I think the biggest thing to realise is that they are not a panacea for all things and in most cases, you are just exchanging one set of problems for another.
Bob
It had to happen
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Bob
Twelvefret
Forum GOD!
I would truly want a vehicle that I could simply charge a battery to get from there to here. Twice a year to haul boats and camping equipment from here to there. So far, an electric alternative does not exist.
Vacumatic
Testy
I must admit that I like the idea of high mileage vehicles and electric cars with so few moving parts must be good for that. I had heard of million mile Teslas, here is an article about a Tesla that covers 130,000 miles a year and has covered 1,200,000 miles
https://insideevs.com/news/699413/highest-mileage-tesla-model-s-3-batteries-14-motors/
https://insideevs.com/news/699413/highest-mileage-tesla-model-s-3-batteries-14-motors/
I suppose high mileage like that is possible depending on other environmental factors. Where I live there is extreme cold and lots of road salt that likes to eat vehicles up over time. Then there is the consideration that EVs are much heavier than equivalent petrol-powered vehicles and tend to damage the roads more. Nothing like hitting a large pothole which may damage the EV more often than they do a petrol-powered vehicle. In a moderate temperate climate with no extremes, it may be possible to get such high mileage from an EV. I have my doubts in a 4-season climate with both extremes of hot and cold.
Bob
Vacumatic
Testy
Edit
I made the classic mistake of reading the headline without the details, 14 motors and four battery packs is relevant.
Hats off to the driver however, 350 miles a day, every day, takes some perseverance.
I bought a BMW in the 1990s because I knew someone who had a 3 series in central London, his 1600cc car did 125,000miles in three years in heavy traffic and all in the lower gears, service items only.
I bought a new 320 Touring in 1992 and did 50,000 trouble free miles just over a years and sold it for more than I paid.
Sorry, way off topic.
slapo
It's... alive!
Curiously, there were some small modular nuclear reactor designs that planned on using "used" nuclear fuel, but they were from relatively small companies, and I'm not sure whether they got sufficient investment.
It would be nice if something useful came out of that branch of reactor design as well, as it would just make sense.
Otherwise, it's just delaying the inevitable and in a few decades, they might be "mining" used fuel again.
I had not considered the idea of reusing nuclear fuel rods or even knew it was possible which it is. Apparently, France recycles the majority of its spent rods for further use. They also do some recycling for the Netherlands, Australia and Japan. This is how they do it:
Nuclear waste is reusable. Why aren’t we doing it?
With Canada's large deposits of uranium it is unlikely we would run out of uranium. My guess is that because of that setting up for recycling has not been seriously considered. It is probably past time Canada seriously considered to do so.
Bob
chazt
shave
Good conversation here. Thanks for that 
I wonder if anyone has thought of this. Simply embed solar panels into the roofs and trunk/boot lids of cars, and send that energy directly to the batteries. It seems so simple an idea. It could be revolutionary for the automotive industry. If I just had the technical, engineering, production, distribution and economic aspects covered…
I wonder if anyone has thought of this. Simply embed solar panels into the roofs and trunk/boot lids of cars, and send that energy directly to the batteries. It seems so simple an idea. It could be revolutionary for the automotive industry. If I just had the technical, engineering, production, distribution and economic aspects covered…
Smiffy
Forum GOD!
I asked that question myself and was told panels just could not generate enough power to move a car, even in the Middle East.Good conversation here. Thanks for that
I wonder if anyone has thought of this. Simply embed solar panels into the roofs and trunk/boot lids of cars, and send that energy directly to the batteries. It seems so simple an idea. It could be revolutionary for the automotive industry. If I just had the technical, engineering, production, distribution and economic aspects covered…
Someone did make an alternative solution of solar panels on all south facing roofs, possibly as roof tiles, powering the house with excess sold to the grid. Cost of the switch would be comparable to Nuclear on a whole life basis although I would doubt that we have the wherewithal to complete such a massive project.
slapo
It's... alive!
@chazt Check out solar car races and you'll see that the cars that can be solar powered are often practically bulky buggies, or so focused on being lightweight that there's hardly any storage space to be had and most of them are prototype/research quality vehicles.
Contrast this with e.g. F1 (or other car races) and the difference is significant.
@Smiffy was right about the panels not providing enough power.
However, it could be useful to have solar panels on some cars for something like slow or emergency recharge, yet that would be additional weight and expense.
Perhaps something like a Citroen Ami could work (without most of its batteries), except it probably doesn't have enough surface area.
Contrast this with e.g. F1 (or other car races) and the difference is significant.
@Smiffy was right about the panels not providing enough power.
However, it could be useful to have solar panels on some cars for something like slow or emergency recharge, yet that would be additional weight and expense.
Perhaps something like a Citroen Ami could work (without most of its batteries), except it probably doesn't have enough surface area.
Vacumatic
Testy
I have some vague memory of a car company trying to use a solar panel to power an electric fan inside the cabin so that there would be a throughput of air when the car was parked.
Much later edit. I think the issue was that the cost of the panel and design changes would put £500 on the price of a car, as compared to simply opening your windows and driving off.
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purerockfury
..........
I think the Tesla people have solar panels that look like roof tiles... a story i heard about a few years ago... because eff fire vehicles and needing to wait hours to go anywhere....
And there are "criminals" in "jails" around the world. They should be forced to ride stationary bicycles to help power up the world...
Vacumatic
Testy
As you may know, we don't have driverless cars in the UK but this vid of a Tesla FSD in the snow and how the car reacted was a bit of an eyeopener
It occurred to me that the standard of driving was better than some humans
View: https://youtu.be/LQd_3868dMs
It occurred to me that the standard of driving was better than some humans
Vacumatic
Testy
I think that is why they haven't been adopted here, the lawyers will think that all their birthdays have come at once when a driverless car blows a fuse and kills people and the person behind the wheel has no licence or too young to drive and there has no insurance in place. The car maker having the deeper pockets may be asked to step up even though they have not been negligent, a normal test for responsibility under the 1936 Road Traffic Act