Those specs will make the car usable to me. They're not ideal, but it overcomes any hurdles I currently have about the technology. I can forgo the charging stations as long as I can go at least 500 miles and charge from 120v outlets overnight.
I suggest you add to your specs the requirement for a kevlar lining of the battery compartment. It will be sorely needed when the batteries blow.
What, compared to when the gas tanks blow?
What intrigues me is the selection of batteries. Seems I remember from somewhere (like experience for example) the highest demands on an engine and therefore on mileage occurs during acceleration and the greatest of waste of energy is during braking. That being the case why would not the propeller heads design a hybrid that shifts to a non-internal combustion power source during the time when energy demands are the lowest (steady state cruising)?
This is already a function of many/most hybrid vehicles. If they're running the engine during a steady cruise it's either because the battery is too low or you're going too fast for the motor to keep the vehicle's speed up.
Why not supplement the IC source during periods of highest demand? Why not recover the lost energy expended during braking?
Again, standard part of a hybrid design. During a hard accel from a stop, the motor will start the accelleration process, then the engine starts and proceeds to provide it's power to the accelleration. What it does when speed levels off depends on the programming/mode of the hybrid vehicle, the state of the battery, the speed it's cruising at, the power needed to maintain that speed, etc...
I would love to have an automotive design engineer explain why flywheel technology and regenerative braking are not part of the solution being developed. As a concept flywheel energy would be tapped to assist the engine in acceleration.
I keep seeing regenerative braking being part of the solution, where does it say that it's not going to be. While flywheel tech is neat, thus far it hasn't beaten batteries in energy density/cost/usability.
As for not switching over - well, I want my house at 68-70 24-7, drive a car at 100mph, never shut off my computers, etc...
That'd be too expensive financially(and safely), so I'll reach a compromise.
Mtnbkr, you listed what you wanted out of an EV. What if they came up with a vehicle that meets most of your requirements? Say, the charge takes 45 minutes, not 15. 250 miles range with you having it loaded down and going 70mph.
The trick? Gas is $10/gallon.
How about a much cheaper electric vehicle, that only has a 60 mile range@70mph, but you can buy or rent a generator in a small trailer that provides extra storage space as well as a high efficiency IC engine(could be gasoline, diesel, or even ethanol, propane, CNG, etc...). You only hook up the trailer for long trips.
