Are Cars Run On Batteries Really Practical

[said]

At first the idea sounded good. But if thousands of people suddenly decided to buy a battery run car - there would be a massive shortage of Lithium for the batteries.

How would thousands of these batteries be discarded?

Queues at Petrol Stations are bad enough - imagine having to wait to use a charger for the batteries if on a long journey?

Would you purchase a battery car if the price was good?

[Hamble]

No I would not buy a battery hen's egg.
Free range Rover every time.

*Must run on petrol*

[Ceam]

May not be very practical ATM, but we may have little choice in the years to come.
It's something I'd consider in the near future as 90% of my mileage is local short runs, and I only do a very low mileage in my car, around 8K a year.
I'd consider a tesla Model 3 or similar. (£30.000ish)


Lithium is found in the same mines as Tin and used to be avoided. Could be a great boost to areas like Cornwall.
I believe the batteries themselves can be recycled after use, Read somewhere that they could become a private storage of energy long after they where of a grade suitable for cars. e.g. storing solar energy for personal use.

[Lamparilla]

They still don't seem to have come up with a solution for people who live in apartments.

New buildings will, I guess, have charging facilities incorporated into the design of the car parks, but I haven't heard of any existing sites being converted.

[Hamble]

Mr Hamble fancy's trying a Hybrid car next.

Anyone else ventured there?

[Kafoozalum]

My view of the future, (using current technology). Are 30 mile tailbacks on the motorways while 30,000 cars queue to use the 300 charging points at the services. Which keep on going down due to the overloading of the 'grid'. As things stand I don't think it's a practical proposition, other than for local use. From what I hear Hydrogen power sounds like a better long term solution.

[Little Londoner]

My view of the future, (using current technology). Are 30 mile tailbacks on the motorways while 30,000 cars queue to use the 300 charging points at the services. Which keep on going down due to the overloading of the 'grid'. As things stand I don't think it's a practical proposition, other than for local use. From what I hear Hydrogen power sounds like a better long term solution.

Yes Hydrogen sounds good but we'll be knee deep in water the drains are struggling now.

[rolling-thunder]

I believe scientists are working on a new type of battery which can be charged in 5 minutes with more power output, meaning you can travel further. My experience with the likes of LIPO & LIFE batteries shows they tend to degrade over time which will lead to the batteries accepting less charge. Considering the cost of these batteries, especially in Cars would mean there should be collection points for them to be recycled & replaced with new batteries {possibly at a subsidised cost?}.
That brings me to the down side. If you are in an entirely electric car then peoples behaviour will have to change? No more running the heating or radio in traffic jams for fear of flattening your battery. How will the cars be recharged if the driver is stuck in traffic & the battery goes flat? It's not like you can bring a can of electric to the car? This is where smart motorways with under surface wiring would seem to sort the problem out with wireless charging. Perhaps road tax would pay for this rather than add a charge to the driver for driving on the motorway? Traffic jams wouldn't be a problem for electric car drivers then & distance drivers wouldn't have to worry about recharging the vehicle?
It's all in the future but at the moment but it's not fair of the government to pick on the internal combustion engine at the moment until the technology is in place to replace the internal combustion engine?

[shippy]

Trying to find a vacant charging station in London is worse than searching for a hen's tooth...

The present Mayor of London promised endless charging points, but as usual , promises written on ice.

[justbecause]

Trying to find a vacant charging station in London is worse than searching for a hen's tooth...

The present Mayor of London promised endless charging points, but as usual , promises written on ice.

I can’t understand why any sane person would believe a single word that Sadiq Khan utters.

[justbecause]

My view of the future, (using current technology). Are 30 mile tailbacks on the motorways while 30,000 cars queue to use the 300 charging points at the services. Which keep on going down due to the overloading of the 'grid'. As things stand I don't think it's a practical proposition, other than for local use. From what I hear Hydrogen power sounds like a better long term solution.

Cars could have been adapted to run on Hydrogen as long as 50 years ago, but successive Governments wouldn’t entertain the idea because of loss of fuel duty revenue.

[Little Londoner]

I can’t understand why any sane person would believe a single word that Sadiq Khan utters.

Well obviously enough supposedly sane people believe the Tories lies, funny old world isn't it?

[said]

I believe scientists are working on a new type of battery which can be charged in 5 minutes with more power output, meaning you can travel further. My experience with the likes of LIPO & LIFE batteries shows they tend to degrade over time which will lead to the batteries accepting less charge. Considering the cost of these batteries, especially in Cars would mean there should be collection points for them to be recycled & replaced with new batteries {possibly at a subsidised cost?}.
That brings me to the down side. If you are in an entirely electric car then peoples behaviour will have to change? No more running the heating or radio in traffic jams for fear of flattening your battery. How will the cars be recharged if the driver is stuck in traffic & the battery goes flat? It's not like you can bring a can of electric to the car? This is where smart motorways with under surface wiring would seem to sort the problem out with wireless charging. Perhaps road tax would pay for this rather than add a charge to the driver for driving on the motorway? Traffic jams wouldn't be a problem for electric car drivers then & distance drivers wouldn't have to worry about recharging the vehicle?
It's all in the future but at the moment but it's not fair of the government to pick on the internal combustion engine at the moment until the technology is in place to replace the internal combustion engine?

I take it you are talking about the LTO batteries. These have been around since about 1997. They are more expensive to purchase but they have only half the burn rate of the Lithium Battery, but they do need charging regularly. So at present - not very practical.

[Ceam]

My view of the future, (using current technology). Are 30 mile tailbacks on the motorways while 30,000 cars queue to use the 300 charging points at the services. Which keep on going down due to the overloading of the 'grid'. As things stand I don't think it's a practical proposition, other than for local use. From what I hear Hydrogen power sounds like a better long term solution.

Only if you call 300 miles local travel.
Hydrogen is another option, problem is is expensive to extract and very volatile.

[Ceam]

I believe scientists are working on a new type of battery which can be charged in 5 minutes with more power output, meaning you can travel further. My experience with the likes of LIPO & LIFE batteries shows they tend to degrade over time which will lead to the batteries accepting less charge. Considering the cost of these batteries, especially in Cars would mean there should be collection points for them to be recycled & replaced with new batteries {possibly at a subsidised cost?}.
That brings me to the down side. If you are in an entirely electric car then peoples behaviour will have to change? No more running the heating or radio in traffic jams for fear of flattening your battery. How will the cars be recharged if the driver is stuck in traffic & the battery goes flat? It's not like you can bring a can of electric to the car? This is where smart motorways with under surface wiring would seem to sort the problem out with wireless charging. Perhaps road tax would pay for this rather than add a charge to the driver for driving on the motorway? Traffic jams wouldn't be a problem for electric car drivers then & distance drivers wouldn't have to worry about recharging the vehicle?
It's all in the future but at the moment but it's not fair of the government to pick on the internal combustion engine at the moment until the technology is in place to replace the internal combustion engine?

Current generation are good for 10 years in a car, then are still usable as a power storage solution for the home.