Old Content:
“Gas Stations” of the Future
May 26, 2009 by Kyle BradyTags: Batteries, Cars, Clean Travel, Electric Cars, Future, Tech
As required by the FTC, a Full Disclosure is available - this piece adheres to the Code of Ethics
Don't believe me? There's a video of a demo facility:
The discovery/release of this concept coincides with the passage of federal standards for higher gas mileage, because producing hydrogen-based vehicles is apparently too dangerous and full electric vehicles neither have a market nor can be cheaply produced... at least according to the oil-fed industries of the moment.
Of course, I don't buy it, because I'm too smart to be fed the company line, and the obvious next step is to question both the movement towards the future and the industry itself.
Future Gas Station
One of the many reactions to fully electric cars is "I have to ... plug it in?", which the auto industry obviously loves to hear - no matter how many miles you get per night of charging, the idea of running out of power mid-trip, without a quick recharge, is fearsome to many.
The result is the hybrid cars now on the roads, a combo electric-fuel engine, that uses the electric engine in manners ranging from under a certain velocity to all the time (using the fuel engine as a recharging system, as necessary). Imagine that these cars become immensely popular in the future... great, but we're still dependent on oil, and, by association, the Middle East and its lovely little cartel.
Having a "gas station" that will quickly swap out your entire battery assemblage provides the end-user with the immediacy of a modern tank fillup, without the need to have fuel involved whatsoever.
Hydrogen
Hydrogen should be a viable "alternative fuel" source for vehicles, since it produces no pollution as a byproduct of use, but the oil industry has successfully prevented its rise (so far). Hydrogen vehicles would require fillup stations much like the gasoline ones of today, but since hydrogen is more than abundant, the distributor would likely see very little profit... not to mention it's a naturally volatile gas.
If the past is any indication of the future, we should be expecting significant push-back from the oil industry for these "battery swap" stations, since they pose as much of a threat to their profits as hydrogen: anything that makes an alternative fuel attractive and easy to use is worrisome.
Federal Control
We have a hope, however. As anyone who paid attention to the media in the last few months knows, the Federal Government now has large stakes in the American "Big Three" auto makers, and has been exerting considerable influence. Within weeks of achieving this, higher standards for gas mileage were passed - who's to say the influence can't extend to "suggesting" a standard battery assembly on the undercarriage of the cars, and "suggesting" higher volumes of production, with more model options?
Combine these "suggestions" with some sort of incentive to companies and entrepreneurs to build these battery-swap stations, and there could be an all-electric revolution within a few short years. The technology exists for both the vehicles and the stations... they merely need to be joined together.
I would hope that the interests of the old world companies can be pushed aside (oil companies, fuel resellers, etc.) for the benefit of our future and continued innovation towards a "cleaner, better tomorrow".
Kyle can be found on Twitter and MySpace, or reached via email.
