[LINK] Standards, please! The third coming of electric vehicles

[David Boxall]

For mine, electric vehicles are neither the most practical, nor the 
least environmentally damaging option.

As far as my inexpert research can tell, the best batteries, under the 
best conditions, are 80 % efficient. That is, of the energy put in to 
charging a battery, 20% will not be delivered back. As a battery ages, 
its efficiency decreases. Under less than ideal conditions, efficiency 
declines.

Add to that, environmental impacts of battery production, use and 
recycling, the impacts of batteries that _aren't_ recycled, plus those 
of generating and reticulating electricity to charge them and the 
picture is far from rosy. We should learn the lessons of lead/acid; 
though the technologies may be different, I doubt the problems will be 
any less.

 From 
<http://theconversation.edu.au/standards-please-the-third-coming-of-electric-vehicles-6377>
> Electric vehicles (EVs) are not new. But recent developments could give them something of a boost in the eyes of the buying public. If so, it wouldn’t be the first time.
...
> Once again, the flames are being fanned by factors external to the industry: our focus on climate change, renewable energy and global resource shortages.
>
> The big difference, when compared with previous affairs, is the considerable advancement in battery technologies, in part due to mass production in other sectors.
> ...
> One big, and not-often-thought-about problem that must be resolved before EVs can begin to be sold in larger numbers is the issue of “standardisation” – simply, the process of developing and implementing agreed-upon technical standards that become the established norm across the EV industry.
...
One interesting comment:
> A grand total of 47 electric vehicles were sold in Australia in 2011, and in the US, they have 0.02% of the market.
> As well as "the initial cost of ownership and their shorter driving abilities", the other main issues are the long recharging time or logistics of battery swapping, and the realisation of many people that electric cars just move emissions from the engine back to the electricity generation site. These cars are almost certainly never going to be accepted in rural and regional areas for these practical reasons.
> Hybrid owners in the US, and probably in Australia, almost never buy another one, so overall the outlook is not promising.

-- 
David Boxall                         | "Cheer up" they said.
                                     | "Things could be worse."
http://david.boxall.id.au            | So I cheered up and,
                                     | Sure enough, things got worse.
                                     |              --Murphy's musing