Electric cars still a bit shite

from where?

Many people occasionally want a long range without stopping for hours to recharge an electric car (much faster charges are possible, but suitable charging points aren't common).

On the other hand many families have more than one car, and only need one of them to have a long range.

A French surrender.

That depends upon how many hours you want to spend on the road and whether you keep to speed limits.

Colin Bignell

Why not? Motorway hotels are reasonable when abroad.

Could do or as above. It depends on where one is.

The Natural Philosopher wrote: [snip]

I live close to the south coast, and in Italy. Italy is only less than a day's drive away in the sense that it takes 14 hours to get to the destination. In terms of what's sensible and safe it is two days away.

It's that last, I think Brian. Batteries that are run down to the limit don't have as long a life as hybrid batteries that are kept topped up.

But it costs a lot (of fuel) to haul that weight of fuel around.

You spend your holidays driving???? Boring.

No they don't. Speaking from your usual position of total ignorance again I see.

People will travel by train.

What aload of bollix. (Man invents atom bomb in garage syndrome.) Up there with cold fusion. You can tell he's mad by the picture offered of a weird looking car. The optimum shape for a car has long ago been arrived at.

And use some of it to get home? Not worth the effort.

The picture was a car produced by General Motors and shown at the Chicago Motor Show 2009 - not some mad person in a garage.

More usually a couple of days or so at each end than the whole holiday.

That rather depends upon where you are driving and what you see when you do.

Colin Bignell

Simple There will be a black box in every car soon recording every movement. The technology already exists.

But for now all they need is your odometer reading. Taken at every MOT and tax added to your MOT.

Yes harry, having to lug around 80kg of fuel is a real burden when compared to having to lug around 300-600kg of batteries in order to have half the range (at best) of a petrol car.

It's so the up front cost of the car is reduced. An inducement to buy.

You missed the bit about that being a Cadillac concept car and nothing to do with Charles Stevens?

Concept cars are usually strange looking. In practice, if anybody produces a thorium powered car, it will probably only be the badge that gives it away.

If it is a practical system, I would expect it to appear in military vehicles first. The military have large budgets and having vehicles with unlimited range would be a tremendous tactical advantage.

Colin Bignell