View Single Post
Old 02-19-2016, 10:08 AM   #23 (permalink)
RedDevil
Master EcoWalker
 
RedDevil's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Nieuwegein, the Netherlands
Posts: 3,999

Red Devil - '11 Honda Insight Elegance
Team Honda
90 day: 54.08 mpg (US)
Thanks: 1,714
Thanked 2,247 Times in 1,455 Posts
Capacity is but one aspect.
Usability and availability are just as important.

There is one breakthrough development in battery technology that can make a big difference in public acceptance: fast recharging.
If you can recharge the batteries in a few minutes the absolute range becomes less important.
You'd still want a range fit for your commute, so you can manage by just charging at home, but the occasional long trip would not take (much) more time or planning than it would in a gas powered car.

Also the electric charging network is growing fast.
Over here it is hard to find a parking spot that is further than half a mile away from the nearest public charging point. I pass several of them on my way to work just driving through my home town - there are many more charging points than gas stations.

Fast charging and the ability to charge wherever you park changes everything.
It is a matter of time before EVs become attractive enough to go mainstream.

We are losing some gas stations because they are too close to houses etc.
The nearest gas station is limited in its opening times and under constant threat of being closed permanently. LPG is banned from many stations as being too dangerous.
LPG powered cars are banned from some parking garages etc.
LPG is on a steady decline.
I would expect hydrogen would run into some of the same problems as LPG, and a new one: as it is lighter than air a hydrogen leak would spread under the ceiling of tunnels and garages, where the lighting units are.

Electricity is here and growing fast.
Hydrogen is almost nowhere yet and taking baby steps.
You could not drive the Rasa anywhere today nor in the nearby future; probably never.
__________________
2011 Honda Insight + HID, LEDs, tiny PV panel, extra brake pad return springs, neutral wheel alignment, 44/42 PSI (air), PHEV light (inop), tightened wheel nut.
lifetime FE over 0.2 Gigameter or 0.13 Megamile.


For confirmation go to people just like you.
For education go to people unlike yourself.
  Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to RedDevil For This Useful Post:
RustyLugNut (02-19-2016)