The Electric Car Revolution is on

[-:UberMann:-]

A decade ago I didn't see any hobbyst aircraft powered by batteries, all used some sort of combustion engine. Now batteries have advanced so much they are standard now. I suspect in this century we will see airliners using electric fans instead of turbofans. Electric motors are much more efficient.

[-:UberMann:-]

Originally Posted by AltinD

LOL, a propeller engined plane is the future of Aviation? On which parallel universe do you live?

Actually most contemporary aircraft are powered by fans, which is not that different to propellers. Fans produce greatwer airspeeds but are more energy consuming.
Guess there's still not enough battery life to fly a big aircraft with fans, so they started with propellers. But fans are coming soon, no doubt. Then we will see swept wings too.

This already exists in the hobby market:

[siamu maharaj]

Originally Posted by -:UberMann:-

A decade ago I didn't see any hobbyst aircraft powered by batteries, all used some sort of combustion engine. Now batteries have advanced so much they are standard now. I suspect in this century we will see airliners using electric fans instead of turbofans. Electric motors are much more efficient.

Doubt it. Main diff. between a battery and fuel is that as fuel burns off, the plane gets lighter. Not so with batteries. By the end of a 15 hr journey you're carrying batteries that aren't serving any purpose.

[-:UberMann:-]

Originally Posted by siamu maharaj

Doubt it. Main diff. between a battery and fuel is that as fuel burns off, the plane gets lighter. Not so with batteries. By the end of a 15 hr journey you're carrying batteries that aren't serving any purpose.

You have a point there, and also they will be subject of heavy weight landings, more difficult I think...

[VelesHomais]

Plug-in electric car sales triple in 2012



As this eventful year nears its end, let it be remembered for the rise of the electric car.

Sales of plug-in electric cars -- both hybrids and battery electrics -- tripled in model year 2012, their second year on the market.

Plug-in hybrid sales have surpassed the sales of conventional hybrids in 2001, which was their second year on the market.

Despite the political rhetoric of the election year, the most popular electric-drive vehicle, the Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid, is outselling half of all cars on the market today.

In the meantime, conventional hybrid sales grew by more than 50 percent in model year 2012, more than four times as fast as the rest of the vehicle market.

http://www.newsday.com/classifieds/c...2012-1.4318285

Told you!

[Yellow Fever]

What's the life expectancy of the batteries? It must be really expensive to replace them I guess.

[VelesHomais]

Well, how are Priuses from 10 years ago doing? That would be the most objective evaluation of the issue. Although the new batteries are probably batter.

[Suburbanist]

Batteries have a sinodal decay in ther charging capacity. There are talks of using batteries that are no longer useful for cars (like those with less than half their original charging power) as reserves for electricity plugged on the grid (for instance, storing power from wind or solar to be drawn when it is needed other time)