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Why weren't Electric Vehicles Developed before Combustion Engines?
Actually, they WERE developed before internal combustion cars. But battery technology was lacking, and the ICE as it became more developed solved the problems of short range and a fuel source.
Steam beat both to market in application, but as with the electric vehicles, ICE vehicles were more advantageous at the time.
With transportation, it's all about the energy density of the fuel.
Homework assignment: how much energy is stored in a cubic foot of battery versus a cubic foot of gasoline?
That's a faulty assumption.
While gasoline has a much higher energy density, the ICE wastes the majority of it when consuming it. You aren't getting 100% of that energy, you're lucky to get about a third of it in usable locomotion.
While gasoline has a much higher energy density, the ICE wastes the majority of it when consuming it. You aren't getting 100% of that energy, you're lucky to get about a third of it in usable locomotion.
to an extent you are right, and until such time as we can get an ICE to run at 1000 degrees, we will never approach the efficiency of an electric powered car. however, right now the electric car will never approach the range, AND refueling efficiency of the ICE powered vehicles. right now you can approach the range of an ICE vehicle, but then it take 8 hours to fully recharge the battery, where as it take abut 5 minutes to full refill the tank on an ICE car.
so how far can you drive in, lets say, a 24 hour period where you drain your tank and refill it and then drain it again while driving. lets assume an average speed of 50mph for both vehicles and a range of 250 miles. so you can drive for 5 hours, then refuel. with the electric car you are waiting for 8 hours to refuel, but with the gas powered car you can drive another 250 miles, and your electric car is STILL refueling, and then i get another 150 miles before you get back on the road again. so at this point i have put down 650 miles to your 250. not so good for the electric car isnt it?
Was it due to a lack of tech in battery before today? I never quite got my head around why combustion engines with seemingly a much more complex, difficult and clumsy technology (look at the maintenance and moving parts) was developed before EVs.
EVs I am told are much simpler in design, have fewer moving parts so less stuff ups can happen. So much so, backward countries like China who struggled to get into combustion engines/cars may have a chance of dominating EVs?
As many posters have pointed out, electric vehicles were pretty prolific in the first half of the 20th century. Actually, battery technology of the time, produced batteries that were recyclable, all they had to do was reverse the polarity of the charging system to replenish the anode plates, then refill with electrolyte, and they were as good as new. There were also quite a few cities with electric trolley lines and electric buses, which used overhead power lines and catenaries. I suppose the reason we're finally seeing a more sustainable period of electric vehicle use is that companies and municipalities are finally investing in the infrastructure of charging stations.
to an extent you are right, and until such time as we can get an ICE to run at 1000 degrees, we will never approach the efficiency of an electric powered car. however, right now the electric car will never approach the range, AND refueling efficiency of the ICE powered vehicles. right now you can approach the range of an ICE vehicle, but then it take 8 hours to fully recharge the battery, where as it take abut 5 minutes to full refill the tank on an ICE car.
so how far can you drive in, lets say, a 24 hour period where you drain your tank and refill it and then drain it again while driving. lets assume an average speed of 50mph for both vehicles and a range of 250 miles. so you can drive for 5 hours, then refuel. with the electric car you are waiting for 8 hours to refuel, but with the gas powered car you can drive another 250 miles, and your electric car is STILL refueling, and then i get another 150 miles before you get back on the road again. so at this point i have put down 650 miles to your 250. not so good for the electric car isnt it?
You're thinking about this from the wrong perspective.
Imagine a world where you have your battery replaced in less time than it takes to fill up a tank of gas, as opposed to waiting for your battery to recharge. Like when Android had replaceable batteries in their phones. I don't care how fast your charger was, replacing the battery was still faster. Same logic here.
Tesla actually showed this a couple years ago where they had 2 battery replacements in less time than it took to fill up a tank of gas.
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