Tesla with jet engines

[TigerRaptor]

It's like Nos for EV, and he tested this in rush hour traffic.

[Top Gun]

As if Teslas weren't doing just fine catching on fire as-is...

[Krom]

Not really, electric vehicles catching on fire is so rare it makes the news every time. ICE vehicles burn up at a much higher rate.

In 10-15 years it might be different, because most vehicle fires are from wear and tear on the 12v electrical system and few EVs are old enough to have developed issues like that yet.

https://insideevs.com/news/561549/study ... fire-risk/

[Isaac]

Not really, electric vehicles catching on fire is so rare it makes the news every time.

To be fair, Lithium has other problems that make a worse option that petroleum fueled cars. Yes fires are rare, but it's a fair point. I was hoping Sodium Ion would be a cheaper alternative, but I haven't seen it take off in the same way as lithium.

The electric car itself is so much more durable than a regular car. The only problem with them is how to power them.

[Tunnelcat]

Lithium prices have skyrocketed and lithium shortages are forecast by 2025. Some other technology will be needed for EV batteries going forward because what we have now is not sustainable long term. And a lot of EV buyers will get sticker shock when their batteries need replacement if they keep the car long enough for them to wear out.

https://apnews.com/article/technology-o ... 156dcc824f

[Krom]

To be fair, Lithium has other problems that make a worse option that petroleum fueled cars. Yes fires are rare, but it's a fair point. I was hoping Sodium Ion would be a cheaper alternative, but I haven't seen it take off in the same way as lithium.

The electric car itself is so much more durable than a regular car. The only problem with them is how to power them.

I think you are misunderstanding battery technology a little here. Any battery sufficiently energy dense to power an electric vehicle is going to be volatile and or explosive when mistreated. It doesn't matter the chemistry, once you pack that much energy into a small amount of material it is going to want to burn or explode when in an uncontrolled reaction. A completely stable and safe battery also wouldn't store any energy, the chemical reaction that makes a battery function requires highly reactive materials. Lithium wasn't chosen at random or by accident as the reactive material in high density energy applications, it had to be something that volatile and reactive to store as much energy in the first place.

A battery that doesn't contain something highly reactive would be like filling your ICE vehicle gas tank with water and expecting it to perform the same. Water doesn't burn, so it can't be used to fuel a common internal combustion engine. But you can make practically any ICE engine run off of natural gas, or LP, or ethanol, or alcohol, or any number of other liquids/gasses but they all must share the common property of being highly flammable and or explosive.

[Isaac]

Lithium prices have skyrocketed and lithium shortages are forecast by 2025. Some other technology will be needed for EV batteries going forward because what we have now is not sustainable long term. And a lot of EV buyers will get sticker shock when their batteries need replacement if they keep the car long enough for them to wear out.

https://apnews.com/article/technology-o ... 156dcc824f

That's the main reason I'm not buying an EV as my next vehicle. I liked used cars and used EVs have expensive replacement batteries.

To be fair, Lithium has other problems that make a worse option that petroleum fueled cars. Yes fires are rare, but it's a fair point. I was hoping Sodium Ion would be a cheaper alternative, but I haven't seen it take off in the same way as lithium.

The electric car itself is so much more durable than a regular car. The only problem with them is how to power them.

I think you are misunderstanding battery technology a little here. Any battery sufficiently energy dense to power an electric vehicle is going to be volatile and or explosive when mistreated. It doesn't matter the chemistry, once you pack that much energy into a small amount of material it is going to want to burn or explode when in an uncontrolled reaction. A completely stable and safe battery also wouldn't store any energy, the chemical reaction that makes a battery function requires highly reactive materials. Lithium wasn't chosen at random or by accident as the reactive material in high density energy applications, it had to be something that volatile and reactive to store as much energy in the first place.

A battery that doesn't contain something highly reactive would be like filling your ICE vehicle gas tank with water and expecting it to perform the same. Water doesn't burn, so it can't be used to fuel a common internal combustion engine. But you can make practically any ICE engine run off of natural gas, or LP, or ethanol, or alcohol, or any number of other liquids/gasses but they all must share the common property of being highly flammable and or explosive.

I'm no expert, but an atomic battery could be safe and powerful. I strongly believe the batteries of the future will be self charging, using a safe radio active source, something like tritium or thorium, but with a direct conversion from radioactivity to electricity for a faster conversion. I bet the power density question is met with higher radioactivity, but without being "volatile and or explosive when mistreated".

[Krom]

Nuclear diamond batteries are a thing, but their power output is basically only enough to run a wrist watch. I've seen a lot of crazy theories and battery types, but it all falls back on energy density. You can't stuff huge amounts of energy it into a compact thing like a battery and have it be completely stable, the physics of it just don't work. A vehicle has to carry an absolutely absurd amount of energy to be useful, and no gas or electric vehicle can do that in perfect safety. The more energy you carry, the worse things get when it is released all at once uncontrolled.

[Isaac]

It's not entirely fair to imply we have it figured out just because some atomic/nuclear batteries exist on the market. What we currently have are basically fancy solar cells pressed against a source that can emit gamma rays (the Diamond batteries) or photons. You could buy some tritium rods and some regular old solar cells and make something that works for 30 years, which sounds like a fun project.

What I mean is, even if you took a full sized uranium rod and pressed a gamma cell (is that the module?) or a solar cell against it, you’d probably not have enough power to light your house, because the method is kind of a hack. On the other hand nuclear fission requires a building, not something that fits in your car. That all being said, can you imagine a happy medium?

[Spidey]

I wonder if krom is going to return his Tesla now that Musk has come out as leaning to the right.

Of course there is always VW...LOL.

[vision]

...Tesla now that Musk...

Musk has really hurt the brand. It's really sad actually. While Tesla wasn't the only electric car out there they managed have enough models and enough features to make them stand out from the rest. And because electric cars are the future (whether anyone likes it or not), Tesla's PR helped an entire industry - enough that other manufacturers sold way more electric cars than Tesla ever could. Again this is a great thing. But now whenever someone looks at a Tesla all they are going to think is how the CEO is a weirdo man-baby. It happened to me today. just a few hours ago I saw a Tesla in my neighborhood (which isn't uncommon) and thought how gross it would be to drive one. However, what WAS uncommon is that the driver did a bunch of illegal ★■◆●, speeding, swerving around, and passing cars on a residential street right after school had just let out. It's burned into my brain. Are Tesla owners the new BMW dick-heads?

[Isaac]

...Tesla now that Musk...

While Tesla wasn't the only electric car out there they managed have enough models and enough features to make them stand out from the rest.

If waymo would sell me one of their self driving cars, I'd be in heaven. I'd buy it despite it being electric. An almost dependable self driving car? It destroys tesla's auto pilot.