On Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:31:15 +0100, "Recliner"
wrote:

The Leaf has a claimed range of 100 miles, but most electric cars
achieve much less than the claimed range in normal driving. On a 240v
household supply, it will take eight hours to recharge, so for most
people, the maximum miles per day that they could do would be about 80,
and maybe less if they want to be sure of getting home (after all, you
can't just pop in for a fill-up when the red light comes on).

I've only once had a commute longer than that, though. and that was
135 miles round trip from Reading to Gosport, which is quite extreme.

The average UK commute is 8.5 miles or 45 minutes. Either would be
within the capabilities of most plug-in electric cars. I still think
that plug-in hybrids are likely to be more practical long-term and
it's not very likely (IMO) that alternatives to the internal
combustion engine will become widespread in this application, unless
something very spectacular happens in the hydrogen fuel cell market.
There is a large infrastructure for selling petrol to motorists and it
would need significant adaptation to support anything much else - look
how uncommon LPG stations are.

Guy
--
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"Nullius in Verba" - take no man's word for it.
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