Quote:
Originally Posted by neutron256
I don't think electric vehicles with long ranges like these will ever be mainstream. The batteries are heavy and expensive. And unlike many other technologies proliferation of these vehicles will only drive the cost up due to scarcity of key elements needed to make the batteries.
My personal opinion is the way of future green cars will be hydrogen. Used in combustion engines or fuel cells it's straightforward to produce, and zero emissions (other then water).
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If it's energy density you're worried about, then you should probably realize that hydrogen sucks in that department too because it has to be contained safely, and the fuel cells or other engine needed to convert hydrogen to mechanical power don't have much mass savings (if any at all) over cars now.
There is a lot of research going into batteries, and there are many proposed types of batteries that improve on energy density by several times, and batteries with increased durability as well. I don't know how much current gasoline powered drivetrains cost, but it is very possible that electric vehicles can become cost competitive in say 15 years.