…Redwood believes that by 2030, end-of-life batteries could supply more than 50 percent of the entire energy storage market. Instead of grinding up used batteries to reclaim the critical materials inside, put them to work storing electricity. There have been many experiments done that re-purpose used EV batteries which no longer can supply enough power to meet the need for rapid acceleration in an EV but still have up to 80 percent of their original energy storage capacity available…
…Traditional energy storage systems are high density and require heavy-duty cooling. To avoid this, Redwood’s team opted for an open-air, low-density system mounted on above-ground cable trays.
Spreading packs out in the open air helps avoid the need for active refrigeration, and stripping away moving parts like fans and filters minimizes potential reliability failures. Keeping the wiring above ground and limiting the size of each modular component minimizes the need for large equipment. As Sun explained, the result is a storage system that is faster to build, easier to inspect after storms, and cheaper to keep running over time…
Well you’re moving the goal posts, because this chain of comments is about “when the grid is built out more, EVs will be a viable option for more people.” So your “In today’s world” argument is irrelevant to the conversation.
Also, in today’s world, people are still capable of planning ahead to make sure they don’t run out of juice. You have to do the same with gas engines when you’re crossing the mid-west, where fuel points can be a hundred miles or more apart. People still run out of gas on their normal routes if they forget to pay attention.
EVs are currently used so sparsely that chances are the wait for a charging port is quicker than the line for gas at any highway rest stop. There’s no reason why the EV infrastructure can’t be built out more as adoption grows. It should already be being built out for future-proofing, but the fossil fuel lobby won’t stop crying about it because they don’t want people to consider EVs an option.
If you want to keep burning dead dinosaurs and accelerating global warming, no one’s stopping you. Just don’t force us to listen to you crying about it when gas is $10 a gallon and your pickup can only get you 5-10 mpg.
I wouldn’t mind living in your fantasy world, I do what I can to make it closer to reality, but of late that fantasy is slipping farther away not getting nearer. Yes, I can buy an EV today - no, I can’t really call it an economical replacement for a dead dino burner, not even at $5 per gallon - for our driving patterns.
This whole conversation is about it becoming more economical as the technology develops.
In the context of some places (cough, america) trashing initiatives related to EVs, your naysaying isn’t doing much to bring it closer to reality…