Alternatives to hydrocarbon fuels Energy density per kg comparisons the problem not talked about.

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Parksy

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Nov 12, 2009
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New battery research is continuing and I'd speculate that research into new wireless charging systems will keep pace with EV battery development.
The government have announced a £40million investment into wireless charging research, with trials for wireless taxi charging about to take place in Nottingham.
My guess is that ultra fast EV charging points will be under the road surfaces of car parks and motorway service areas by the time that EV use is commonplace.
 
Jul 23, 2021
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Thanks Prof
As a past sceptic I am fascinated that the future batteries can be part of the superstructure which vastly reduces weight as opposed to the EVs of today. With that in mind , just imagine caravans built with such materials adding to the useful range of the combined outfit.
Maybe I’m just a dreamer😉😉
That’s exactly what is happening now. Some manufacturers are already making the battery packs part of the subframe, reducing total weight. And Alko have demonstrated a caravan chassis with built in batteries and motors on the wheels to help the car.
 
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That’s exactly what is happening now. Some manufacturers are already making the battery packs part of the subframe, reducing total weight. And Alko have demonstrated a caravan chassis with built in batteries and motors on the wheels to help the car.
Hope for us tuggers 👏👏👏
 
Jul 18, 2017
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My guess is that ultra fast EV charging points will be under the road surfaces of car parks and motorway service areas by the time that EV use is commonplace.
That may be true, but the environmental impact to do that sort of work will be enormous never mind the disruption to traffic flow on motorways.
 
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In the winter when heating is required in the cab of an EV wouldn't that reduce the range significantly? With an ICE vehicle if stuck on the motorway in freezing weather you can run the engine to keep warm, but what would you do with an EV?

I think I made comment on this in another thread, but just so its here;

Running the heating in an EV is not a problem. Having it keep the cabin warm while stationary will consume around 1 mile of range an hour. If you had a 1Kw (1 bar electric fire) in you cabin on the whole time, you would be roasting in no time. A full EV battery could run that fire at full belt for over 3 days. A couple of hours in a traffic jam is not a big deal. Some newer EVs use heat pumps for heating which will give the same heat output as a 1kW fire for 300-400w.
 
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That may be true, but the environmental impact to do that sort of work will be enormous never mind the disruption to traffic flow on motorways.
Another point hat has been answered previously!

If such a scheme were to be employed ( and I'm not sure it will be for a number of reasons to do with charging efficiencies, and how financial charges would or could be levied). The disruption and environmental impact would be no worse than laying any other cables or services in roads.

If it were to be employed on motorways it's unlikely to be applied across every mile of motorway , it's more likely to be just certain sections and would most likely be carried out as part of the normal cycle of road resurfacing.
 
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When I registered as a member of the PC forum, I never imagined that it (you) would have me checking-out inductive versus resonant battery charging ! Lol

[ Who knows where this will end up ? 2030 Practical Caravan magazine - Issue 8: "Tragic accident at the Spark Dale e-caravan park, Tesmonshire - New owners of the latest Alto Bio-van disappear overnight. Neighbouring campers report that the caravan was glowing all night ... "I could see the glow through our tent and when I went over in the morning to see if Martha & Jo would like to share our coffee pot, they just weren't there anymore."
The e-caravan park owner has said that safety instructions for recharging bio-vans were clearly displayed around the park and deeply regretted the loss of M&J. She added ... "I know M&J's ambition was to drive an EV/Bio combo all the way from John O'Groats to Lands End on a single charge. Maybe they can now make that happen - their EV and 'van are still here and super-charged and they are ready to go. The combo just needs a volunteer driver." ]
 
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