http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8114366.stm

Out of the ones on show in this video, the Lightning is the one I’m most interested on. Partly because it’s a sports car, but the charging/range figures are very good. 200 miles and a fast charge. The one the focus on has a range of 80 miles and takes 5 hours to charge.

Let’s take my weekend - I drove from Chelmsford to Ilkeston (note - I did this on less than a full tank of go juice). I had a break about half way. The Lighting would have done that distance, and while I was having my restorative cup of tea, the car could be charging at a power point in the car park. The featured Mitsubishi would not have got me that far, and the charge time would mean that the weekend would not be possible.

This means that the infrastructure would need to change to support electric cars. More motorway charging points, and people conking out between. This would take us back to the dawn of the motorways where people took their Morris Minors (Ford Anglias, Austins, etc.) on the new-fangled motorway, and promptly broke down due to the cars not coping with the demands of prolonged driving as speed.

I recall the Top Gear segment on electric cars - basically saying that they are dead technology. James May put forward a very compelling argument for hydrogen fuel cells - you would fill up as you do a petrol car, they have the same kind of range and as such would fit in with current driving habits. An electric car would require a shift of habits to match the new technology, as well as relying on filthy power stations to provide the electricity, a major reworking of the national grid to cope with demand, etc..

And why, oh, why, must electric cars look so awful?

What about if the industry could settle on a standard for batteries?

That way, you could pull into a "petrol station" and park on a device which could change your battery in 30 seconds. It would be just as quick and easy as filling with fuel, just swap out the batteries.

That would be sensible. I remember camping when I was a kid - you’d have a Calor gas canister, and when you wanted more, you’d just swap the empty for a full one, paying just for the gas. It would be great - as long as the charging station had a constant supply of full batteries.

As you rightly point out, there needs to be a standard battery for this, and this would require major manufacturers to work together.

The Americans developed a system for this. You literally drove through the thing and it swapped out your batteries.

Regardless, it was driven all over by Big Auto and has never seen the light of day.

Electric - Hydrogen powered fuel cell -> Yes I would
Electric - Battery powered that needs recharging from the mains -> No way.

I mean for god sake, that reporter was getting excited about an eighty mile drive on a charge that took six hours.

If it took more than 30 seconds to charge then no.

What are they going to do about the lack of engine noise?
Blind & partially sighted people listen for the noise of a car before deciding if it's safe to cross a road. Without it there will be trouble.

The current electric cars are really just town cars. With the lack of electric charging points on the run, short range and long recharge times ( > 5 minutes), they really aren't practical.

When I come to the UK, I will usually bring the car, if I am coming for more than a few days. That means that I need to be able to drive around 1,000KM between charges - or a charge that takes as long as I need to take a pee. When I drove to the UK in January, we stopped twice for toilet brakes of less than 5 mintes, the the time the car was on the boat...

That sort of journey just isn't practical with an electric car. With a fuel cell, perhaps, with a standard sized battery and battery changing stations that are quick? Yes, they might work.

If I didn't have to do long distance driving, or the car trains were cheaper, then it might be an alternative. If I was just doing my normal weekly driving, I could get away with a car with a 200 mile range.

There was a report on the BBC site about a year ago about this. Lotus are making an electric car noise box. Failing that, just peg a playing card to the wheel so it makes a noise when the car is moving.

Quiet car, lovely.
"Environmentally friendly", yeah why not.
Cheap to run, i'd do that.

But....

87mph top speed?
6 hours charge?
80 miles driving distance?

Wouldn't buy one quite yet...

I'll wait until it's the norm, until then it's not really worth it.

You shouldn't be doing more than 70MPH in the UK anyway, so the top speed is fine.

The charge time and poor driving distance would stop me getting one though.

Yeah, I was just about to ask how much time you spend at more than 87mph?

I'm a little sceptical about the range though. With electronic devices, they always seem to promise more from the batteries than they actually manage to deliver.

Also, the batteries will drain mega fast at 87mph!

With an 80 mile range I'd say they'd last just under the hour

87mph isn't that fast

Faster than the highest speed limit in the land

Not if you're "testing" a police car

Get in the car with the purple one, she goes through the Welsh lanes at almost that speed never mind what happens when you show her a motorway! She was taught by an ex rally driver though

I reckon we spend most of the time doing ~90 on the motorway, though we've hot 110mph before...She has a Ford KA!
All that being said, she always has control.