Making Electric Vehicles Work in Our Society

Last night I watched a PBS special having something to do with how scientists are trying to get the automobile to be more efficient. Typical gasoline engines are at most about 30% efficient, you see. That’s right, of the 100% of the energy you put in, 65-70% of that is lost in the form of heat, leaving only about 30% of that to push you forward (or backwards).

One of the talking points was Tesla Motors. You heard of them? They’ve got this all-electric roadster that does 0-60 in 3.9 seconds. That’s pretty fast. And there’s lots of other cool upsides to it as well. Since it’s an electric motor, there’s full-torque immediately. No matter where you are speed-wise. Imagine that: No hesitation. Ever. And did I mention the lack of pollution? Or how about the lack of motor oil, air filters, timing belts, camshafts... and so on.

Downside is though, that it only gets about 250 miles per charge. And it takes 3.5 hours to charge it. And in thinking about this, it seems to be the one true problem electric vehicles have to overcome to become mainstream: the convenience factor. Because yeah gas sucks, but even if you could go only the same 250 miles on a tank, you could stop about anywhere and fill ‘er up. Takes 5 minutes, gets you another 250 miles, you know? But with the electric car, you go those 250 miles, then you have to rent a hotel room that lets you plug into the wall, then wait 3.5 hours… As you see, it’s not terribly convenient. I do however, have a solution.

Tesla, guys, give me a call. We have to talk. The answer to your problems is to standardize the power source. That’s what the auto industry did. Fuel is fuel is fuel, you get me? I can fill up in Kansas or California, and the car runs. 87 octane, baby. Well you gotta get with that program. What needs to happen is that you need to standardize the batteries/fuel cells into different groups or sizes. Then you make them replaceable. Then you turn gas stations into Charging Stations, or more appropriately, Battery Changing Stations. Now what happens, is the electric cars go into the station, their batteries are tested to see how low they are, the customer is charged for the costs to recharge it from its current state to full, and – now here’s the genius – instead of having the battery charged, it’s exchanged for a full one. And the station keeps all the uncharged/discharged batteries and charges them to full capacity for other customers.

Is this making sense? You’re making the electric car as convenient as the gas car. All the benefits, none of the hassle that currently exists. Seriously guys, I want to see this implemented.

And, of course, I want a cut. It’s a Great Idea®, dammit, and seriously? I should get a cut.

EDIT:
Apparently, I’ve been beaten to the punch. Still a good idea though, guys. And hey, here’s another one: Solar roof panels. Imagine that: a 4x4 vehicle out in the country, never needs to fill up. Runs out of juice/gas/power, it just sits and charges for a minute. How cool?

Way cool.