Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
PUBLISHER'S LETTER
Leo Simpson, B.Bus.
Editor
Greg Swain, B.Sc.(Hons.)
Technical Staff
John Clarke, B.E.(Elec.)
Robert Flynn
Darren Yates
Reader Services
Ann Jenkinson
Advertising Manager
Paul Buchtmann (02) 979 5644
Mobile: (018) 28 5532
Regular Contributors
There's an electric vehicle in your future
Those who read Gerry Nolan's article on electric vehicles in last month's
issue may be forgiven for thinking that it would be the last article we would
have on that subject for some time. However, we expect that electric
vehicles will continue to become more topical in the future and we also
expect to have more practical articles on this subject.
In fact, this very month we have just such an article - the Battery Pacer
article beginning on page 24. Gerry Nolan foresaw in his February 1991
article that a battery capacity meter, a sort of electric charge gauge, would be
a reality in the near future. He could not have known, when he wrote those
words, just how near that would be. Already we have seen such a product
previewed (April 1991, page 81) and now we present a build-it-yourself
version, designed by contributor Dieter Kuenne. So the future draws closer.
A lot of people are quite sceptical about whether we will ever see electric
vehicles in large numbers on the roads. They cite the failure of electric
vehicles to be really practical in the past and they also point to the great load
that electric vehicles, if they were produced in large numbers, would place
on the nation's generating capacity. And they go on to point to the inevitable
greenhouse effect of the additional generating capacity that would be
required.
In fact, if electric vehicles did become very successful, we would be using
less energy than we are now and so the greenhouse effect would be less. We
would also be conserving precious petroleum reserves which will run out
long before the world's coal reserves. And we should not forget the considerable energy contribution that solar power could make to electric vehicles.
As time goes on, the arguments for electric vehicles will become ever more
compelling.
And lest I seem like an out-and-out protagonist for electric vehicles, we
should also not forget that conventional petrol-powered vehicles still have
considerable potential improvements in fuel economy. It seems entirely
possible that motor vehicles of the future could achieve fuel economy as
high as 3 litres/lO0km (100 mpg) or higher. Sound fantastic? It's not really.
Consider that large interstate semi-trailers already achieve 45 litres/lO0km
(6 mpg) or better and they're pulling 38 tonnes or more at over lO0km/h.
With that in mind, why couldn't a one tonne vehicle obtain fuel economy of
3 litres/100km?
Even sp, the chances are high that you will be driving an electric vehicle
in the future and that day may not be far off.
Leo Simpson
Brendan Akhurst
Jennifer Bonnitcha, B.A.
Garry Cratt, VK2YBX
John Hill
Jim Lawler, MTETIA
Bryan Maher, M.E., B.Sc.
Jim Yalden, VK2YGY
Bob Young
Photography
Stuart Bryce
Editorial Advisory Panel
Philip Watson, MIREE, VK2ZPW
Norman Marks
Steve Payor, B.Sc., B.E.
SILICON CHIP is published 12 times
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ISSN 1030-2662
JULY1991
3
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