Originally Posted By: kschachn
Originally Posted By: Kawiguy454
...the typical problem with cramming that much potential energy into a small package is possibility of breakdown and fire.
And I was reading about flying cars in 1982 "Science" magazines being just around the corner.
Gasoline in a steel tank is as simple and old school as it gets. Its just wishful to think electricity will compete on that level.
That's the card up the enviroweenies sleeve, when battery cars become a majority they'll start in on that. What they REALLY don't want is US moving about freely, and not on government controlled transport. When they decide we don't belong in the forest it will become really hard to get there.
Quote:
From the article: Other issues that still have to be addressed include finding a way to protect the metal electrode so that it doesn't form spindly lithium metal fibres known as dendrites, which can cause batteries to explode if they grow too much and short-circuit the battery.
I worked for one of the world's largest automobile battery manufacturers back in the late 80s and 90s, and we had mechanical (not chemical) batteries then that equaled the energy density of liquid fuels. The problem then is the same, under a short circuit condition the thing became unbelievably dangerous. Liquid fuels can be safely transported, handled and stored as long as they stay a liquid.
Another thing is that as toxic as gasoline is it doesn't come near the dangers of the energetic materials required for high energy density batteries. Fighting vehicle fires is a lot different when a bunch of batteries are involved.
Originally Posted By: Kawiguy454
...the typical problem with cramming that much potential energy into a small package is possibility of breakdown and fire.
And I was reading about flying cars in 1982 "Science" magazines being just around the corner.
Gasoline in a steel tank is as simple and old school as it gets. Its just wishful to think electricity will compete on that level.
That's the card up the enviroweenies sleeve, when battery cars become a majority they'll start in on that. What they REALLY don't want is US moving about freely, and not on government controlled transport. When they decide we don't belong in the forest it will become really hard to get there.
Quote:
From the article: Other issues that still have to be addressed include finding a way to protect the metal electrode so that it doesn't form spindly lithium metal fibres known as dendrites, which can cause batteries to explode if they grow too much and short-circuit the battery.
I worked for one of the world's largest automobile battery manufacturers back in the late 80s and 90s, and we had mechanical (not chemical) batteries then that equaled the energy density of liquid fuels. The problem then is the same, under a short circuit condition the thing became unbelievably dangerous. Liquid fuels can be safely transported, handled and stored as long as they stay a liquid.
Another thing is that as toxic as gasoline is it doesn't come near the dangers of the energetic materials required for high energy density batteries. Fighting vehicle fires is a lot different when a bunch of batteries are involved.
