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Archive:000/Short-range electric vehicles: Difference between revisions
Archive:000/Short-range electric vehicles (view source)
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(Created page with "So far, the best EVs seem to come at a high environmental cost - especially rare minerals{{x|such as cobalt}} in the batteries. They also are quite expensive. What if people were willing to drive cheaper EVs with less battery capacity{{x|either due to using batteries with less rare metal content, and/or just ''smaller'' batteries}} and thus less range? Clearly this doesn't cover '''all''' use-cases. Road trips would still need longer-range vehicle...") |
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So far, the best [[electric vehicles|EVs]] seem to come at a high environmental cost - especially rare minerals{{x|such as cobalt}} in the batteries. They also are quite expensive. | So far, the best [[electric vehicles|EVs]] seem to come at a high environmental cost - especially rare minerals{{x|such as cobalt}} in the batteries. They also are quite expensive. | ||
What if people were willing to drive cheaper EVs with less battery capacity{{x|either due to using batteries with less rare metal content, and/or just ''smaller'' batteries}} | What if people were willing to drive '''cheaper EVs''' with less battery capacity{{x|either due to using batteries with less rare metal content, and/or just ''smaller'' batteries}} / '''less range'''? | ||
* <small>Clearly this doesn't cover '''all''' use-cases. Road trips would still need longer-range vehicles. But for common suburban commutes{{x|then again, maybe it's better to phase these out via [[walkability]]}}, maybe it would be enough?</small> | |||
==Suitable battery types== | |||
<small>Some battery types are less energy-dense than [[lithium-ion]], but also less reliant on rare metals:</small> | |||
* [[LFP batteries|Lithium ''iron'' (not ion) phosphate batteries]] (existing tech) | |||
* [[Sodium-ion batteries]] (possible future tech) | |||
==How much range is reasonable?== | |||
Optimistic scenario: | |||
* Suppose there were as many charging stations as there currently are gas stations. And/or | |||
* Suppose most people could charge their vehicles at their homes. | |||
* What's the minimum amount of range that would be needed for typical day-to-day usage? | |||
{{qn}} | |||
===Implementation=== | |||
Ok so suppose there's a viable scenario - now we need to talk about the transition to it. | |||
There's a "catch-22" to overcome: | |||
* Why would anyone buy a short-range EV if there aren't enough charging stations? | |||
* Why would anyone build a lot of charging stations if not many people have EVs? | |||
* Also, we can't expect long-range EVs to jumpstart the market, because they can't be sustainably scaled up enough. | |||
** <small>(which is the whole reason we are thinking about short-range EVs in the first place)</small> | |||
Ways to overcome this: | |||
* <small>''This list needs to be written. I'm open to any possibilities, no matter if they involve capitalism or communism.''</small> | |||
==Marketability== | |||
''This section is not written yet.'' | |||