There are in Japan... they have cell phone charging stations at am/pm convenience stores. 100yen/10min.

 

Sorry, off-topic...

Baron, that is an awesome sig. Did you make that?

 

Batteries . . batteries . . . . as I understand it all batteries are no more than controlled chemical reactions. The charging process is just a reversal of that and has a certain inefficiency . .thus heat . . thus a limit to how fast it can be charged.
Some smart guys at MIT just announced the development of a new type of capacitor. They use carbon nano-tubes to vastly increase the interior surface area and thus the capacity of the capacitor. They surmise that they will be able to thriple the charge capacity of a LI-Ion battery and since these are capacitors and not a chemical system . . . charging is related only to the amperage that can be shoved over the wires. This means a charging time measured in minutes . . . not hours . . . with a sufficiently robust system.
Electrics are just around the corner.

 

Yeah I did. I'm glad someone appreciates it because it was a royal pain in the dick to animate!

Back on topic...I hadn't even noticed this on A123's website, last time I checked they were selling bare cells to qualified manufacturers, now they are selling battery packs for R/C cars!

Now this is pretty exciting to me, personally. I remember thinking when I heard of some of these new batteries "holy crap that would be awesome in an R/C car". Hell, I can remember running my RC-10, a real serious car (not a Walmart toy), back in the early 90's. The batteries were 1200~1400 mAh for a stick. You could get 1800 mAh but they were special and only ran once a day.

Then they came out with...I think 2400 mAh packs, I was into gassers by then though. More recently I've seen 3600 LiPo's but they are delicate and fussy and capable of exploding. But now A123 has a 4600 mAh pack, and it's sturdy as hell. So let's see...if I remember correctly....

1200~1400 mAh = 10 minutes runtime, max. My packs were worn-out junk though.

therefore I would imagine...
4600 = around 40 minutes runtime. Little capacity loss over time, no voltage trailoff as you run down, and their supplied charger takes 15 minutes.

http://www.a123racing.com/html/hypersonicturbo.html

They aren't cheap, but I wouldn't expect them to be at a very early production stage like this. They are charging high prices because...well, they can. They'll come down as other competitors jump in.

The MIT capacitor has only been proven with computer models as far as I know. However, there is a little company in Austin that is being very hush-hush for now, but supposedly will have a super capacitor by 2007. Astounding range, no heat, lasts practically forever, should be cheaper than lead-acid. Google for EEStor, they have attracted some big names (the military, for one), and a good bit of venture capital from Kleiner-Perkins, a venture capital firm with one of the best track records around for picking winners. Apparently they have a contract with Feel Good Cars too (a maker of affordable commuter electric cars, currently using lead-acid), so it's not just laptop batteries or whatever.

Source:
http://www.feelgoodcars.com/media/im...tar_EEStor.pdf
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2006...ood_cars_.html

 

Yah as long as the oil companies don't send out hitmen to kill the makers of the electric car!

 

Heh, it's a bit too late for that. Besides, they be fighting against the entire electronics industry. Also, the military has a hardon for dramatically better batteries, that's a major logistical problem for our troops apparently.

Speaking of which...let's say the EEStor is all it's cracked up to be. Does this mean we could see the first practical laser rifles? They would probably pack enough punch for a tank at least, if not a hand-held M16 replacement.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'd love for this to work out, but in some parts of the country the electrical grid seems overloaded as it is and in need of serious improvement just for current levels of use. Not that it can't be done, but it may be a serious undertaking.

 

That's where supplemental solar energy comes into play. Elon Musk from Tesla said recently in an interview that they are working with another company to provide a small solar setup that could be used to offset some of the charging. The system would provide the equivalent of 50 miles per day of electricity which is enough for most people's daily commute (not mine sadly). This means that there is less stress put on the grid and it reduces your total cost of ownership once you've re-couped the cost of the system.

Unfortunately, for now, the car and the solar charging system are too expensive for the average person. My hope is that enough people buy the Tesla and some of the other EV cars on the market or coming out so that eventually we all can have a car like the Roadster. The technology is here and even better stuff is just around the corner.

From a technology standpoint, these are very exciting times we live in. Too bad most everything else sucks.

 

Actually, solar cells will be getting cheaper/better in the near future, too. Google for Konarka and Nanosolar. They "print" the cells on big flexible sheets of plastic, which can also be painted different patterns--like shingles for homeowners, camoflage for the military (solar tents!), etc. Probably it won't be long before you can buy a house and check off an option box that says "solar roof", and roll the cost into your mortgage.

 

At the end it's political issue. In Germany the electric power producers have to buy back electricity produced from homeowners by law. And if it is produced environmentally friendly for instance with solar power, wind or hydro power they have to pay a higher price. Some homeowners even have clean burning diesel engines running on vegetable oil and sell electricity this way and in addition can use waste heat to heat their houses. The US could introduce a similar program.

At the end its a countries choice, whether it wants to be dependent on oil producing countries in the middle east by for instance giving tax credits to SUV buyers or whether it wants to strengthen its own economy by introducing measures as mentioned above or by giving tax credits to electrically operated, Ethanol or Biodiesel operated cars.
I believe homeowners in the US don't have a lobby to the extent electric powerplant and grid operators have, so I guess things in the US probably won't change to the benefit of the American people.

 

Power companies are required to buy back excess power generated by consumers in america, too.

 

CNN has picked up on the EEStor rumors. The 5 minute power recharge stat really worries me. That's a whole lot of current just flowing around and I wouldn't want to be at the end of an accidental discharge. Anyways, here's the link:

http://money.cnn.com/2006/09/15/tech...biz2/index.htm

 

Did anyone notice that it runs a staggered setup?

Type Yokohama Neova AD07 LTS
Size - front 175/55 R16
Size - rear 225/45 R17

 

So, situate connectionless induction plates in parking spots that automatically charge our cars and show the cost on our electric bills, ala toll road transponders?

Btw, I work for an electric utility and know that off hours inefficiencies are a major concern because any excess capacity is basically lost revenues. They even pump water at night back up to reservoirs so there will be enough "gravity" during the daylight hours for adequate generation. Think nuclear generation that is 100% output 24/7 and the huge incentives to distribute otherwise unused energy to thirsty plug-in vehicles during off hours.

 

I see that some of you missed the most important information, such as torque and hp (it's 248hp peak). In addition, no one has mentioned the 13,500 rpm redline! Unfortunately judging from the video clips available on the internet, its almost silent. It does have the ability to make a quiet turbine wind-up noise at acceleration from a dead stop though, whiiiiiiirrr.... but real quiet and subdued, and apparently fades into silence as it climbs into higher rpms. Not sure what component causes that noise, but it is the same thing with the Wrightspeed X1.



Would feel wrong shifting without a clutch.

In addition Tesla is working with solar power panel companies... I guess they'll use that nice, large, flat trunk for a solar panel?

Where did someone get the info that the Lotus was an aluminum chassis, whereas the Tesla is a carbon fiber chassis? The Tesla website states the chassis is, "bonded extruded aluminum with 4-wheel wishbone suspension." I believe the body panels are carbon fiber, etc. when they talk about "carbon fiber" in the videos.

There are 350 sold already. Fully loaded is $100,000. I guess people can stop complaining about the Lotus Elise interior, there's now something twice as expensive with the same interior.

Some will never be able to enjoy electric cars as much, always feeling they are missing out on some of the noise and rumble. Lastly, imagine what would happen if everyone on the street today had a 3 or 4 second vehicle? What would happen in the parking lots?


Sources:
-youtube
-wikipedia