I am 100% behind the electric car as our future, however, i dont see the current methods of energy storage being used.
Hydrogen fuel cells have looked like a good technology for years, but I still dont think its practical for vehicles. Its just not possible to store the required amount of hydrogen in a car. the fuel tank would have to withstand immense pressure, and we currently arent anywhere near the technology required to do this. When you add this to the fact that hydrogen is very expensive (in energy terms) to make, it doesnt look so reliable.
the new tech batteries, especially lithium based are looking very good in terms of energy density and size/weight. Lithium is definately a good power source for cars, but it does have some short comings, and the cost at the moment is prohibitive.
as for solar cells.... i would love to see us all in solar cell cars, with solar powered houses, etc. cell efficiency is only around 25% now, so theres definately much much more to come from them. however, i still dont think you'll ever be able to run a car purely on solar power. especially not with the uk weather
my money is on capacitors to be used for energy storage. They can charge in seconds, are very resistant to damage, delivery high currents and can be recharged an unlimited number of times. only problem is they have very low power density compared to normal batteries. the new ultra capacitors are much better, but still not enough. I am however, very hopefull about the technology
In my head, i see electric cars, with capacitors for energy storage. at home, you would have solar panels on your garage which would store the days solar energy, then use it to charge your car at night. fueling stations would be no more then electric sockets where you could plug in. these could be powered form the electricty grid, and be suplemented by solar panels.
having said all that, i could be totally wrong, and the future might be in biological batteries?
