Electric Vans: Embrace them or loath them?

[Dan]

Electric Vans. Who's for them, who's against them? Who thinks they'll be using one in the next 10 years?

Seems to be a lot of chatter about fossil fuel vehicles coming to and end in the next couple of decades.

I can see the race to make a good one starting very soon.

Anybody actually had a price on any?

 

[LM]

I can see myself going down this road in the time frame you suggest Dan. I often wonder though why Clarkson's perposal of hydrogen fuelled vehicales hasn't caught traction as the only by product is water.

 

[Ajax123]

I have a hybrid Mitsubishi outlander. Brilliant vehicle.

 

[Dan]

Not sure which forum it was on or if they still post but years ago I remember a member with a fully electric van.

Wonder if they're still rocking one.

Would love a Tesla van if I was in a trade. Could probably whistle it over with the heavy tools or tiles lol

tesla semi - Google Search - https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=tesla+semi&oq=tesla+semi&aqs=chrome..69i57.12259j0j4&client=ms-android-motorola&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#xxri=12

The Tesla semi truck can apparently 'road train' so one truck at the front with a driver and the rest follow with no driver. Reducing drag and saving energy.

Can't wait hear more.

They seem to be working on cars or taxis or trucks.

I await a awesome self-drive van.

 

[One Day]

The proposals are to have battery swap-out stations where the vehicle simply swaps batteries rather than waiting ages for a recharge. If the battery technology and infrastructure improves, then it's definitely the way ahead.

(Now if only they actually used Nikola Tesla's technology instead of just his name!)

 

[Dan]

Makes sense.


.... The battery swap out not the name usage lol

 

[Andy Allen]

Always wondered with all the moving parts on a vehicle why can't they recharge a battery as your going along..?

 

[Dumbo]

As @impish I think the main thing is the next jump in battery technology. The guy who invented the lithium ion battery has invented a new one which is glass sodium . The only down side is he invented lithium ion in the late 70s I believe . Let's hope they fast track this one as I believe the only thing holding electrical vehicles back is range and recharge time

 

[Dumbo]

Not sure which forum it was on or if they still post but years ago I remember a member with a fully electric van.

Wonder if they're still rocking one.

Would love a Tesla van if I was in a trade. Could probably whistle it over with the heavy tools or tiles lol

tesla semi - Google Search - https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=tesla+semi&oq=tesla+semi&aqs=chrome..69i57.12259j0j4&client=ms-android-motorola&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#xxri=12

The Tesla semi truck can apparently 'road train' so one truck at the front with a driver and the rest follow with no driver. Reducing drag and saving energy.

Can't wait hear more.

They seem to be working on cars or taxis or trucks.

I await a awesome self-drive van.

Don't like the idea of road trains imagine trying to get on or off a motorway and being blocked by a load of lorries .

 

[GoneGuy]

Electric vans are a good idea. Mainly for big cities as where I live there are plenty of hills and mountains which would reduce the range of the van.

 

[Wishiwasatoptiler]

Its really the range of miles that stops them been of use at the mo, Nissan do a little eletric van, ND200, I've seen kicking around when I'm down in Newcastle but for me its 80 + return trip just to get to CTD, factor in a few other stops and your easily beyond 100 miles, so how would the electric vehicle get on with its weight and then the return in mileage from the weight. I also wonder what the impact will be on the cost of diesel/petrol when the electric car becomes more common and reduces the amount of fuel used, surely the cost of petrol will go quickly, hitting the van/truck drivers hard.

 

[Dan]

Always wondered with all the moving parts on a vehicle why can't they recharge a battery as your going along..?

Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

So you'd use the same energy you'd gain.

KERS on F1 cars are the nearest to that. When braking (so when they want to lose energy) they use the kinetic energy to charge a battery they can use for overtaking etc

 

[Andy Allen]

Hark at you... ... Mr physics...

 

[Deleted member 49260]

KERS on F1 cars are the nearest to that. When braking (so when they want to lose energy) they use the kinetic energy to charge a battery they can use for overtaking etc

Oh God that's another hour of my life lost on wiki - I've lost days on just tiling info....

 

[ATZ Tiling]

We work in rural Scotland, where you need distance between refuelling. They don't recommend charging from a generator so not handy. Sparkies who work with us have them and bugger off regularly to charge their vans, often 2 hrs at a time. Bit of a pain in the rear. Plus they can't get paid for time lost, surely? Hybrids seem more likely for me.