Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
The Natural Philosopher wrote:
Care to take a little bet of say 1000 quid that the saloon won't be on
sale in 18 months time? And another that the price won't be anywhere
near competitive in the UK with a diesel of equivalent performance?


I wouldn't bet the former, but would bet the latter.

Then it should be a sure thing for dribble? I'm willing to take one or the
other or both from him. Of course he'd never put his money where his gob
is.

In bulk I could probably get lithium cells at 50c a watt-hour..that's
around $15,000 for a 30KWh pack...

Indeed. And a tiny company just ain't going to sell at a loss - unlike
Toyota, etc.

Everyone and his dog announce an electric car every few years as 'the
technology is now here' Except that it's not, and is a long way off at an
economic price to replace the IC engine. And of course domestic
electricity isn't taxed unlike road fuels. So if it became the norm for
road use the price advantage would soon disappear.

I think we've been down this route befo

Suffice to say that if large amounts of electricity are made from non
fossil fuels, then there is no reason for a similarity of fuel costs to
be a bar to electric cars. It is. e.g. more efficient to use wind power
to generate electricity to stuff in batteries than to use it to make
liquid fuel to be burnt at 40% efficiency.

On the battery costs, well there is nothing magic, or expansive, in a
lithium battery. Apart from the development and tooling up. They are
just bits of foil and plastic in a plastic bag with a secret witches
brew of gels. I can foresee DRAMATIC price reductions in them if they go
into large scale production.

If the Tesla gets things along to the stage where its ONLY a matter of
battery cost, then I am all for it.

I personally think we ARE on the edge of a realistic and practical
battery-electric car. Simply because lithium batteries are JUST good
enough to get the range, and more than good enough to get the performance.