As lack of charging infrastructure is holding back electric cars being as convenient as they might be, Could lamposts be converted to charging posts and if they could, what are the downsides?
But everyone wanting to, will still plug in at the time they want, wherever they are , so wouldnt the draw on NG be the same? A problem yes, but not surely because of the positioning of the charging posts?
Lol, thats when I stick the kettle on too, its the one soap I like to watch when I can. I cant see how the electric car market can expand at anything but at snail pace because as Dilly said, the NG is the main problem . The Gov on the one hand is saying all petrol and diesels must by off the road by 2040 , but at the same time , far from increasing the output of the NG, they seem to me to be threatening the output even more by closing power stations , and spending money on windfarms and solar power which even all together arent going to be able to cope with the increase in demand , especially when you consider that domestic properties are all likely to be looking to turn greener with electric heating too, to help reach Gov targets.
Yet STILL the Gov isnt insisting that all new buildings have to have the major roof area facing South and equipped with voltaic panels. I reckon to meet their targets , the only way the Govt can make its agreed targets, will be nuclear power stations . Perhaps thats why it appears to be flapping about uselessly now, so it can push for that as 'the only way' later.
Dont know, it was a random idea, so this is just exploring it. Good points. Most things can be paid for by a CC . Yes the lead could be tampered with , but I wonder if they would be , wouldnt people be too scared of electrocuting themselves? I guess they could unplug though unless there was maybe some kind of lockable thing for the owner to use to keep his 'plug' in place . As for the Council repairs, thats addressable.
Dont know Gibbo it was a random idea, so this is just exploring it. Good points. Most things can be paid for by a CC like on a parking meter.Maybe youd have to pay up front for a chosen number of units . Yes the lead could be tampered with , but I wonder if they would be , wouldnt people be too scared of electrocuting themselves? I guess yobs could unplug though unless there was maybe some kind of lockable thing for the owner to use to keep his 'plug' in place with a punch in code for the owner to release on pick up. As for the Council repairs, thats addressable.
Dilly you're probably right at the end of the day! How irritating that such yobs spoil all sorts of possibilities .
Another thought on the vandalism side. Topping up for electric cars probably has the potential to become much faster , so when it comes down to 5 minutes or so, it becomes less of a problem as youd be sat in your car by the lampost.
As lack of charging infrastructure is holding back electric cars being as convenient as they might be, Could lamposts be converted to charging posts and if they could, what are the downsides?
Electric cars are a joke which is why so few people want them. Who in their right mind wants the extra task of plugging in your car as you arrive home (If you can find an unoccupied lamp-post charging point) when you can simply lock it and head for the sofa and a cuppa? And who wants to decide on a cold journey, whether to turn on the heating at the cost of perhaps not making your destination?
I can put almost a MegaWatt-Hour of energy into my diesel in perfect safety in about two minutes. Were I to be taking on the same amount of energy in electrical form in the same time (With a perfect battery) I would have power levels of 30 MegaWatts to contend with. That's 3,000 Amps at 10,000 volts! People would not be allowed to be anywhere near that!
Now imagine a motorway service charging station with perhaps 30 connections. If all are in use simultaneously, the power levels are almost 1,000 MegaWatts - the output of a medium-sized power station!
The fact that the batteries are crap, and cannot be charged at this rate disguises this problem, but it is fundamental and cannot be overcome by technological improvement.
The other day I saw a lunatic - the CEO of a company that makes supercapacitors - claiming that they could be used in cars and charged in 10 seconds. The supercapacitors probably would stand that rate of charge, but the power level during that ten seconds would be 360 MegaWatts which would require a supergrid connection and a dedicated substation!
Personally, I think hydrogen cars will take over. These are now practical and growing in popularity in California where hydrogen filling stations are growing in number. The nice thing about hydrogen is that it can be derived from oil or natural gas until excess electricity from wind and solar is available to produce it by electrolysing tapwater.
