Why electric vehicles aren't the answer

[avgas]

The emf from a pulse cdi is almost immeasurable .
An emf field from a rotating electric motor is large and constant.

You might be pleasantly surprise. Most (good) electric motors these days have a nice shield around them. The Faraday cage then being tied to ground means the emf off them is minimal (they have to do this to reduce losses). The worse cases you end up with 3rd and 5th harmonics on AC and just "noise" low (say around the 10Hz) or high freq (in the kHZ) if its DC. No higher than the speaker in a car door. And seeing as a motor in a bike would typically be slung so that the rotor is somewhere around your shin and ankle. As the rotor is not fixed, it become difficult to shield. So you will find most of the emf will leak out there. But I would be more concerned about crushing my lower leg than growing a cancer on it.

Now back to you putting 10uV p2p humm near you gonads.......don't worry its not as bad as putting a cellphone in your pocket.

[bogan]

The emf from a pulse cdi is almost immeasurable .
An emf field from a rotating electric motor is large and constant.

And we could never survive with a large constant magnetic field present?

[avgas]

And we could never survive with a large constant magnetic field present?

Look at what happened on the event horizon

[Hoon]

With regard to charging; the simplest scheme I have seen is a simple battery swap scheme.

You go into the "charging station" the current battery is removed and a charged one installed. Then the original one is charged at a convenient time.

Also helps with controlling the load on the grid.

Charging stations will become the exception. The average car is parked up 22 of 24 hours of the day. You will find that parking spaces will become the defacto place to charge whether it be your garage, work or parking building (or course there will be an added expense to use these). The days of pulling into the servo to fill up will only be for those that have exceeded the run time of the batteries in one trip or use a vehicle all day (services).

The load on the powergrid can be easily mitigated by utilizing existing smart systems where vehicles are charged off peak at a lower $$$ rate. Yes you could still charge your vehicle immediately if you wanted but you'd pay the higher kW/Hr rate of the time. This will encourage smarter refilling habits just like people now use fuel coupons and seek cheaper petrol stations.

[oneofsix]

Charging stations will become the exception. The average car is parked up 22 of 24 hours of the day. You will find that parking spaces will become the defacto place to charge whether it be your garage, work or parking building (or course there will be an added expense to use these). The days of pulling into the servo to fill up will only be for those that have exceeded the run time of the batteries in one trip or use a vehicle all day (services).

The load on the powergrid can be easily mitigated by utilizing existing smart systems where vehicles are charged off peak at a lower $$$ rate. Yes you could still charge your vehicle immediately if you wanted but you'd pay the higher kW/Hr rate of the time. This will encourage smarter refilling habits just like people now use fuel coupons and seek cheaper petrol stations.

There is an implied contradiction in those two paragraphs for me. Those who are doing longer commutes will want their vehicle to charge during the working day for the homeward trip and therefore there will be the load on the powergrid during peak times. And you can bet that those with shorter commutes will still want to charge whilst at work to. Strikes me as a bit of rose tinted publicity speak fro mthe electric car makers association (if there be one)

[240]

And we could never survive with a large constant magnetic field present?

Yes of course we can what I am saying is that the if the emf output is excessive this can have a definate negative health impact.

The emf from overhead power lines are a classic example.

If the level of emf radiation from an electric motorcycle is safe then so be it I will concede defeat.

Is there are stats supplied by manufacturers that confirm this then fair call.

Currently however http://planetgreen.discovery.com/foo...id-health.html

[bogan]

Yes of course we can what I am saying is that the if the emf output is excessive this can have a definate negative health impact.

The emf from overhead power lines are a classic example.

If the level of emf radiation from an electric motorcycle is safe then so be it I will concede defeat.

Is there are stats supplied by manufacturers that confirm this then fair call.

Currently however http://planetgreen.discovery.com/foo...id-health.html

From your link

Are the Health Risks Real?
The health risks are mostly conjecture. First, no one has proven that EMFs cause cancer. EMFs might. It's possible, but no one is really sure. Furthermore, even if some EMFs caused cancer, you'd then have to prove that the EMFs in hybrids and in electric cars cause cancer. Some people might be sensitive to EMFs, but that is an unknown factor as well. For safety's sake, pregnant women may want to consult a doctor before driving a hybrid or an electric car.

Basically they have not found definitive hazardous EMF values, I say values as I would be surprised if the hazardous feild strength was similar across different frequencies. And they also haven't compared levels and frequencies of EMF in electric (or standard) vehicles. That about sum it up?

I feel tempted to tape a compass to my feul tanks (both electric and ICE) and see what happens....

[Banditbandit]

Thoughts?

Yeah .. what's the question electric vehicles are trying to answer?

[240]

From your link



Basically they have not found definitive hazardous EMF values, I say values as I would be surprised if the hazardous feild strength was similar across different frequencies. And they also haven't compared levels and frequencies of EMF in electric (or standard) vehicles. That about sum it up?

I feel tempted to tape a compass to my feul tanks (both electric and ICE) and see what happens....

Will be interesting to see how things evolve aye.

[Swoop]

There is a very simple solution.

Harness the power generated at the local gym!
All those posers on exercycles (instead of an "actual" bicycle...) and still completing their eighth rep!

Simply plug in your vehicle at the local sweat-centre and they will charge it up for you.

Perhaps battery-farming (pardon the pun) some obese people who frequent KFC, etc, and chain them to the exercise machines? A win-win scenario!

[Hoon]

There is an implied contradiction in those two paragraphs for me. Those who are doing longer commutes will want their vehicle to charge during the working day for the homeward trip and therefore there will be the load on the powergrid during peak times. And you can bet that those with shorter commutes will still want to charge whilst at work to. Strikes me as a bit of rose tinted publicity speak fro mthe electric car makers association (if there be one)

Theres nothing to stop you charging during the day/peak hour. But as I mentioned you will have to pay more for that privilege. Others that don't need to charge during the day and have more sense than money will of course choose the cheaper option by recharging overnight at home. Sure the demands on the grid may be an issue but definately not a show stopper.

I do agree that in its current form (13 hrs charge for 1hr drive?) it aint going to be exciting anyone but as battery technology improves then it will continue to become more attractive. Once we start seeing 10 min charge times for 2-3hr drives and vehicles at the same price as petrol equivalents then we will see some change but until then like many others I have no qualms over pumping carbon into the atmosphere vs some electric car that costs twice as much with half the performance.

[Oblivion]

Theres nothing to stop you charging during the day/peak hour. But as I mentioned you will have to pay more for that privilege. Others that don't need to charge during the day and have more sense than money will of course choose the cheaper option by recharging overnight at home. Sure the demands on the grid may be an issue but definately not a show stopper.

I do agree that in its current form (13 hrs charge for 1hr drive?) it aint going to be exciting anyone but as battery technology improves then it will continue to become more attractive. Once we start seeing 10 min charge times for 2-3hr drives and vehicles at the same price as petrol equivalents then we will see some change but until then like many others I have no qualms over pumping carbon into the atmosphere vs some electric car that costs twice as much with half the performance.

Apparently what they are working on is a dump charging system. They are using a low voltage but high amp system to charge the battery. Haven't heard much about it though.

[davereid]

IMHO Electric cars are a FAIL for several reasons.

(1) They ARE NOT clean. The process of mining, and extracting the (rare) metals required for the engine and battery is all done with oil.

(2) They are NOT sustainable. There is simply not enough lithium in the world to repower vehicles electrically. Best estimates are there is enough lithium to make 300 million vehicle batteries, which is enough for about 1/3 of vehicles currently used.

(3) They are NOT emission free.
Its just that we have relocated the emissions to the power station. Every-time I see someone make that claim I want to throttle them. MOST of the worlds electricity is generated from fossil fuels. And the electricity grid is VERY VERY lossy. So the transmission of the energy from the power station to you car is very very inefficient.

FUTURE developments MAY solve these issues. But right now, the electric car is not the answer.

[Scuba_Steve]

FUTURE developments MAY solve these issues. But right now, the electric car is not the answer.

No Top Gear already came to that conclusion, the future of electric car (if there is one) is in dogems... Less insurance claims too

I think 1 thing alot of people don't know or have forgotten is the "electric revolution" has already failed 2 or 3 times previous. I see this time being no different, which is good, cause I also don't want to see my power bill skyrocket either!

[oneofsix]

No Top Gear already came to that conclusion, the future of electric car (if there is one) is in dogems... Less insurance claims too

I think 1 thing alot of people don't know or have forgotten is the "electric revolution" has already failed 2 or 3 times previous. I see this time being no different, which is good, cause I also don't want to see my power bill skyrocket either!

Bring back the Stanly Steamer