The Future of Automobiles...

Discussion in 'Science and Technology' started by Kruezerman, Jun 28, 2012.

  1. Kruezerman

    Kruezerman Commodore Commodore

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    ...is oddly enough coming from the US, and I love it. Seriously, Japan is giving us the Leaf and the plug in Prius, Europe is putting out the diesel versions of the S and E class, but the we are building electric cars that look and handle like cars.

    Methinks that the age of the hippie-mobile are over. :techman:

    *EDIT: I should clarify, the cars I mentioned above are cars that the Old World is making for sale in the US.
     
    Last edited: Jun 28, 2012
  2. C.E. Evans

    C.E. Evans Admiral Admiral

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    It kind of matches a segment on the BBC version of Top Gear that I think was filmed in California, IIRC.
     
  3. Deks

    Deks Vice Admiral Admiral

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  4. Saturn0660

    Saturn0660 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    The problem with cars like that is all you are doing is moving where it gets it's power from. So by not putting gas in it you are charging it over night using depending on where you live "dirty" power.
     
  5. MacLeod

    MacLeod Admiral Admiral

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    True, the energy has to come from somewhere but not all energy you get from a socket at home is dirty, a percentage of it comes from clean renewables. The percentage of which should increase year on year.
     
  6. sojourner

    sojourner Admiral In Memoriam

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    At least by centralizing where the "power" is produced you can improve the clean efficiency through economies of scale in the short term and by replacing dirty plants with clean in the long term. Or would you rather just keep millions of ICE's on the road?

    As for the Tesla S, it's really big advantage is charge time. They are claiming to be able to get %80 charge in like 20 minutes. If true, that's awesome. The problem with electrics has always been that you can't just "gas up" real quick for extend journeys. Nobody wants to wait all night just to recharge every 300 miles. But taking a 20 minute break every 240 miles? suddenly electric becomes viable for long distance. Now if they can just talk a line of gas stations to add recharge points - bam! wide spread adoption.

    20 minutes is still not as fast as getting a tank full of gas, But it's close enough to get electrics from major inconvenience to minor inconvenience.
     
  7. Lindley

    Lindley Moderator with a Soul Premium Member

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    If you're driving over 200 miles, odds are you could use a 20 minute break about then anyway.
     
  8. Hound of UIster

    Hound of UIster Vice Admiral Admiral

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    There is also the self driving google car.
     
  9. Chaos Descending

    Chaos Descending Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Why bother with "recharge" points?

    For purely electric cars with respectable ranges, that model is not the best idea.

    A better idea is to swap the entire battery with a fully recharged one, and let the facility recharge it and swap it for the next customer, etc.
     
  10. Lindley

    Lindley Moderator with a Soul Premium Member

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    A good idea, but not yet practical because I don't think we're at the point where electric car batteries can be standardized. They're still too much of an active research topic.

    The liability issues if something goes wrong with a battery are unclear also. I'm sure the gas station doesn't want to be tangled up in that.
     
  11. Kruezerman

    Kruezerman Commodore Commodore

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    That sounds really impractical and cumbersome. The batteries are in the car and quite large at this time, they are also very expensive (I think around 5 or 6 grand).
     
  12. scotpens

    scotpens Professional Geek Premium Member

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    The cars of 30 or 40 years from now may burn something cleaner than gasoline, but the majority of them will still have Otto-cycle internal combustion engines. The ICE is a tried and proven technology that still has a lot of life left in it. Besides, there's no such thing as a stick shift in a hybrid or pure electric vehicle. And driving an automatic is boring.
     
  13. Admiral Buzzkill

    Admiral Buzzkill Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    It's great to see the Tesla apparently doing well. I'd also love to see the American automobile industry surge again, obviously.

    You think it looks a little like Ford's Evos concept, or am I imagining that?

    Yeah, the Tesla's battery weighs over a ton. Routine "swapping" wouldn't be real practical.
     
  14. sojourner

    sojourner Admiral In Memoriam

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    AS has been pointed out. no, that's not really a better idea. That's like asking everyone to switchout the empty gas tank in their car for a full one.

    Ahem.
     
  15. Kruezerman

    Kruezerman Commodore Commodore

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    Which in turn looks like any Aston Martin put out right now. No, I see it too, a good aesthetic design is a good aesthetic design.

    The new Fusions are gorgeous.
     
  16. Admiral Buzzkill

    Admiral Buzzkill Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Ford still has a minority stake in Aston Martin, and their design people supposedly had some input into the Evos, so yeah. Good observation.
     
    Last edited: Jul 1, 2012
  17. Kruezerman

    Kruezerman Commodore Commodore

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    Prettiest cars out right now, in my opinion, are made by Audi, Aston Martin, Jaguar, and Ford.

    I saw an Aston Rapide roar (and I mean ROAR) by and I was just...:wtf::drool:
     
  18. Admiral Buzzkill

    Admiral Buzzkill Fleet Admiral Admiral

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  19. MacLeod

    MacLeod Admiral Admiral

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    I'd like an Aston, unfortunatly the closest I'm likely to ever get to owning one is looking at one or TV or configuring my own one on the Aston website.
     
  20. sojourner

    sojourner Admiral In Memoriam

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    The new Ford Fusion looks like a 4 door Aston.