electric car charger from Australian company - Bris to Syd in 3 20min stops.

[Sabantien]

Queensland company Tritium to revolutionise electric cars

A Queensland company has developed fast charging stations that will enable electric cars to travel from Brisbane to Sydney with only three 20-minute stops in between.

Tritium chief executive David Finn says his company's Veefil stations currently provide a 50km range for electric vehicles for every 10 minutes spent charging.

Dr Finn says Tritium will soon release an updated version that will triple that range for the same amount of charging time.

Given later model electric cars can travel 300km on a single charge, it will only take 20 minutes to fully charge them, he said.

"With appropriate fast-charge infrastructure, these electric vehicles will be able to drive from Brisbane to Sydney with only three stops of 20 minutes each," Dr Finn said.

He said although uptake was currently slow in Australia, hundreds of the charging stations had already been purchased in the US and Europe by large energy utilities, governments and carshare companies.

Dr Finn said it would cost between $4 and $8 to fully charge a car at Veefil stations.

Treasurer Curtis Pitt on Thursday announced Tritium was the first beneficiary of the government's Business Development Fund, receiving a $2.5 million investment, which was matched by the private sector.

"Let's be clear, Tritium have a very real chance of being a global leader on the global scene and that is exciting," he said.

Mr Pitt said the investment was more about supporting future jobs and innovation, rather than receiving a direct return.

"This Business Development Fund is government taking a risk, but one that is backed by people who have done their homework," he said.

The government's $40 million Business Development Fund invests from $125,000 up to $2.5 million alongside funding matched by the private sector to help innovators commercialise their ideas.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/tech...09-gpf9ed.html

[Sabantien]

This definitely makes electric viable for such trips. A couple 20 minute stops along the way is more than reasonable.

It would need to be rolled out well into the countryside too, not just between major cities. Honestly, other than the time I drove a car from Sydney to Brisbane, all my long distance trips are not to capital cities.

Great to see an Australian company making some inroads into the tech side of it. We may not produce cars, but there's other things we can do.

[malazn mafia]

Honda petrol generator, fitted to a light trailer. Happy days. Screw the greenies.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Still think a swap and go system is the answer.

Have 2-3 universal battery packs (bit like AAA, AA and C cells we use in smaller devices) and make them able to be changed over in under a minute and you are on your way.

Think about it - the charging station can have a base inventory of battery packs that are always on charge then once they are used and rotated by the time the first dead battery gets to the front of the line again it is charged and ready to go.

Won't take that much space and with automation and computer controlled swapping using sensors and robots (fitting in with the whole theme) it will not cost much to run once started.

It's all good and well that these super fast chargers take 20 min, but with each car needing a footprint of around 15sqm how much infrastructure / floor space is needed to have multiple cars sitting around charging?

'Swap and go-the way to go'..

Written and outhorised by I P Freely of the AC Drivers party Sydney.

[Sabantien]

Swap and go is an interesting idea, but how big are these batteries? What storage space would they need along with the robotics, and a team of engineers on site to keep the robots running. What modifications to pull them out of cars?

I figure this sort of tech is less around a recharge station in the city that's then going to need a large footprint because you're mostly recharging at home/work/in a carpark.

Most petrol stations along the major highways already take up a lot of room with a huge amount of carparks, and have plenty more space around them.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by Sabantien

Swap and go is an interesting idea, but how big are these batteries? What storage space would they need along with the robotics, and a team of engineers on site to keep the robots running. What modifications to pull them out of cars?

I figure this sort of tech is less around a recharge station in the city that's then going to need a large footprint because you're mostly recharging at home/work/in a carpark.

Most petrol stations along the major highways already take up a lot of room with a huge amount of carparks, and have plenty more space around them.

Battery size depends on the vehicle. As a wild guess a battery pack for a vehicle is probably 50% larger than the petrol tank for the same vehicle.

Storage space would take up probably the same space above ground as the space the several tanks take below ground.

Funny how I can buy an electronic device in Australia and be in Nepal and able to buy batteries to fit it. There is no reason why manufacturers can't agree on universal standard sizes and design around them.

The automation will cost a bit - but there is no reason to design cars to have a universal cradle that is accessible from under the car with reference points sensors read to calibrate the machines needed to do the swap.

This sounds very complicated and high tech - but if you see some of the modern warehousing and manufacturing facilities around you will see they are an almost person-less environment.

Yes, motorway petrol stations have heaps of room yet you can fill a car in around 2 minutes and pay at the pump.

What space would you need if all those same cars had to wait 20 minutes? Perhaps a 10fold increase in footprint? More??

[tranquilized]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

Still think a swap and go system is the answer.

Have 2-3 universal battery packs (bit like AAA, AA and C cells we use in smaller devices) and make them able to be changed over in under a minute and you are on your way.

Think about it - the charging station can have a base inventory of battery packs that are always on charge then once they are used and rotated by the time the first dead battery gets to the front of the line again it is charged and ready to go.

Won't take that much space and with automation and computer controlled swapping using sensors and robots (fitting in with the whole theme) it will not cost much to run once started.

It's all good and well that these super fast chargers take 20 min, but with each car needing a footprint of around 15sqm how much infrastructure / floor space is needed to have multiple cars sitting around charging?

'Swap and go-the way to go'..

Written and outhorised by I P Freely of the AC Drivers party Sydney.

Completely agree. There was a company called "A Better Place" working on exactly this system, but unfortunately they filed for bankruptcy.

The swap and go model has the added benefit of removing the cost of battery replacement from the car owners, which is a major concern for many people considering the huge cost involved. You just pay your monthly fee or a cost per changeover, and you're always good. Just like the BBQ gas swap and go situation - no more out of date bottles on the owners watch.

[Qwerty321]

Electric cars are all futuristic, and swap and go is a cool idea, but I highly doubt it'll ever happen. Ultimately our world is profit driven, and the route of least resistance will always be the chosen route. Why do you think Oil has lasted so long?

The fuel that'll follow petrol/diesel will almost definitely be biofuel or other synthetic forms of conventional gas. Yes it would be much better to change over to something revolutionary like Electric or Hydrogen, but the fact is that rolling out the infrastructure to the same level we have right now for conventional fuels will cost trillions and take an incredibly long time. We've already got such extensive infrastructure that we'll end up looking for something where we can make cheap, slight modifications to the current existing network and run it that way. Biofuel or Synthetic petrol is the natural and obvious solution. There's just not enough financial benefit to justify making all our current infrastructure obsolete and starting from scratch on a completely new system.

Ultimately, look forward to a future where the vast majority of cars on the road are still running internal combustion but much more efficiently and running off either low pollution or carbon neutral petrol-like alternatives that is either Biofuel (that'll be the transition fuel) or full on synthetically produced petrol and diesel. Synthetically producing them is quite possible and has been done successfully in labs, it's just a matter of technological advancements (and the pressure of rising petrol costs) to make it financially viable to do it on a large scale industrial level, which is quite frankly inevitable. Full electric vehicles will exist on a mass produced scale however, but they'll be on a "niche" market like our Performance Sedans are. The average Camry driving commuter will be puttering around in a sythetic petrol, possibly even plug in hybrid, 4 banger like they do today.

And us? Why we'll probably still be hooning around in V6 or V8 barges that drink synthetic fuel like there's no tomorrow. Not much change there really.

[Patty]

Swap and go is a great idea. But getting all the different manufacturers to agree on a design would be difficult. What if you were Tesla and you are working on a new battery design that is half the size and twice as powerful? They would have to lose their competitive edge to conform the market. Can't see that happening.

Plus a Tesla Model S P90D (incredibly fast but very large battery back) would take about 20 or so mins to sway all the batteries over anyway. The batteries are underneath the car so not easily accessible either.

Also how can the swap and go station guarantee the quality of the battery that they have just put into your car? A top of the range model S is $200k AUD.. Let's you as the owner drive into a swap and go and a faulty battery is installed, you drive away and said battery malfunctions and damages the car electrics. Not only are you stuck on the side of the road but your car is damaged and you are unsure who would foot the bill? Tesla? The swap and go station? too many variables I say.

[tranquilized]

Originally Posted by Patty

Swap and go is a great idea. But getting all the different manufacturers to agree on a design would be difficult. What if you were Tesla and you are working on a new battery design that is half the size and twice as powerful? They would have to lose their competitive edge to conform the market. Can't see that happening.

Plus a Tesla Model S P90D (incredibly fast but very large battery back) would take about 20 or so mins to sway all the batteries over anyway. The batteries are underneath the car so not easily accessible either.

Also how can the swap and go station guarantee the quality of the battery that they have just put into your car? A top of the range model S is $200k AUD.. Let's you as the owner drive into a swap and go and a faulty battery is installed, you drive away and said battery malfunctions and damages the car electrics. Not only are you stuck on the side of the road but your car is damaged and you are unsure who would foot the bill? Tesla? The swap and go station? too many variables I say.

Some good points there, I could imagine the high end stuff like Tesla's wouldn't be a part of the system, which in turn would undermine it, so yeah...

An interesting point though - Tesla have made all their technology patents public domain. Anyone can utilise Tesla's intellectual property and use it as they see fit. Musks logic was expressed in an analogy: if you're in a sinking ship with a whole bunch of people, and you manage to devise a new and effective bucket to remove the water, you're better off giving one to everyone cause you're all going down together. Or something like that...

[Sabantien]

Yes, motorway petrol stations have heaps of room yet you can fill a car in around 2 minutes and pay at the pump.

What space would you need if all those same cars had to wait 20 minutes? Perhaps a 10fold increase in footprint? More??

The same space they use for carparks for the people stopping to get some maccas. Swipe your credit card and plug in.

[Patty]

Originally Posted by Sabantien

The same space they use for carparks for the people stopping to get some maccas. Swipe your credit card and plug in.

Well a good solution would be to have fast charge stations setup at places where people are going to stop anyway ie Supermarkets, restaurants, airport, Shopping Centres.

[JC]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

Battery size depends on the vehicle. As a wild guess a battery pack for a vehicle is probably 50% larger than the petrol tank for the same vehicle.

Storage space would take up probably the same space above ground as the space the several tanks take below ground.

Funny how I can buy an electronic device in Australia and be in Nepal and able to buy batteries to fit it. There is no reason why manufacturers can't agree on universal standard sizes and design around them.

The automation will cost a bit - but there is no reason to design cars to have a universal cradle that is accessible from under the car with reference points sensors read to calibrate the machines needed to do the swap.

This sounds very complicated and high tech - but if you see some of the modern warehousing and manufacturing facilities around you will see they are an almost person-less environment.

Yes, motorway petrol stations have heaps of room yet you can fill a car in around 2 minutes and pay at the pump.

What space would you need if all those same cars had to wait 20 minutes? Perhaps a 10fold increase in footprint? More??

My understanding is that on the Tesla models, the whole chassis houses the batteries - there are something like 6000 AA sized batteries in the "battery pack". At this stage in battery size, charging is the ONLY answer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Model_S

[JC]

Originally Posted by Patty

Well a good solution would be to have fast charge stations setup at places where people are going to stop anyway ie Supermarkets, restaurants, airport, Shopping Centres.

A better solution would be to make the car's roof panels out of solar panels that recharge the batteries as you go - imagine that - a car with unlimited range during daylight hours, and one that will drive itself; you could do 1500km per day easily, and arrive relaxed and refreshed (assuming you can sleep in a car). With the leaps being made in solar power and batteries, I see this as a real possibility in 5 years or so.

[CoupeKing]

I caught the last part of a segment on CNN and some engineer was talking about charging pads. They were to be installed at intersections etc, and when you briefly drove over them or stopped on them, they would charge your car via wireless. They had one in a driveway and it charged the vehicle soon as it parked on it.

[Sabantien]

Originally Posted by Patty

Well a good solution would be to have fast charge stations setup at places where people are going to stop anyway ie Supermarkets, restaurants, airport, Shopping Centres.

That's starting to happen. I know a hotel that has them, there's a council parking lot in the city with them (and free parking in the cbd for electric cars), and definitely airport parking lots, etc would be a great idea.

But honestly, most of those places are around town where you just don't need to charge because you can charge at home (assuming you don't park on the street).

[nstg8a]

Originally Posted by JC

A better solution would be to make the car's roof panels out of solar panels that recharge the batteries as you go - imagine that - a car with unlimited range during daylight hours, and one that will drive itself; you could do 1500km per day easily, and arrive relaxed and refreshed (assuming you can sleep in a car). With the leaps being made in solar power and batteries, I see this as a real possibility in 5 years or so.

Prius already uses a roof mounted solar panel.

[tranquilized]

Originally Posted by nstg8a

Prius already uses a roof mounted solar panel.

90's era Mazda 929 did as well. Ran a ventilation fan and/or charged the battery.

True story!

[Cobra]

I was talking to a couple of students from Stanford University's Solar Car Program when they were here last year competing in the Darwin to Adelaide race. One of them said that in the future roads could have conductive strips installed under the surface and cars could then continually charge through magnetic induction.

[deesun]

Originally Posted by Patty

Well a good solution would be to have fast charge stations setup at places where people are going to stop anyway ie Supermarkets, restaurants, airport, Shopping Centres.

Every town has a Maccas. A Coles or Woolies, IGA, etc.

[drz250]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

Still think a swap and go system is the answer.

Have 2-3 universal battery packs (bit like AAA, AA and C cells we use in smaller devices) and make them able to be changed over in under a minute and you are on your way.

Think about it - the charging station can have a base inventory of battery packs that are always on charge then once they are used and rotated by the time the first dead battery gets to the front of the line again it is charged and ready to go.

Won't take that much space and with automation and computer controlled swapping using sensors and robots (fitting in with the whole theme) it will not cost much to run once started.

It's all good and well that these super fast chargers take 20 min, but with each car needing a footprint of around 15sqm how much infrastructure / floor space is needed to have multiple cars sitting around charging?

'Swap and go-the way to go'..

Written and outhorised by I P Freely of the AC Drivers party Sydney.

Just like swap and go LPG tanks for BBQs. I like the idea a lot but there would need to be some serious kind of testing equipment on site to ensure no dud cells get passed onto the next customer.

[JC]

Originally Posted by nstg8a

Prius already uses a roof mounted solar panel.

But only yields 200km range? I'm talking about drawing real power to power a Tesla to 4 sec 0-100, and give an unlimited (daytime) range. Not possible right now, but shouldn't be too far away.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by JC

But only yields 200km range? I'm talking about drawing real power to power a Tesla to 4 sec 0-100, and give an unlimited (daytime) range. Not possible right now, but shouldn't be too far away.

Look at what the universities are producing for the various solar challenges.

The best panels and the most advanced technology can power a single seat cockroach that weighs a a few hundred kg at best in ideal conditions.

Solar to run a car is ages away, unless you do lots of short trips with lots of idle charging time in between.

[Sabantien]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

Look at what the universities are producing for the various solar challenges.

The best panels and the most advanced technology can power a single seat cockroach that weighs a a few hundred kg at best in ideal conditions.

Solar to run a car is ages away, unless you do lots of short trips with lots of idle charging time in between.

Short trips to the shop and sitting in traffic? Park in an outdoor carpark? Great for city driving but maybe not long distance.

That said, it will probably be a multiple solution thing. Home charging. Parking in the sun. Parking stations along the highway and in carparks.

My car currently sits in the street all day and mostly driven on weekends. If it reduces how much I have to charge, great. If you own a house, supplement that with some panels at home.

[drz250]

Originally Posted by Sabantien

Short trips to the shop and sitting in traffic? Park in an outdoor carpark? Great for city driving but maybe not long distance.

That said, it will probably be a multiple solution thing. Home charging. Parking in the sun. Parking stations along the highway and in carparks.

My car currently sits in the street all day and mostly driven on weekends. If it reduces how much I have to charge, great. If you own a house, supplement that with some panels at home.

No! Your ideas have no merit whatsoever. How dare you maintain an open mind to the possibilities.

Back in your box. We like dead dinosaur around here.

[mik]

Dr Finn says it will cost 4 to 8 dollars to charge up with one of the wizz bang chargers ,
that is a bit like the government saying it will cost x amount of dollars to install the NBN , it will be just as good ...... and it will be installed on time !!! .
no doubt someone is going to say , they can use solar panels to offset the charging , yes they probably can , it still going to cost a lot of coin, and someone will want the money for the installation .

[nstg8a]

Originally Posted by tranquilized

90's era Mazda 929 did as well. Ran a ventilation fan and/or charged the battery.

True story!

Pretty sure that's all the Prius one does as well.

[GO FURTHER]

I can see the donut van of the future....

A semi-trailer, with generators on the back and multiple charging outlets for 20 cars.
Donuts and coffee upfront.
Parked in the middle of distant country towns ... Pull over, dunk your donuts for 20 minutes under gazebo and seats ... Drive away with both driver and Tesla recharged.

Anybody want to make their first million offering a McCharger franchise? ... "Dunk, charge and go"

[Sabantien]

Originally Posted by drz250

No! Your ideas have no merit whatsoever. How dare you maintain an open mind to the possibilities.

Back in your box. We like dead dinosaur around here.

Well they ARE delicious.

[Cobra]

Originally Posted by BAXRSIX

I can see the donut van of the future....

A semi-trailer, with generators on the back and multiple charging outlets for 20 cars.
Donuts and coffee upfront.
Parked in the middle of distant country towns ... Pull over, dunk your donuts for 20 minutes under gazebo and seats ... Drive away with both driver and Tesla recharged.

Anybody want to make their first million offering a McCharger franchise? ... "Dunk, charge and go"

I think that's a great idea! The irony is though, that your generators would all be internal cumbustion generators producing copious quantities od CO2 emissions.

Unless, of course these generators are somehow solar powered electric/turbine generators? But that becomes unviable if they're on the back of a semi. So... yeah, no easy solution!