What next... electric cars capable of towing
What are we to do when there are no Diesel or Petrol cars capable of Towing a family sized Caravan ... or even Family sized Motorhomes. Wonder what the club's thoughts are.
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Electric Cars will make excellent tow cars. They are generally heavy and have masses of torque from zero revs up. Technology is improving all the time, battery charging will become quicker and energy density greater and therefore range much longer. The 2040 date is a red-herring as we all be driving electric vehicles long before then. All IMO of course.
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Ok Birdability. Tell me where I can find an electric car that can tow my 1600 Kg caravan over 500 miles without refuelling and I MIGHT be interested! The problem with electrics is that they are really only suitable for City work with very short range duties.
When they can tow a heavy van over 500 miles on one charge AND be a comfortable steed for long distances. Great!
Until then don't bother me 'cos I'm not buying!
TF
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If you read my post rather than just sounding off in your usual I drive a 3L V6 tank fashion you will see that I am suggesting that technological change will get us to a postion where good electric tow cars will become available and way before 2040. Nobody is suggesting that they currently exist. And why on earth do you need to drive 500 miles between fuel stops ? how often do you do that now ?
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Solo, my car will do around 500 miles between fill-ups. Towing, that is down to around 300. That's as much as I would want to drive in a day anyway so I can arrange a fill-up at the end of each day's trip. Given the recharging time for an electric vehicle, to be viable they need to be able to cope with a day's worth of driving between charges IMHO.
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Sadly I, like many others on here, remember when 'Buy a diesel' was answered with 'You must be joking'!
Some members nowadays are actually asking if it's even possible to tow with a petrol powered car!
I assume perhaps as many as 80/90% tow with diesels?
No doubt those that live long enough will look at these posts in a few years and think 'They haven't a clue, as usual!'
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This is pure political vote catching promise the earth and don't deliver. First thing how will we produce all the electrical power we need, most of the power we get is produced by EDF, how long before Europe hold another gun to our heads. On another tack why is the government still going ahead with fracking. How many extra nuclear power stations will be required, until they can answer these few questions l am not even going listen to it.Glad l won't be around in 2040, just hope my daughter and grandson will reason it all out
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Birdability, I don't often do 500 miles in a day these days, but I certainly used to. Fuel in my area is a couple of pence cheaper than where most of my customers are, so I tended to drive between 200 and 250 miles to see them and then return the same day. Refuelling when I got home ready for an early start the next day.
What makes you think my vehicle is a tank? I expect total reliability and to arrive fresh to see my customers. I have tried little cars, and if I drove into the city often then I might use one. But my usage tends to long distance and I hate constantly having to stop & refuel. Hence my demand for long range! To drive 200 plus miles in a little car in my opinion is less than pleasant.
TF
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Correct 'birderbilly', electric motors provide instant torque. Just have to wait for battery technology to catch up, which I'm sure it will within the next decade. As to whether it will be suitable for touring is another matter.
He is waffling in the past again, whereas future technology was what your post was about.
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The problem is ,that people don't like change ,just think back to the first mobile phones
,now look where they are ,long lasting battery etc, so give it time and the technology will get thereIt's easy to look back ,but more exciting to look foward
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Electric cars have been around for a long time
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_electric_vehicle
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intersting one, HD...
my first company phone, Nokia 63xxx, (from memory) would go days and days on a single charge...
my iphone is doing so much work it needs charging every night (and more if in constant use.
the battery in the 20 yr old Nokia wasnt that much different in size or weight.....price is the main difference.
bearing in mind the above....my golf trolley battery is seceral years old, lead acid, performs faultlessly, cost around £70
brothers battery eventually needed replacement, went for latest super light (around a quarter of the weight) Li-ion types, small, light but eye wateringly expensive at 4 times the price....
so, technology is much better already in terms of performance by weight, but until the market expands (which it will) the price remains very high....
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I am fair certain that in 20 years the technology will have sufficiently advanced to achieve 500 miles range. Apprently one of the Tesler models is already capable of 350 miles on a charge. Please don't shoot me down in flames if I'm wrong it's what a friend of mine told me last night based on the information he got when he test drove one recently.
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Talking on site (Ferry Meadow)to owners of a Volvo and Toyota Hybrids both said they usually get about 20miles on batt when towing then diesel engines took over for about 30miles before reverting to batt power and so the cycle continued,,but as they could charge the batts when on site from the external 3 pin socket of their c/vans it was not often they needed the diesel engines when not towing,
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Electric cars will NEVER be good enough to tow over a distance. they will only ever be a city car or at best medium distance. 2040 will be here in a flash & we will just not be ready for it. The caravan industry is now doomed: we will have to use statics & pods: The day is coming where only public transport is available to the masses: Be like Logans run. Just jump in a car pod as its passing to do ya shopping or what ever: Scary: All these futuristic films are becoming reality.
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Even if & it's a big if: The cost of running these things will be prohibitive & the charging infrastructure will not be sufficient: Battery's don't last & loose efficiency quite quickly too. I think the goverments after getting us all of the road:
I can see the day coming where they take all your money, provide you with accomadation & a small allowence to live on: & be provided tokens for shopping: We're all doomed i tell ya: lol:
No honestly it's not actually that far fetched the way things are going: Iv'e predicted that scenario for many years:
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As well as electric tow cars perhaps electric caravans will also be required, equipped with batteries charged by solar panels and wheel mounted generator/movers supplementing the car battery when on the move?
More regular stop over breaks to recharge car and van will require more club sites with suitable facilities. 4 hours driving or 200 mile legs will probably be realistic? Sounds like a nice change of concept and lifestyle!
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Like I said in the other discussion- something will turn up - it always does- necessity is the mother of invention. I read about the American and Chinese scientists and technicians getting together to create and overcome the problems of sodium batteries- apparently, they are closing in on a solution but we'll have to wait and see. Plenty of sodium on the planet!
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Just how long will you have to queue at a service area to re-charge? Also many folks live in streets without off road parking and cannot run a cable across footpaths. It would be better if the Government had thought through some of the practical problems before embarking on the punitive measures now being floated against diesel cars. I suspect just another cynical measure to raise revenue. If the necessary charging infrastructure was being prepared there would be a more convincing reason to buy electric cars.
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There will be plenty of solutions for those that don't have off street parking, here for example. Most charging will take place at home or at work, 90% of cars are not in use for 90% of the time so there will be plenty of time to charge them, en-route charging will become much quicker than it is now as technology improves. As for the view expressed by some that the grid cannot cope with the demand well National Grid say that it can and new smart grid tech will help with this. As for your point about HMRC revenue not sure how you figure that since fuel duty raises about £28bn annually so banning petrol/diesel is haldly a tax raising exercise !
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Everyone is quoting the best range at about 300 miles in a Tesla ( other makes are way behind) but add in cold weather and a one and half ton white box on the back and it will get nowhere near 300 miles. No doubt it might in years to come but I very much doubt it in the next 10 years. I regularly do a 300 mile tow so that is a basic need for me and I guess some others. Fuel cells might just beat them to it!!
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I think any charging point would have to be away from the pitch or at least separate from the EHU bollard and would have to be metered. At present electricity is effectively 'free' due to the constraints of the re-sale of electricity rules.
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10 years ago would you have said that Elon Musk could do this I therefore have reasonable faith that Telsa and no doubt others can come up with an electric car that can tow a caravan 300 miles - hardly rocket science !
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The additional load of an electric car to charge will certainly push our Malcolm over his 16A limit.
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Well guess what they are available at a wopping price of £118.440 but what a car !
https://www.tesla.com/support/model-x-specificationshttps://www.tesla.com/support/model-x-specifications
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