But I really can't understand why there isn't technology available to keep the batteries charged whilst it's in motion? :huh:

Mine regenerates everytime I am not stamping on the accelerator and also when going down hills or braking.

[Redmurty]

during the conversation I had we discussed computers doubling power every 18 months, thus driving technology forward and the time span of my above post was likely to be about 15 years.
His main concerns where as he described the transition from each level of automation, other than that the consensus is electric transport is coming!
We discussed "green" cars at present are not much if any cleaner than a small petrol car if you take the generation of the power and the making and disposal of the batteries

cheers Spud

Very Interesting.

If I apply the technology to my personal situation its not quite there yet, but not far off. My commute is only 17 miles each way and the science park where I work has a charging point. So no issues there.

Where the problem lies is when I go to Devon to see family. That’s a 280 mile trip each way. I therefore either need a battery that can cover a 300 mile range, probably factoring in detours it needs to be nearer 350 to be safe. Or I would need to stop to charge it. Now it does seem that a lot of services now have charging stations but for me I really need to get the car charged within say 10 minutes or a enough time for a toilet break and coffee. You don’t want to be there for hours. I do believe there are rapid chargers now but I’m not sure how quick they charge I thought they were a minimum of 30 min?

My other worry would getting low and finding out there are no chargers for 50 miles. But as the infrastructure grows I guess it wont be any different to looking for a petrol station?

I also think inter country travel is also off the menu for now, I’m not sure electric cars are so popular in mainland Europe?

cheers

during our discussion it came up as charge times 1 hour and the range of about 500 miles (thumbs)

cheers Spud

[Redmurty]

The lack of internal noise was a big 'plus'. Manufacturers try to eliminate it. But I can see it being a problem to pedestrians? But I really can't understand why there isn't technology available to keep the batteries charged whilst it's in motion? :huh:

he said most time design wise now was spent on making the car cabin quite :whistle:

cheers Spud

[Simon_100]

...

I am very lucky as I have a great job, my next client we discussed camping and touring on motorbikes in the late 40's and fifties. I think we call it adventure biking now :whistle:

cheers Spud

Ha ha, that's exactly what I was thinking when I read your first post about the car bloke, i.e. "Didn't stop him wrenching a ligament though, did it!"

The future's already here, or nearly. Hot on the heels of the Barcelona metropolis, i.e. including the surrounding cites, banning diesels over 6 years old - so that us out, and petrol cars over 10 years old - out goes the Niva too! - they're introducing a scheme for residents in the centre to sell their cars in exchange for free public transport - but only for three years????? :S

Neither would affect me though as I wouldn't drive in that city if you paid me!

Meanwhile, A very interesting point about the 'no ownership' pay as you use vehicle concept; for once in my life the timing of this could be just up our street as we're hoping to keep our 2003 Kangoo until it drops dead, about another 8-10 years I hope, then get an electric buggy at our cottage in the Pyrenees to wobble down to town, 12 kms away, but then for the occasional time at the flat in Tarragona, on the Mediterranean coast and need a 'real' car for the national highway. But when we get here we leave the car in the leafy suburbs for the duration, sometimes for four weeks at a time ... Public transport is an option, there's a train service, but we never seem able to avoid carting loads if stuff too and fro, plus a 47 kgs pack of fur and fangs - and huge plops ... so we really would need a car.

But I'l keep the Niva and my two bikes for having fun on the trails in the Pyrenees! (thumbs)

BTW There are plenty of electric charging gizmo's in Barna and Madrid and most cities are converting their fleets of vehicles to electric as and when they get replaced.

Regs

Simon