G-Whiz sweepstakes winner returns EV because town can't charge it
After winning a G-Whiz electric vehicle in a raffle, a lady in the United Kingdom had to return the car when she couldn't find a convenient place to charge it. Apparently the local community has a fleet of 16 vehicles but only 11 recharging points. And there's no free parking for EV owners, so she felt there was no advantage to keeping it on the street near her home. Officials are looking into improving recharging facilities as well as offering free parking like other boroughs in the London area.
[Source: Hampstead & Highgate Express]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ThwartedEfforts 9:58AM (11/27/2006)
Link to article:
http://www.hamhigh.co.uk/search/story.aspx?brand=Northlondon24&category=Newshamhigh&itemid=WeED24%20Nov%202006%2016:07:26:937
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Howard Lee Harkness 10:44AM (11/27/2006)
Chicken/egg problem. Even when the new rapid-charge LiON batteries become available (provided they aren't made illegal somehow), there is going to be a problem with charging them even at home. Either you will have to settle for a slow charge time, or get a special high-current circuit installed in your garage. I would probably opt for a 3 or 4 hour charge time.
Better yet, I would prefer a diesel-electric hybrid, which, at this point, still has a range advantage over straight EV.
ThwartedEfforts: I couldn't get anything at the link you posted.
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George Krpan 7:16PM (11/27/2006)
I don't understand, I would think it would have been worth it for her to make the arrangements for a place to charge it. A free car that runs at a cost one tenth of gasoline.
Is it the limitation of the battery or the current that takes the present batteries so long to charge?
When fast charge batteries (Altair) come along I think you'll see that the home charge times are faster than their predessors. That would be a function of the limitation of the present batteries.
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