Originally Posted by
goingbush
Interesting hypothetical, post by Chris Jones taken from AEVA.
Numerous studies have shown that in car-dominant countries like Australia, the UK and North America, over 95% of passenger vehicle trips are under 50 km. The driving range of most ICE vehicles is in excess of 350 km per fill, so all of these short daily trips can be done without the need to visit a filling station on the way.
As a thought exercise, let’s say all ICE vehicles in the world only had a 10 litre fuel tank, effectively limiting their range to about 100 km. However, let’s say there was a means to fully refuel the vehicle at home or at work without ever needing to visit a filling station – even better, the fuel is 1/3 the cost of what you would pay at a filling station. The catch it that it takes 8 hours to fill the tank because the flow of liquid fuel was limited to about 1 litre per hour. Considering the reduced cost of fuel and the convenience of unattended filling, most people will elect to fill up at home. Under these circumstances, the number of filling stations could be dropped from an estimated 100 million worldwide to just 5 million, or one for every 200 vehicles. These 5 million stations exist primarily to serve the needs of long distance travellers.
The above hypothetical highlights the significance of electric vehicles (EVs) and how they are set to disrupt the global transport energy market. Better grab that Chicko Roll while you're there!
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