XPost: rec.arts.sf.written, rec.arts.sf.science   
   From: leszek.karlik@gmail.com   
      
   On Tue, 14 Jan 2014 16:33:46 +0100, Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)   
    wrote:   
      
   [...]   
   >> Luckily, electric vehicles are significantly less maintenance-intensive   
   >> than internal combustion vehicles.   
   >   
   > 	Unluckily, there aren't that many electric vehicles, their energy   
   > density is terrible (and thus their range sucks), and their refuelling   
   > time is generally ridiculous.   
      
   And we all know that SF is exactly like today, only with blasters ;-))   
      
   The problem with good electric cars today is that they're rather   
   expensive and there's no support network, but for a municipal self-driving   
   car/public transit hybrid system they should work rather well (because   
   they can self-drive themselves to a charging station). Also,   
   electric cars seem to be safer than internal combustion powered ones   
   (for example, Tesla S has the best NHTSA rating of any car tested).   
      
   > Also, much of the maintenance on vehicles isn't the engine -- those   
   > usuallyrun for a long time without  maintenance other than oil changes,   
   > whichare cheap; it's things like brakes, suspension, tires, etc., which   
   > arethere regardless of the  propulsion method.   
      
   Oil changes are cheap, but rather frequent, every few thousand miles, and   
   really, suspension maintenance is much less frequently performed than   
   things   
   like drive belts, fuel and air filters, valve clearances, coolant   
   replacement etc. I have internal combustion powered bikes and I do the   
   maintenance myself, so far no suspension work has been necessary ;-)   
      
   > We have a HUGE infrastructure dedicated to IC vehicles; changing over to   
   > all-electric would be ludicrously costly. Doing so when the vehicles   
   > themselves have very significant shortcomings when compared to the   
   > established vehicles is also extremely unlikely. Electric vehicles are   
   > popular among a small segment of the public right now, but something   
   > will have to change to make it a large segment.   
      
   I think what will happen is China. They don't have a HUGE infrastructure   
   of the US (nor even the PRETTY LARGE infrastructure of Europe), and   
   electric   
   scooters and electric/muscle power hybrid bicycles are already rather   
   popular there.   
      
   --   
   Leszek 'Leslie' Karlik   
   http://leslie.hell.pl/   
   NTV650 & ST995i   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)