What is the most difficult technical problem facing commercialization of electrical cars ?

Question

What is the most difficult technical problem facing commercialization of electrical cars ?

Answer 1

1) manufacturing costs of batteries.

2) their size.

3) their range.

All three problems being related.

Answer 2

Lack of a cheap, compact, efficient and infinitely renewable power source. Ni/MH technology is mooted for storage of hydrogen to run a fuel cell, but  then you have to recharge the depleted metal hydride with hydrogen. This is a complicated and not 100% efficient technology so far. Batteries (at the moment ) are too heavy and bulky with a limited lifespan.

Answer 3

watch the movie, Who Killed The Electric Car

Answer 4

There are no significant technical problems left, current technology could meet all our personal transport needs now.

Electric cars naturally outperform comparable infernal combustion, max torque from 0rpm, from cold etc, simple efficient transmission, no waste heat ... see tesla http://www.teslamotors.com

Modern batteries can give a range >200miles and be recharged in 10 minutes see http://www.phoenixmotorcars.com

they do NOT catch fire, see A123 in Killacycle crash, http://www.killacycle.com

Distributed battery storage around the grid will actually improve the capacity, especially for use of variable renewable power sources, see vehicle to grid technology http://www.acpropulsion.com/Veh_Grid_Pow... (a car that can store enough energy for 200miles, but typically does less than 20 a day, has a lot spare to sell back at peak demand periods)

And you can refuel at home or work, and give yourself a UPS for free.

the big problem is in the brains of those controlling and marketing the car industry, supported by a brainless compliant media dependent on their advertising revenue. And the political pressure of the oil companies

Answer 5

If we can make the answer as simple as the question it breaks down to two problems. One is the energy storage in the batteries, and that problem is well under way to being solved.

The other is the education of the auto consumer. Initially the electric car needs to be thought of as a commuter car. The average commute is 25 miles. Well within the range of  electric vehicles.

Later when the cost of oil is $200 a barrel we will have to abandon all forms of oil consumption and then taking the family sized SUV to Yellowstone National Park will become impractical. Taking an electric vehicle across country will mean that quick charge stations or an electrical grid in the highway will have to be implemented. This is an answer to a different question though.

Answer 6

First is to change the view of the people about alternative energy two you must build a differrent infrastructure.

Answer 7

A source of power - charging the batteries; there's just no power grid for this, nor power plant capacity.

***

Let's do some loose math:

let 1HP = [about] 1KW; 100HP = 100KW.

Your house probably normally draws 2-10KW. Now throw another 100KW on [spread over your sleeping hours], that's 10KW at night. Double this, b/c you have 2 cars; 20KW. Multiply this by your entire neighborhood; city; county; state; country... then by some fudge factor (b/c not everybody will do it - let's say 10% go for it).

***

All of this for a pissy power car that cost 2x and is light-weight (unsafe). No thanks.

Answer 8

Cost, Range, Time to recharge, and more Wind, Solar, and Nuclear power for electricity needed to charge without producing CO2.

Answer 9

The people buying other types of cars.

that obvious point aside, to go with the recurring theme of batteries, a major issue is batteries.

their size, thei wieght, their efficiency, the amount of charging and dischraging cycles they can withstand before being useless, and how they react to different climates.

you get a battery too cold, or too hot their life, and charge potential decrease exponentially.

not to mention the effect theyd have on the environment because of battery disposal, and battery production. what with the use of all those caustic chemicals, and the fossil fuels needed to mine the materials to build the battery.

Answer 10

Obtaining equal performance (acceleration, cruising speed, cruising range, recharge time, comfort) equal to that of gasoline powered cars at the same price.

Answer 11

its mainly short range and time it would take to charge the batteries which is usually like 8 hours but i do like this one idea from an Israeli company by treating ur electric car like u do with a gas car by setting up a battery swap station and trading your used up battery for a fresh new one for a price.  that seems like a more efficient and innovative idea to me.

Answer 12

WEIGHT.  To move anything, it takes energy, the more it weighs, the more energy it takes.  

Current Electric Cars and Hybrid Cars weigh almost twice as much as comparable sized single engine vehicles. It comes from the weight of the batteries being many many times the weight of a tank of fuel, and in the case of hybrids, there is also the added weight of the two engines ( one gas and one electric) and a gas tank plus batteries.

In actual rode test, Hybrids get less mpg than comparable sized cars with gasoline engines. So that means it cost more to operate a hybrid than a conventional car, and the initial purchase price is 3 to 4 times as much as a comparable sized conventional car.

So until the engineers can figure out how to reduce the weight, which will reduce the cost of the vehicle, they won't be economically viable to the general public.

Answer 13

The batteries are very heavy and do not hold enough charge to make a long trip. It also takes too much time to recharge.

Answer 14

The gas and car companies signing off on it.

Answer 15

The amount of carbon given off in generating the electricity is not taken into account by people who favour electric cars. Of course this ceases to be a concern if you generate your electricity using nuclear power, but not everybody is happy with that either. The only way to reduce the amount of carbon given off apart from nuclear, is to return to a pre-industrial revolution way of life, which would not please many people either. It is therefore best not to worry too much about the situation, and let the earth take care of itself.