Since we are talking about big changes for the future, let's talk about electric cars for a moment. I think we can all agree that they have a very exciting future, and there are currently people who predict that, by 2030, half the cars sold will be either electric or hybrid (or both).https://goo.gl/ZXx88M
However, there is one complaint that keeps coming up. It's the time it takes to charge the battery. We all hate that. It's not like the petrol powered car where we can just stop at a gas station, and 5 minutes later we have a full tank that allows us to drive for another 600-800 KM.
With electric cars, we have to drive to a charging station, and wait there for an hour and so. How annoying is that?
But aren't we thinking about this all wrong? Isn't this only a problem because we are still living in the old world, trying to make electric cars function the same way as petrol powered ones?
Let me put this into perspective.
Take a look at the picture below and tell me what you see? Yep, you see a bunch of electric wires hanging over a train track.
Back in the early days of trains, in the age of steam engines, trains would run between stations on their own, and then be filled up at each destination with coal/wood/thick-oil and water. Just like a petrol powered car. It was the same story with the diesel engine. It too would run by itself, only to be refueled at the major stations.
But then came the era of electric trains. These trains were far more efficient, far less polluting (very important in cities), and ran at a signinifant lower cost.
There was just one problem. The old way of 'refueling a train at stations' didn't work. It would take far too long and the batteries (especially back then) weren't that good.
So what did we do? It's simple, we brought the electricity to the railroad tracks instead. We electrified the railroad.
This, of course, wasn't just something that could be done overnight. Electrifying a railroad track has a very high capital cost. So only the most important lines were updated at first, then others were added as it became economical to do so, and every new rail line was build as an electric line by default.
The result is what we see today.
So, my question is this: Why aren't we doing this with our road as well? The arguments for using electric cars are exactly the same. They are more efficient, less polluting (a big problem in big cities), and that are cheaper to run. And just like how the electric train doesn't really work with 'superchargers' at stations, electric cars don't really work with superchargers either.
What we need is to electrify the road network. We need to bring the electricity to where people are driving, rather than where people are stopping.
Obviously, this wouldn't be changed overnight. Like with the rail network, there is a very high capital cost. So, to begin with, we would only update the most important roads.
Imagine this: You are going for a long drive to visit your family in your electric car. It's a 250 KM trip, and your electric car has a maximum internal range of 110 KM (yes, I know the Tesla can drive longer).
You start out at home, where none of the local roads in your neighborhood are electrified because that would be too expensive, but that's no problem. As you drive out of your local neighborhood, you reach the larger roads of your city, which are electrified, and your car quickly refills the battery you used for the first couple of kilometers.
As it happens, your family lives in a small city, which isn't really connected to anything, But again that's no problem. For the first 180 KM you are driving on the highway, which, of course, is electrified, and you car hums along keeping the battery 100% charged at all times.
We still have the remaining 55 KM to go, which will take us along back country roads and through two minor cities. The roads between those cities aren't electrified (yet), but once you read the cities, the main road through them, are. So, you would go for 25 or so KM on battery, before reaching the first city, at which point your car would recharge again to 100%, and then you drive another 25 KM on battery.
No problem. And by the time you reach your family, your battery is still 85% charged. ... and the whole thing repeats itself for your trip back.
This is what we need. This would solve everything. Yes, it would be expensive to convert all the important roads to electric, and we have to invent a smart way of doing it (since we can't use cantilevers).
But the current idea of building (super)charging stations the same way as we built petrol stations is a relic from the past. We shouldn't try to design electric cars like petrol engines, just like we didn't try to design electric trains that way.
If we change the method of which something is done, we also need to change the method of the infrastructure on which it is used. Otherwise, we are just living in the past :)
However, there is one complaint that keeps coming up. It's the time it takes to charge the battery. We all hate that. It's not like the petrol powered car where we can just stop at a gas station, and 5 minutes later we have a full tank that allows us to drive for another 600-800 KM.
With electric cars, we have to drive to a charging station, and wait there for an hour and so. How annoying is that?
But aren't we thinking about this all wrong? Isn't this only a problem because we are still living in the old world, trying to make electric cars function the same way as petrol powered ones?
Let me put this into perspective.
Take a look at the picture below and tell me what you see? Yep, you see a bunch of electric wires hanging over a train track.
Back in the early days of trains, in the age of steam engines, trains would run between stations on their own, and then be filled up at each destination with coal/wood/thick-oil and water. Just like a petrol powered car. It was the same story with the diesel engine. It too would run by itself, only to be refueled at the major stations.
But then came the era of electric trains. These trains were far more efficient, far less polluting (very important in cities), and ran at a signinifant lower cost.
There was just one problem. The old way of 'refueling a train at stations' didn't work. It would take far too long and the batteries (especially back then) weren't that good.
So what did we do? It's simple, we brought the electricity to the railroad tracks instead. We electrified the railroad.
This, of course, wasn't just something that could be done overnight. Electrifying a railroad track has a very high capital cost. So only the most important lines were updated at first, then others were added as it became economical to do so, and every new rail line was build as an electric line by default.
The result is what we see today.
So, my question is this: Why aren't we doing this with our road as well? The arguments for using electric cars are exactly the same. They are more efficient, less polluting (a big problem in big cities), and that are cheaper to run. And just like how the electric train doesn't really work with 'superchargers' at stations, electric cars don't really work with superchargers either.
What we need is to electrify the road network. We need to bring the electricity to where people are driving, rather than where people are stopping.
Obviously, this wouldn't be changed overnight. Like with the rail network, there is a very high capital cost. So, to begin with, we would only update the most important roads.
Imagine this: You are going for a long drive to visit your family in your electric car. It's a 250 KM trip, and your electric car has a maximum internal range of 110 KM (yes, I know the Tesla can drive longer).
You start out at home, where none of the local roads in your neighborhood are electrified because that would be too expensive, but that's no problem. As you drive out of your local neighborhood, you reach the larger roads of your city, which are electrified, and your car quickly refills the battery you used for the first couple of kilometers.
As it happens, your family lives in a small city, which isn't really connected to anything, But again that's no problem. For the first 180 KM you are driving on the highway, which, of course, is electrified, and you car hums along keeping the battery 100% charged at all times.
We still have the remaining 55 KM to go, which will take us along back country roads and through two minor cities. The roads between those cities aren't electrified (yet), but once you read the cities, the main road through them, are. So, you would go for 25 or so KM on battery, before reaching the first city, at which point your car would recharge again to 100%, and then you drive another 25 KM on battery.
No problem. And by the time you reach your family, your battery is still 85% charged. ... and the whole thing repeats itself for your trip back.
This is what we need. This would solve everything. Yes, it would be expensive to convert all the important roads to electric, and we have to invent a smart way of doing it (since we can't use cantilevers).
But the current idea of building (super)charging stations the same way as we built petrol stations is a relic from the past. We shouldn't try to design electric cars like petrol engines, just like we didn't try to design electric trains that way.
If we change the method of which something is done, we also need to change the method of the infrastructure on which it is used. Otherwise, we are just living in the past :)
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