> I have no doubt that battery technology will continue to improve ...

The limit for lithium chemistries is ~2-3X beyond what we have today, maybe. Alternative battery chemistries all have serious limitations for automotive use.

> about 250 miles that Tesla will do on that battery ...

Only on optimum days. There is also the matter of cold weather performance ... you’ll lose ~45% of range in cold weather states.

The Bolt is rated at 238 miles. I have achieved 236 miles, but had to limit my speed mostly to 45-60 MPH on long uninterrupted runs ... and leave the windows cracked and the AC off on days with the OAT in the high 80’s. Unpleasant. I am convinced that it will do 238 or more, but for the last 15 miles, the alarms are quite persistent ... and requiring a flatbed to get back to homeplate ... would get my name on the Wall of Shame. I have also done a 314 mile all-expressway drive in a Tesla S, but it was necessary to limit my speed and keep the AC off. If I had kept up with left lane runners, I would have arrived at the destination on a flatbed.

I would consider owning a BEV as a 2nd car to use as a metro runabout.

Can you explain some more. My knowledge on battery recycling is rather poor. I know there is a lot of theory around it, but wondering about the practical aspects.

Tim

Somewhere also there is one of those electrical generation facilities making the energy, and that being carried through miles of wire to make the electric energy to be stored in that battery.
Maybe coal, nuclear, hydroelectric, or alternative- wind generation. But i wonder how much does it actually cost to recharge a battery.
And i don’t understand how the electric car pays fuel tax. Every gallon of fuel that I buy has state, federal and local taxes to help subsidize the transit system.
How does the electric vechicle contribute?

Electric is totally the way to go for cars. It's a game changer. For airplanes, it's not there yet.

Kudos to Piper. The twin is not dead yet. Maybe Piper some day will lead the twin charge with a twin electric (no pun intended). But until electric catches up... go Piper

Varies by state. Michigan increases the annual registration/tag fees depending upon whether HEV, PHEV or BEV.

They don't really. And it doesn't really matter at the moment. Eventually the tax system will change. In New Zealand (at least 20 years ago) diesel cars were taxed by odometer. I think the idea was to avoid the on-road/offroad taxed/untaxed fuel.

Gasoline has about 46MJ/kg energy density.
A really good Lipo has about 0.5 MJ/kg with laboratory best < 1Mj/kg

Gas engine is <25% efficient from Gas to tires...

Electric car is probably 80% from battery to tires...

Electric car reclaims energy when braking, gas car dissipates it....
(This does not apply to airplanes)


So assuming that your aircraft gas engine is 20% efficient, and the electric airplane motor is 90% efficient...

Then 1Kg of gas provides 9.2Mj of energy to the prop shaft.

1Kg of LIPO provides 0.45Mj
So for the same range one has to carry 20 times as many pounds of Lipo.....


(This assumes that the weight does not effect range, in a car a valid assumption because you reclaim the acceleration energy in braking, not true for an airplane, so an airplane will be woorse than this)

I want to see an electric airplane design with a "range extender". Give it 1 hour of battery and some sort of Gas/Diesel engine to re charge the batteries. This would give the reliability and efficiency benefits of electricity. And it would reduce cost by allowing the gas/Diesel engine to be very basic, and even less reliable, since it the engine craps out, you still have an hour of battery to find place to land.

When I can run my Bonanza for 1100 miles on an electric motor with all the stuff SWMBO wants to carry and can recharge it in .5 hour, give me a call.

Otherwise, meh.

Don't get me wrong, I am excited by the technology.

I love electric motors. They are the berries given unlimited juice.

But my money is elsewhere. For now.