On Wed, 30 Nov 2005 10:23:02 +0000, David Hearn wrote:

Doctor Drivel wrote:
Electric cars are
vastly superior to petrol in maintenance costs. They require no
transmissions, no cooling systems, no oil changes, and with periodic battery
replacements, will last forever. Then the ride: smooth, silent, vibration
free. That alone is a great environmental plus.

What is the cost of the battery replacement?

At the moment, vast

What is the environmental
impact of replacing these batteries?

Not vast. FAR nicer than batteries with lead or cadmium in them.

The main components of li-ion batteries are aluminium and carbon
electrodes, and a lithium salt. Lithium salts comprise a huge amount of
the earths crust and ecosystem, and are stable and inert. Calcium
carbonate, soueum carbonate, lithium carbonate. Not exactly a set of words
to isnpire panic in the eco-geeks are they?



Ther eare some organic electiolytes in their as well. Nothing too exciting.



With regard to crashes - the rescue services have problems with hyrbid
vehicles as often very high current cables are run through the bodywork,
making cutting people out very difficult, as they cannot just cut
anywhere as they currently can.


That is certainly an issue.

I have considerd that, and think that teh wy to go is a modular power pack,
with every module having some electronics on it to isolarte it..and
probably carsh sensors on each one that essentially make the thing dead
outside of its internals.

..Ive used tehse cells extensivley, and they CAN go up on flames. The
electrolytes fir ukltra high discharge are fairly flammable.

Thigs get better when a somewhat lower discharge rate cell is specified.
These are not so explosive.

Les than petrol perhaps.



You cannot cut through a full tank of petrol either...

D