E-automobile, the new i-car! A vision is emerging from the conveyor belts of the hype industry, the Tesla is a star! It is a rolling box stuffed to the brim with batteries. It is actually the biggest CO2 footprint you can make.
Here are the facts in a nutshell: the energy density per kilogram of batteries is about 1/100 that of Diesel fuel. Consequently, the i-car will only stand a chance if its use will prove more sustainability than the b-car of today. The determining factors are weight, range of coverage and dynamics when active. Will these parameters suffice to turn an e-car into a happy i-car?
Let us assume an average of 6l/100km and half the mass. Let us further assume that the car will be immobile when driven in the city 30 % of the time. And let us also assume that the motor and generator can be constructed so that the 30 % energy back storage can be recruited from the dynamics when moving.
With a rough calculation, we get a consumption of 6l/100km multiplied by 0.5 times 0.7 times 0.7 = 1.5 l/100km. Since, as we have seen, the energy density of an e-car is only 1/100 of the b-car, a mass equivalent of 150-300 l would be the daily achievement of an i-car for a daily coverage of 100-200 km inside the city.
Unfortunately, the i-car is still a problem. The problem is not the consumption of energy. Rather, the storage of energy and the battery version with its biggest possible waste of resources are a huge problem. And, as you can see from the rough calculation, it is also a mentality problem, since b-car images have been stabilized by adverts ad nauseam. Those were the days when energy densities were still available without any restriction (until around 1930).
Why don’t we ask the people at Apple how to best advance from the i-pad to the i-car. It is doubtful if you should ask the old industries – after all, they are currently gambling away all their reputation – or does anybody still believe in the “green BP”? Here are the alternatives: get onto your bike, because this is where our future has already begun. And accumulating energy densities will even be fun. Or “on you go, into the carport” – ex Swabian lux and not just tonnage and Daimler.
wl
(Translated by EG)
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