Electric engines into our cars - will this be the future ?

[The German]

Today I saw a TV spot about a German corporation which build electric motors into classic cars. Here is their site:
- it´s the link with the translation to English by Google, so it might be not the best English but hope it´s good enough ... -

http://translate.google.de/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.classic-ecars.de%2F&sl=de&tl=en&hl=&ie=UTF-8

Will this be the future for our cars too some day ?

BTW: Perhaps this is a new business idea for someone in the US too ... !

[centurion 455 ragtop]

NEVER I'd rather be burning fossils fuels :) Cool site though.

[The German]

Currently it´s toooo expensive and the infrastucture for electic cars is not availiable. But guess in 10 or 15 years this could have changed a lot. Also the sound-engineers will have done their work to ensure that drivers and people around will hear a big 8-cylinder, not an electric motor. The power of electric motors in cars will be stronger than what we have today. All this without a huge transmission so that the cars will have less weight which will result in much better acceleration !

On the other hand the fuel price will rise higher and higher, so I guess several fossil fuel drivers of today will change to electric then - perhaps even we Centurion drivers ... .

BTW: They have the first dagsters running quarter-mile-races with electric motors ! :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LN2up5wJHzY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPKpf6QILjk&NR=1

What we could miss is working at real engines, feeling them working, smelling fuel and exhausts ... . To me it seems to be a similar step as coming from steam engines to diesel powered and electric locomotives. - So I´m with you, Rick, it probably would be hard for us to do this step.

[73 Centurion]

I think we will see hybrid kits first. Imagine replacing your transmission with one that has an electric motor inside. If you want to use the V8 everything is still in place. The trans could decide when electric power is called for. It would be like the current conversions to overdrive transmissions. Just add a power source and controller.

To me electric cars make sense. Think about the simplicity and reliability of anything with an electric motor. The maintenance drops to suspension and brakes. The problem has been and remains the battery technology. Batteries are receiving billions in development now, more than ever before. The weight to capacity ratio's are dropping, the recharge times are shortening and the current they can deliver is increasing.

The electronic controls are also advancing very quickly. The controls can make a big difference in how long a battery lasts. It also controls recapturing some electricity when you decelarate. Right now batteries can't absorb the energy quick enough for this to work well. New forms of capacitors are being made that can absorb energy quickly and then release it slowly to a battery. Capacitors could replace batteries if they can be made to hold a charge longer.

Gas engines are efficient on the highway and not so good around town. Electric motors are great around town but lack the long distance capability. Hybrids are a interim solution until the batteries can supply ranges similar to gas engines.

It will take a long time but the price of gas will continue to increase, the price and capabilities of electric systems will drop and we will eventually cross a threshold where the savings in gas will justify the cost.

Until then I'll keep my current hybrid that burns gas and rubber.

John

[The German]

Oh, seems as if you are close to that topic, John. I didn´t expect that someone knows so many details about this new developement of electric engines and all what is needed to optimize them. It will be interesting to watch how all this will change our automobile world soon.

Meanwhile we all will enjoy our "current hybrids which burn gas and rubber" ;) ... !