mpfrank wrote:
Dooglas wrote:
Edumakated wrote:
I'd like to see more charging stations available so you can charge easily while parked. I can see these being used by campus police/security, etc.
I think the day is coming with designs like this. Batteries are yielding longer ranges, new designs have faster charging times, and (at least around here) eV charging stations are proliferating. There is a designated electric highway from Seattle to SoCal with an eV charging station every half hour or so for long distance driving. Essentially it follows the I-5 corridor and has been built for electric cars, but will serve long distance electric scooters/motorcycles just as well.
Not ready for prime time IMHO. Stopping for a 20 - 30 minute recharge every hour doesn't make it for me just yet. Gotta start somewhere, though.
Side note: When I googled "designated electric highway from Seattle to SoCal" I was led to a Huffington Post article which then had a link to an Italian guy blowing up a condom using Coca-Cola, Menthos, and Nutella.
Gotta love the interwebs
Vast majority of drivers/riders don't need super long ranges. Reality is that most cars/bikes are being used for relatively short daily commutes. Sure, you need a long range for weekend rides which is my issue, but daily I'd rarely put more than 25-30 miles on this thing during a regular work day.
It will be awhile before electric is really practical for long rides/drives. However, is it is more than adequate for daily commuting for probably 95% of the public.
The problem is that you still need access to a gas car for those times when you need longer range.
Zipcars are popular around here so you can just rent a car if needed. There are quite a few Tesla's in my community.
Charging times are improving dramatically. I race electric remote control cars 1/8th scale. I can literally charge the batteries faster than I can drain them actually racing the car now. I get about 15 minutes of run time, but only takes about 5 minutes or so to charge the battery.