Would it be a dumb idea to make cars battery powered?

Question

Where i live, gas prices are already hitting 4 dollars..

ITs getting ridiculous, and i was just wondering, would it be a dumb idea to make cars battery powered? I know it would make all these gas stations flop, but listen to my idea (its just a 9th graders idea, its for an economics project)

I suggest to remodel all the models of cars that are coming out, so instead of having a gas tank, it has a big battery. This battery can be recharged, but you need to pay to have it recharged (gas stations can be converted into.. electricity stations I guess lol).

This would save a lot of money for people. Not only that, but the gas prices will decrease all throughout the world which will it make convenient for people that already have gas-powered cars.

Is this a dumb idea for an economics project? I want an A lol. Be HONEST!

Answer 1

that is a grate idea

Answer 2

It's not a dumb idea . It's a great idea !  Add to it the idea of wind powered generators to recharge the batteries and you might have some thing .  Add in the idea of quick change batteries that could click into and out of place like a big cell phone battery and cars and filling stations are ready for the future .  Yes I know the weight of the batteries would require some kind of cart to get them out and put them back in .  Still it's an idea .  Hope this helps your project .

Answer 3

Yes, it may be a dumb idea to make cars battery powered.

If what EEStor says is true, the Untracapacitor they are developing (called the Electrical Energy Storage Unit or EESU is much better than any battery currently in development.

Zenn car company (www.zenncars.com) says they have rights to be the first to get the EESUs.  They are hoping to get a car to travel 500 miles on a charge and recharge in 5 minutes.

The owner of Feel Good Cars says he plans to incorporate EEStor technology in his vehicles by 2008. Ian Clifford says a four-passenger sedan can "drive like a Ferrari" with the technology.

EEStor is a secretive company based in Texas that has been working on an "energy storage" device that outperforms batteries. Since chemicals are not involved, the EEStor device is technically not a battery but it reportedly stores much more electricity. It also charges quickly. EEStor doesn't say much about its product although the company has significant financial backing. One official did say," This is pretty much why we are here today, to compete with the internal combustion engine."

Clifford doesn't say if his Canadian-based company has contracted with EEStor, just that he has plans.

Answer 4

No, it would be a great idea, and we're already moving in that direction.

Answer 5

No not a dumb idea, but to determine the savings you would have to calculate maintenance and battery replacement costs. Also what is the source of the electricity, if the plant is oil fired you may not save at all.

Answer 6

first, golf carts are battery powered.

but they don't have to go very far.

if you're on a longer trip, i guess it'd be okay if you waited at the Electricity Station for 3 hours while your car charged up.

to say nothing about the line you'd have to wait in before you got up to the plug.

seems the answers aren't very simple.

if they were, then they wouldn't be problems.

Answer 7

Gas prices here are $1.30 per liter thats about $5.20 per gallon.

How do you propose to charge the battery? Where do you think the electricity will come from (I know, a hole in the wall right?)

Answer 8

It absolutely would NOT be a DUMB idea to make cars battery powered!  In fact, I think that would be a GREAT idea.  Think about this:  You cannot renew gas or crude oil, but you can renew electricity.  All it takes are generating plants, wind farms, etc., and there's no saying that you need gas or oil to produce electricity.  Never mind the fact that it would save the environment from all the fossil fuels that get consumed when you drive a vehicle.  Just think of how much less pollution there would be if each and every vehicle were powered by batteries.  Cities would no longer be dealing with pollution, poor air quality advisories would be rendered obsolete, lakes and oceans would be much cleaner and better able to team with aquatic life, oh, I could go on and on with all the benefits of replacing gasoline and heating oil with electric alternatives, an alternative that would last for millennia.  I mean, crude oil would still be used for stuff like cosmetics and lubricants and things like that, and reducing or eliminating demand for crude oil for transportation and utility purposes would probably cause the price of cosmetics to drop significantly, along with everything else.

I really think your idea is a great one.  Some 14 year olds are much smarter and brighter than some corporate executives who are 54 years old.  I sincerely hope that someday there will be changes in how we travel.  I hope this helps on your project.  I'm sure there are many articles out there on the Internet that address the subject of alternative fuels.

Answer 9

It would be a good idea if it were actually cheaper to recharge the car. But what about the price of an electric car itself. That would cost a lot more just to buy one. And of course electricity prices would go up on your electric bill at home.

Answer 10

This is a good idea for an econ project. It is very challenging though. To get that "A" you  should look at the macro level. Just considering gas stations and changing them to electricity stations is only one small piece. The other answers make good points about the difficulties in this process, and there are even more challenges.

Consider the following:

What do we do with the 200 million or whatever (I made that number up) cars that currently run on gas, throw them out? half of them are probably not even paid for yet.

If we convert them to electric, who pays for the new electric motors and batteries and what do we do with the 200 million gas engines?

Current battery technology only supports a range of about 100 miles, then it takes 12 hours or so (broad estimate) to charge back up. Most gas powered cars can go 300 miles on a full tank of gas. So just based on the miles per tank we'd need 3 times as many stations, or they would be 3 times as busy, but wait it takes 12 hours to "fuel" up, so there is another problem.

Your dream of having all electric cars will likely come to pass some day, but it will take a very very long time for it to happen - think a century perhaps.

So for your project you might try to project how those nation wide changes will come to pass.

If you are struggling with the technology issues, try this comparison.

Changing from gas to electric power is a lot like changing from cars to boats. Imagine if we had to change all the roads to rivers and canals so we could travel by boat. For the whole country, from interstates to suburban streets. That sounds impossible doesn't it. It isn't, but its very very difficult, very very expensive, and what would your town or city look like when the transformation was half way over. Half roads, half canals, and neither the boaters or the car drivers could travel everywhere. It a huge challenge, but a very good idea to explore. Remember that this change could easily take your whole lifetime, so how would you make it happen, and of course who would pay for it?

good luck.

Answer 11

Actually, Henry Ford the IV, (I believe) the CEO of Ford Motor Co. was driving an all electric Ranger as much as 5 years ago. Makes you realize how brainwashed we are to the gasoline. Of course oil companies, car manufacturers, after market parts builders are all set up for gas and would need to spend a lot of money if we went electric. They will fight it all the way.

Electricity can be produced for nearly nothing, using wave generation, geothermal, solar and wind turbines. Again, the resistance from people who depend on the gasoline sales to survive is the biggest problem.

There are all electric vehicles being produced by Telsa motors that is 0-60 mph in 3.9 sec and has a 200 mi driving range. It can be operated for 2 cents a mile !!!

The time is coming where the consumer will take control of the market and force the feds to ease the laws requiring the use of fossil fuels. Backyard stills are being developed in the Silicon Valley right now, using inedible food stocks to produce alcohol fuel. Alcohol fueled generators can give us all the electricity we need, cheaply.

These are the things your coporate ran government does not want you to know.

Answer 12

its a good idea, but its already done, like the toyota prius hybrid i think,  umm yeah lol im dmb, but its a combination of gas powered and electric, it runs on gas, but when u go in reverse, and little stuff like tht, it goes into battery mode, it charges itself too, when u acelerate, it generates its own electricty, i think tht an all electric power car is a great idea, but it wouldnt be a stop to the pollution and global warming crisis, if u think about it, batteries are filled with toxic chemicals, and ppl just throw them away, and then they leak, or they explode <im sure the explosion mite be worth it if it was a fiant car battery :] lol> but also the issue of how would they get enough electricity to b able to charge the battery, would they do a nuclear energy type of thing? thts not good, but either way i think its a great project idea, and i would go with it and the best of luck with ur project, im glad sum ppl still do their projects, lol i dont even do them nemore lol :]

Answer 13

it would be a great idea to have battery electric vehicles available. the mindset of government would have to change. a recent program I listened to stated if you took a million cars and trucks off the road you would stop about 400 million tons of Co2 from the enviroment. that being said, make a million electrics available. take a cruise thru the sites provided.

Answer 14

NO, I THINK ITS A GOOD OLD, OLD IDEA, UNLESS YOU LIKE PAYING $4.00 PER GALLON. YOU KNOW I WOULD'NT BE SURPRISED IF THEY BROUGHT THE HORSE AND BUGGY BACK.

Answer 15

Due to safety regulations, cars must be heavy to withstand crash impacts.  It would be great to lighten the body to allow more capacity for batteries.  I have a Honda Insight and it is daunting to drive in traffic with larger vehicles.  Everyone has to macho and pushy!  

If we had more wind, solar, nuclear electricity generation, electric powered cars would be a great option, especially in an urban setting.  No emissions. No noise.  Wow!

Answer 16

Not a dumb idea at all.  Hybrid cars are based on that technology somewhat.  They run on both battery and gasoline.  They charge there own batteries though.  Chevrolet has a battery only vehicle prototype called the Volt.

j

Answer 17

True, but that would be a ton of batteries. Cars would also have to modified to fit that. If you think about it, instead of gas prices being so high, it would be the batteries. It's a great question especially because of the extremely high gas prices. We do need to find other alternatives for gas. :) I think that cars running on water is the best. In fact, some cars run half on water already! Hope this helped!

Answer 18

While you may be "just a 9th grader", I would say that you are pretty forward thinking! Heck, if you were old enough, I'd nominate you to the Board of Directors to a few of the auto companies!

I think an electric car is a great idea, and I plan on buying one if it gets made.  GM is developing one that hopefully will be released in 2010 or so, check it out here:

http://www.chevrolet.com/electriccar/

It's probably impractical to convert all, or even a good portion, of the cars on the road now to electrical cars.  What hopefully will happen is the auto makers will start selling these electrical cars, and in 15-20 years, that's what will be mostly on the road.  

The kind being developed now you can charge in an outlet in your garage, so there'd be no need for any kind of service station. The gas stations would find other kinds of businesses to run,they don't make much money selling gas anyway, they make most of it selling candy bars and cigaretts.

Good luck on your project!

Answer 19

That is the problem with electric cats. Batteries are very heavy and only give a max range of about 200 miles . Yes u could add more batteries and soon u will needed a truck to carry them.