Maybe, I was just commenting on the fact that 10mph for 50miles with lead acid batteried had been bettered back in the 70s. In fact Lucas EVs were quite capable of doing Birmingham to London without changing the pack although at an average speed of between 50 and 60mph.
There is no reason why garages or other locations couldn’t have a certain number of packs and a pallet lift, not exactly rocket science.
Obviously the business model back in the 80’s didn’t get a grip but things change and certainly the batteries are lighter and will go further on a charge at greater speed..
Entrepeneurs are very good at seizing opportunities to make money.I wouldn’t be at all surprised if there were businessmen looking at all sorts of ways to take advantage of developments in technology.
gallois wrote:
They were demonstrated in Paris and able to go much faster than 10mph and had much more than a 50mile range.
Sure, and somebody souped up one to go 45 mph / 70 km/h by putting in twice the number of batteries and wiring them for higher voltage.
Today’s electrical aircraft are a bit like that – fun, a bit mad perhaps, and showing the potential, but with little practical application.
It took an improvement of 5x and more in energy density to make EVs viable and pull them from niche applications into the mainstream.
@Cobalt you are so wrong I would get information from better sources if I were you.
I am talking of a well known UK company producing a very serious product. Nothing to do with the suped up toys you are basing your opinion on. Lucas EV at Sparkhill Birmingham has a group of very talented if occasionally wacky engineers..I travelled several times in their vans and their electric limousine, very confortable, great acceleration. They certainly were one of the world leaders back then.
Bedford based out of the Vauxhall plant at Luton had run all sorts of tests on them including the crash tests. They were intent on building an production line alongside its diesel and petrol models. But the company, IIUC, ran into financial problems which had nothing to do with EVs
@gallois, I am not arguing that EVs with lead-acid technology could not be built – I am saying they were viable for niche applications. Other niches than milk floats (quiet, short range, start-stop, small), the electric taxis in Zermatt have been around for decades and were of course viable. There are also electric mobility vehicles with varying degrees of cabin from zero to enclosed etc.
The Lucas Taxi prototype is also in a niche – max 40-50 mph and 100 mile range is viable with a 0.7 tonne lead-acid battery; but to get to the current world where you can cruise at 70 mpH for 400 miles it was a looooong way. And all of that because of battery size and weight – a 100 kWh lead-acid battery (for a top end EV) weighs well over three tonnes at 1970s energy densities and would have to be more than 45 cm / 1.5 foot thick to fit in the floor of a large car.
In the same way, electric aircraft are clearly possible with current technology, but again for niche applications only. Local flights of various flavors. Ultra-short-hop passenger transport, for example to close-to-shore islands (probably with battery swap).
The only question is – how long do we have to wait until battery technology improves by another factor of 5 or so? A lot of the innovation was driven by the demand for portable electronics and now EVs, as long as they keep investing there is a chance this may be quicker, but there is no guarantee.
gallois wrote:
There is no reason why garages or other locations couldn’t have a certain number of packs and a pallet lift, not exactly rocket science.
No technical reason, indeed.
But massive commercial reasons. Mainly the value differential between new and nearly-new packs vs end of life ones. The battery is a big chunk of the value of your EV, are you going to just swap it at some random commercial premises for one of unknown lifespan?
It’s like suggesting ICE car drivers would exchange their nearly-new engine for one with 200,000 miles on it.
Not quite @Graham. Several manufacturers are now selling the car whilst leasing the battery.
@Cobalt I was, as explained just pointing out that you were simply wrong in your assertion that EVs with lead acid batteries were only capable of being milk floats 10mph for 50 miles.
I believe Hyundai and/or Skoda are now selling EVs with comparitive speeds to their ICE vehicles for 350 miles, according to reports.
Personally, I have no skin in this game my current every day car is LPG until someone comes up with a car that suits my situation better.🙂
I think this degradation of batteries in EV’s is an overrated problem nowadays. Chemistry has improved, cars are fitted with advanced battery management systems, and users mostly respect the advice to keep the battery level between 20 and 80% as much as practical. My wife’s second 2018 EV has lost 0-3% of capacity, a bit hard to measure exactly. My second one has miraculously increased in capacity. Spec said 450 km of range and I’m recently getting indications of 500 km range. OK, I admit, that’s because I’ve become a granddad and are starting to drive like one.. And fly like one. Slowing down to 90 knots 
@Cobalt are you willing to share your experience?
Having said that, batteries in aircraft will suffer more, no doubt. Always charged to the brim before any flight, and a high discharge rate.
My second one has miraculously increased in capacity.
That confirms what I have often said: the mfgs are faking the capacity, by adding a margin, and this prevents a fresh owner from seeing his battery capacity shrinking daily and getting worried. It is exactly what I would do 
@aart, 3.5 years and no noticable battery degradation. My mileage is low-ish at 5,000 miles per year, stopping the commute during Covid saw to that. Driving style has more of an impact on range than anything else. I did not mollycoddle the battery at all – quite a bit of “supercharging”, almost exclusively in the first two years as I could not charge at home, always to 90% (which is the Tesla advised “daily charge limit”, 100% being reserved for long trips where you need the range).
I use a site called “teslafi” to track charging and range, and real-life range has gone down from around 370 to around 365 miles, a 1.5% loss. The driving style based variation is of the same magnitude, but there is a trend. The poor mileage in the first 3000 miles is 2020, where it was sitting around a lot due to Covid, so I don’t think the battery was getting better in the first year; it simply had more time to discharge in sleep mode while sitting idle.
This is my charging pattern:
I just decided to keep the car for another three years or so – while there are now EVs around I like better than the Tesla Model S I have, there is nothing that justifies the expense of buying a new car. Until I can find what I really want – a grand tourer style convertible, not a silly overpowered roadster.
