Well the faster and safer solution for a battery swap would be to drop the battery from the bottom, and not overhead through a hoisting system. This bottom removal would be very easy and the swapping would be faster than filling up currently at a gas station.
Until there is a revolution in storage and charging, we're not going to see EV cars become desirable. Charging must be faster, and power density must be much greater.
Battery swaps are not going to be very popular either. Do you want several hundred pounds of battery being swung in and out on hoists over your $40,000 car all the time?
The battery companies will be the key to electric vehicles.
Yes, I agree. The Pike's Peak climb is a sybolic victory. We'll see more of these going forward. As that happens, the EV will go from being an expensive under-performing car to just an expensive car. Competition, volume increases, and engineering advances will start to chip away at the cost at some point.
They may not be for everyone, but the performance issue is definitely a road block, particularly for the crowd that likes muscle cars and high performance handling. Any progress EVs can make addressing that obstacle is a bonus.
I agree - cool story and very encouraging for EVs and proponents of EVs. I still believe, however, that there are the types of people out there who will buy them and others who just won't, no matter the data they are presented or how well the car performs. They just aren't for everyone, as we've seen in polls over the last couple of years.
My solution to the energy crisis is more nuclear power - generating electricity and hydrogen to run our homes and transportation. Put the power plants away from populated areas, make them small, modular, and easy to shut down should something happen. Put the waste a mile underground in solid concrete.
Fossil fuels may eventually become scarce - just like whale oil became scarce in the 1800's. We all know how that ended, with Moby Dick sinking a ship 8000 miles away from home, looking for oil in the middle of the pacific...
Electric is capable of generating amazing bursts of acceleration, thanks in most part to the lighter vehicles and lithuim ion batteries.
I fly model helicopters and it is amazing how Lithium Ion the batteries can deliver a 7 minute flight and weigh almost nothing...
This is great. One more step toward eliminating the perception that EV cars underperform internal combustion engines. Electric vehicles still have some distance to make up on the cost/benefit front, but performance gains help close the gap. The big question, though, is whether the EV in the race was emitting false noise so the internal combustion vehicles would realize they were being passed.
Using almost 200 light-emitting diodes in the front and back of the new 2014 CTS, Cadillac designers are showing how LEDs can change the character of a vehicle.
We looked at a number of sources to determine this year's greenest cars, from KBB to automotive trade magazines to environmental organizations. These 14 cars emerged as being great at either stretching fuel or reducing carbon footprint.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 3
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A quick look into the merger of two powerhouse 3D printing OEMs and the new leader in rapid prototyping solutions, Stratasys. The industrial revolution is now led by 3D printing and engineers are given the opportunity to fully maximize their design capabilities, reduce their time-to-market and functionally test prototypes cheaper, faster and easier. Bruce Bradshaw, Director of Marketing in North America, will explore the large product offering and variety of materials that will help CAD designers articulate their product design with actual, physical prototypes. This broadcast will dive deep into technical information including application specific stories from real world customers and their experiences with 3D printing. 3D Printing is
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