bungeejumper wrote:So let's see. That one-day journey south would probably look more like three days by the time we'd found the necessary recharging stations and waited our turn in the ever-lengthening queues along the autoroute in the holiday season. (Four hours waiting time? Six? Eight? Plus the overnight stops? Naaah, it ain't ever going to happen.)
That's why petrol cars never took off. Can you imagine spending your life queuing for petrol at one of the few available outlets? Naaah, it weren't ever going to happen. Good old horse and carriage all the way, there are stables and farriers everywhere. They'll never be supplanted.
richlist wrote:Rapid 50kW chargers can already provide a full charge in 40 minutes or less.
The problem is having a car that will accommodate a 50kW charge........very expensive cars, lots of current EVs are not up to it.
VW id.3, currently in production, delivery starts next year, direct Golf equivalent so the very definition of mainstream, available in 3 versions the 'pure' version has 50kW as standard with 100kW as an option, the 'Pro' version has 100kW charging as standard, and the 'Pro S' has 125 kW as standard...
jackdaww wrote:maybe a compromise answer - to have a small efficient petrol or LPG engine that simply charges the battery on long runs .
Means increasing cost and complexity, and reducing the range and efficiency on all other journeys though, as you have to carry the petrol engine around for no benefit 95% of the time.
Neither for that matter is buying a BEV with a 400 mile range to drive a mile to the shops and back, lugging a ton of battery unnecessarily on every trip and adding thousands to the cost of the car just on the off chance you might one day decide to tour the highlands really a sensible solution.