... While 4.5 hours is much better than 3.5 days, it's still a considerable amount of time. Mind you, the majority of folks commute to work and around town so less than 50 miles. Plug in every second night or so... no issue...
Absolutely. Daily commutes are aimed right in the electric car's wheelhouse. But a lot of folks still take long driving trips, which means they'd still have to keep a vehicle with an internal combustion engine for those trips. And for those who can only afford to buy/keep one vehicle, the initial and recurring costs connected to the electric car -- along with the inability to use it on long trips -- would dictate that single-vehicle families would still go with a vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine.
... The other alternative would be to have hot swappable batteries so the service station could recharge at their leisure and still get the electric cars in & out within minutes much like a gasoline refill...
That's an intriguing thought. But it would probably require electric cars to use standardized battery packs that are easily accessible and potentially removable by the owner/operator. The current weight and installation locations of the battery packs make the latter criteria challenging to say the least; and since the final form of the technology still somewhat sketchy, it will be difficult to standardize the packs until that become more clear. But your concept is certainly viable.
... It also depends on how heavy your foot is as well. My friend who has a Tesla found this out the hard way, much to his chagrin. He drove from Ottawa to Toronto (roughly 250 miles) but didn't quite make it...
Which presents another practical problem to owners of electric cars: In the [worst] case of fuel depletion in a remote location, owners of vehicles powered by an internal combustion engine need only walk to the nearest gas station with a gas can, then walk some fuel back to their vehicle so they can drive it back to the gas station. If an electric car is stranded remotely with a depleted battery, it will probably require a tow to get it somewhere where it can be recharged -- even if gas stations begin offering a charging row. Either that, or they (or tow trucks) have to carry around a portable generator to put enough 'juice' on the battery pack to get the car to a charging station...
... Indeed, hydrogen production is energy intensive to create. So long as a strategic reserve was created, the non-polluting energy sources (solar, wind, hydro) could be used in the production.
True. But as we've been discussing in other threads, those sources of power generation are less efficient and/or often criticized by the 'green' crowd for their other deleterious environmental effects (harmful to wildlife, etc.)...
It seems like the 'green' crowd only wants modern conveniences that run on happy thoughts and fairy dust...
While the only cars i would even consider in that area are the Tesla's or the I8, i am really on the fence, because as far as i have heard (and i am not really into the field) the batteries take oodles to make (resource wise; ie China, Canada, shipping etc) and are a pain to get rid of when done.. Haven't delved into it, but that kinda sways this for me, though i still find it fascinating..
Well, that's really the problem with the marketing of these vehicles as 'green:' unlike you, few seem to explore past the surface claims of "zero-emissions." The power that charges the batteries is generated somewhere, usually (in this country, at least) by coal-fired plants. The technology is still costly, both to produce, maintain, and repair; and it doesn't deliver the all-around performance/convenience of the existing technology (i.e., the internal combustion engine). Battery disposal is an issue that doesn't seem to have been fully addressed.
All things considered, it may be (pardon the pun) a bridge too far for electric cars to replace the internal combustion engine...