Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr Winston O Boogie jr
Do you mean the reciprocating piston engine that has been faithfully and reliably serving the world for the past 100 years? The engine that has powered tanks and other vehicles that won wars for us? The engine that is used in airplanes to safely get us airborne? Yes, that would be terrible. The problem with electric motors is that they take too long to charge. If you drive a long way and need to charge, you’ll need to stop for a minimal of several hours. If charging time can get reduced to minutes there might be a chance of EVs being successful. Even then, the entire electrical grid would need to be upgraded. How are we supposed to generate all of this additional electricity?
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As has been pointed out in other posts, alternatives to petroleum-powered vehicles will become more available when they become as cheap and as reliable as petroleum-powered vehicles. That appears to be far in the future however.
Another technology that shows great promise is hydrogen power. A hydrogen-powered vehicle is essentially an EV but without the huge and expensive (to produce and to own) batteries. Instead the hydrogen is pumped into a fuel cell, and a reaction takes place that produces electricity to run the car. They have about the same range as battery-powered EVs and the running gear is pretty much the same. The difference is that you can fuel up a hydrogen-powered car in about four minutes vs. "X" length of time to charge a battery.
This technology already exists, albeit in infancy. Toyota makes a hydrogen-powered car (the Toyota Mirai) and a couple of other car manufacturers make one too. I don't think the infrastructure exists here yet, but it is available in a limited manner in California where you can fuel up with hydrogen at the some of the same stations that sell gasoline, and hydrogen tanker trucks are available to deliver it. I have no idea of the cost (probably a whole lot more at this stage than either petroleum - or battery - powered vehicles), but that should come down as the technology advances and infrastructure is adapted.
Best of all, absolutely emission-free.