Study shows electric vehicles could be charged on the go via peer-to-peer system
Every day, Americans see more battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) on the road. According to Fortune Business Insights, the market for electric vehicles in the U.S. is expected to grow from $28.24 billion in 2021 to $137.43 billion in 2028. [...]
However, one drawback has made some consumers wary of purchasing a BEV — limited range. Unlike those plentiful gas stations, charging stations for EVs still can be few and far in between, and recharging a BEV's lithium-ion battery might take hours, making EVs impractical for some long-range road trips.
Now, a researcher at the University of Kansas School of Engineering has co-written a study in Scientific Reports proposing a peer-to-peer system for BEVs to share charge among each other while driving down the road by being matched-up with a cloud-based control system.
[...] A cloud-based system would match the two BEVs in the same vicinity, likely along major interstates. Like bicyclists in a Peloton, the two matched cars could travel close together, sharing charge en route with no need to stop for hours at a charging station. The cars would drive at the same locked speed while charging cables would link the vehicles automatically.
[...] "We'd have a complete cloud-based framework that analyzes the charging state of all participating vehicles in the network, and based on that the cloud tells you, 'Hey, you can actually pair up with this car which is nearby and share charge,'" Hoque said. "All of this has to be controlled by cloud infrastructure, which has algorithms to efficiently charge all the different BEVs."
[...] Hoque said the initial setup of a peer-to-peer charging infrastructure likely would require support from a major manufacturer of BEVs but then could expand organically.
"People who have electric vehicles will have this incentive of selling charge and earning extra money — these two things will work in parallel to grow this idea," he said.
Journal Reference:
Prabuddha Chakraborty, Robert Parker, Tamzidul Hoque, et al. Addressing the range anxiety of battery electric vehicles with charging en route [open]. Sci Rep 12, 5588 (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-08942-2
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Immerman on Thursday June 23 2022, @10:51PM (1 child)
Of course, a taller vehicle = more wind resistance = lower efficiency - so you might need most of those expansion batteries just to have the same range as a shorter car.
Some sort of modular battery system could be handy - but personally I'd want that space available for cargo when not using the battery. I'm kinda fond of something in the trunk, etc. that works with batteries that are small enough to be swapped by a person - if you need heavy equipment to move a battery that fills the space under the rear seats it makes everything far more complicated and expensive.
I like something like a mini server rack that takes pizza-box batteries - you could stick a few racks under seats, in the trunk, etc. Heck, if you're not doing frame-integral batteries you could make them all that type, and relatively easily swap them out as they wear. Ideally with a controller that can direct the majority of abuse to the most marginal batteries that will need to be replaced soon anyway.
A trailer has much to recommend it though: You're most likely to need the extra range when you're on a road trip - for which you'll also likely want as much cargo capacity as possible, and really regret losing it to batteries. A trailer can add both. And of course it simplifies fuel-based power as well, which generally has much less flexible shape constraints.
Of course the flip side is that many/most people are kinda incompetent at pulling trailers safely - and dragging what is basically a big bomb behind them through traffic might have... unintended consequences.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Thursday June 23 2022, @11:46PM
Nothing says it has to be an articulated trailer. Something that clamps to the back of the vehicle with a single central caster support wheel should be simple enough to maneuver, especially with backup cameras, and better aerodynamically too.
The problem is: it looks weird, and the majority of the buying market doesn't do weird. Politicians don't support weird. Weird needs protection from discrimination and new car designs making exestential threats on the establishment won't be getting that protection.
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