Quote:
Originally Posted by Grant-53
For several years I have volunteered at the Green Grand Prix. I did scoring again this year. The top production vehicle got 148 e-mpg at 46 mph. I also regularly read the SAE publications. No Tesla entries because of the Feb. recall. Toyota says their batteries are good for 4,400 recharges. The individual cells are fused to prevent thermal runaway. The major hurdles are in infrastructure both recycling lithium and a distributed power grid. For me to refit my home with all electric appliances and a heat pump would be $40,000. I could see a 3 cyl. turbo diesel hybrid working in rural areas. Batteries just don't like extreme temperatures.
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This is a fair point.
In the pursuit of efficiency, it's almost inevitable that vehicles will need to become more tailored to their environments (or use cases), lest they become unobtainably expensive. A significant chunk of the world's population lives in areas of mild (or at least unvarying) weather. Another significant chunk lives in areas that experiences harsh winters and large seasonal swings. A vehicle optimized for both is optimized for neither, nevermind more expensive.