Electric cars. Compared to our gasoline-chugging autos, they’re like a piece of the future set in the present day. Of course, they don’t have a lot to do with industrial power generation, but they’re related to many of the challenges facing industrial power generation.
Here are a couple of electric car stories.
Out in Israel, a company called Better Place is setting up batter swap stations for electric cars. Normally, you need to plug in your electric car, to charge it. However, charging a car is a slow proposition. The ability to get powered back up in a matter of minutes is a game changer when it comes to electric automobiles. No longer limited to a few hundred miles range, nor tied to a ten hour charging process, electric cars could really take off in Israel.
In other international electric car news, the first fuel cell-powered cabs are taking to the streets in London. It’s not a new thing for cars like Priuses to be employed as cabs, but these fuel cell cars are a more advanced technology. Add that to the cache of London’s distinctive black cabs, and you’ve got a stylish, power-saving way to get around London. Intelligent Energy, the company behind London’s new fuel cell black cabs, hopes to have a fleet of them ready by London’s 2012 Olympic games.
