From: Mark Walker (mark@permanentend.org)
Date: Tue Aug 26 2003 - 18:43:10 MDT
----- Original Message -----
From: "Adrian Tymes" <wingcat@pacbell.net>
> The standard keyphrase for this is "distribution
> system". Put simply: how do you get those stations
> set up in the first place? (Yes, there are gas
> stations now, but how do you pay for refitting those
> with the robots you mention prior to enough people
> having these cars to make it economically viable? A
> chicken-and-the-egg type problem.)
>
I agree this is a problem, but it is a political problem not a technical
problem as was the suggestion in the original post. Given the extant
political economy, I would favor some heavy tax brakes to help the
bootstrapping problem and let the market work out the details. Of course, I
imagine that there would be less of a need for such battery stations as
compared with gas stations, since most refueling would take place at home or
work. In this way, the infra structure heavily favors batteries over
fuel-cells.
>
> Having operated an EV1 before they were scrapped, I
> can tell you that your dream - in this regard - is
> right-on.
Lucky bastard!
Granted, I had to plug in every few nights
> (battery range over 100 miles, daily round-trip
> commute under 50) or I'd be out of fuel, but it was
> an easy habit to get in to. (I still remember a
> friend's joke about the power meter: an 11-bar gauge
> showing how full the battery was. "Bars of power"
> sounded a little like I was powering it with cocaine
> or similar, but what else could one call it, simply
> enough for daily usage?)
>
> One of the problems was, most people apparently did
> (still do) much more than 100 miles of driving per
> day, and in many cases, the only practical place to
> plug in was at home. There were other chargers, but
> not even 10% - probably not even 1% - as many per
> unit area as gas stations, and charging was a slow
> enough process that it really had to be at some place
> you were going to be at for several hours - which
> usually meant work or home.
I was under the impression that many of the ev1's (the lead acid ones) had a
110 charge option, which would mean you could plug in anywhere with outlet
where you could borrow a few amps? No?
Mark
Mark Walker, PhD
Research Associate, Philosophy, Trinity College
University of Toronto
Room 214 Gerald Larkin Building
15 Devonshire Place
Toronto
M5S 1H8
www.permanentend.org
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