Re:VW plans to sell electric Tesla rival for less than $23K:...
by blackstrips on Thursday November 08, 2018 @08:54PM
(#18411816)
Hydrogen fuel cells are lurking in the background too - and you don’t have to spend hours charging those.
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Re:VW plans to sell electric Tesla rival for less than $23K:...
by de_watcher on Friday November 09, 2018 @06:56AM
(#18413821)
Overall hydrogen's efficiency is pretty bad (I've watched a convincing yt video): production, transportation, filling stations, car engine.
Having electric plugs in supermarkets and doing some 15min breaks when using highways - that's already good enough.
Re:VW plans to sell electric Tesla rival for less than $23K:...
by 666lumberjack on Friday November 09, 2018 @08:01AM
(#18414027)
Good enough for 99% of civilian cars, maybe, but I'm a lot more skeptical about the ability of battery-electric power to replace trains, long-haul trucks, etc. The expectation as far as range for those is high enough that enough batteries would either add too much weight or just flat-out not fit.
I expect long-term we'll probably settle on something like 75% batteries / 25% hydrogen for ground transportation, and the reverse of that ratio for aircraft (although I wouldn't expect hydrogen planes to be using fuel cells).
Re:VW plans to sell electric Tesla rival for less than $23K:...
by rusticpenn on Friday November 09, 2018 @08:31AM
(#18414176)
Trains? I hope that one day we see electric trains...
Re:VW plans to sell electric Tesla rival for less than $23K:...
by jhayward on Friday November 09, 2018 @10:14AM
(#18414950)
I'm not sure what you mean. There have been electric trains for nearly 100 years. I mean, ever heard of the TGV?
Re:VW plans to sell electric Tesla rival for less than $23K:...
by gamblor956 on Friday November 09, 2018 @11:53AM
(#18415816)
I've taken an electric train to work every day for the past year and a half...
Most of the new light rail and subway lines in the US are electric trains.
Re:VW plans to sell electric Tesla rival for less than $23K:...
by tonyedgecombe on Friday November 09, 2018 @08:20AM
(#18414120)
Trains don't really need it as you can just string up some overhead cables. Long haul freight should be on the railway anyway.
Re:VW plans to sell electric Tesla rival for less than $23K:...
by 666lumberjack on Friday November 09, 2018 @02:00PM
(#18416918)
Electrification is great, but it's also been declining for decades in the US, to less than one percent of route miles.
Taking a figure of half a million dollars per mile (which is less than the numbers I could find, but let's be conservative) you're looking at ~130 billion dollars. That's theoretically affordable for the government, maybe, but never going to happen politically speaking.
Re:VW plans to sell electric Tesla rival for less than $23K:...
by nradov on Friday November 09, 2018 @09:13AM
(#18414432)
Hydrogen is not viable. Production is inefficient, energy density is low, and handling is difficult. For long-range transportation where batteries are insufficient the real alternative will be carbon neutral synthetic liquid fuel.
Re:VW plans to sell electric Tesla rival for less than $23K:...
by spacenick88 on Friday November 09, 2018 @02:06PM
(#18416974)
Well as for trains you can still run them using wires, almost the entire European railway network is electrified