I've seen that recently... don't recall if it was linked from here or I just found it surfing. Anyway, I agree with parts of it. Just imagine every vehicle on Earth carting around an extra Ton or so of needless bulk, as they are now. Yeah, that's a good chunk of energy and materials waste.
Also, I think speeds are higher than need be. My somewhat arbitrary thought is, trips under 50 miles are not penalized very much time-wise by speeds under or even well under 55 mph. I do think 20 mph is too slow for much of anything going out of town though. I take my electric bicycle on 17 mile round trips at about 20 mph and sometimes wish for a little more speed, which I could have were I not using a lower power setting to save on the batteries.
Quote:
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Contrary to vehicles with an internal combustion engine, electric cars are more fuel efficient in cities than at steady speed on a highway - an electric motor uses no energy when it is idling, and regenerative braking works best in city traffic.
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It has been my experience that in-town starting and stopping wears the batteries down far, far faster on my electric bike than steady-state cruising down the road.