This is a great debate and one which many a good point has already been mentioned, one of which really intrests me........ Electric cars, bikes etc..... Colin, I half agree with you, I understand that people want electric cars that do decent distances on a single charge but it's not a breakthrough in battery technology that is preventing this happening it's the opposite!
Battery technology is being improved upon all the time. Imagine this, you buy a state of the art electric car, it does 300 km per charge and cost you 15000 pounds to buy. One year later technology has increased that range to 500 km but the new battery is incompatible with your present system, your 12 month old car would be almost worthless as everyone knows that another 12 months down the line there will be a new battery and better range. SO, what needs to be done is some sort of agreement on the battery size or size and shape throughout the industry so that any new technology can be fitted into any old car regardless of make.
When horses got replaced by internal combustion people must have laughed ha but we're do you buy this petrol stuff from? But even with the advances in technology it's still the same petrol you put into a Ferrari as you put into a ford pop!..... Ok give or take but you know what I'm saying. If I buy an electric car today that does 100 km on its present set up I want to know that the same car will be still usable in 10 or 20 years with its latest battery update. It may not be as good as a future car with the same battery (like comparing MPG on an Escort Mk1 with a modern day focus but at least they both run on modern fuels)
If manufacturers can't agree between themselves about battery specs then they will all end up with different size and shape batteries none of which will be transferable and all of which will be soon outdated. Unless you can afford to lose so much money who is going to do it?
I would love to buy a new electric car tomorrow but come 12months when the new batteries double the range and I can't sell mine for even half the price, or after 3 years it would be like being stuck with a 3 year old Ford Focus that does 8 mpg when the new one does 70.
So what do we think, battery size and shape agreements throughout the industry, or guaranteed buy back price on used vehicles by vendors?
Not a rant just a criticism of how things are being handled by manufacturers with modern technology. U2