EVcast #79: Bo and Ryan Live from Cape Cod

Re: your predictions of where the EV market will be in 10 years -- "... rubbing the crystal ball ..." ??  I've never tried that before.  Maybe my predictions would work out better if I tried that.

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The Volt looks better than the Prius- and it is a car that is designed for the masses, not just the handful that want a sports car.  The Volt does not look like the Tesla, that's true- but it is not trying to be the Tesla.  It is a car that is being designed to be made in the 10's of thousands a week, not the 10's a week.

And this brings up the problem with all the smaller EV companies- all of whom I root for to succeed!  But, honestly,they simply will not have the money to bring more than a handful to market at a time, and not at a very good price- for that you need a large company with deep pockets and with the ability to mass-produce vehicles to bring down the cost.  Perhaps a couple of the smaller EV car companies will survive, with niche cars, or be bought out by a larger company- maybe one will make it all the way to become a major car company.  But the very good thing is that this will bring EV's into the public consciousness, and will help to push the larger car companies to begin producing EV's of their own.

More Crystal Ball time? 

I think the future for home energy generation is going to be primarily solar- however, what may be better is a home that has both- for the most part, the conditions that will deprive a house of solar power will be conditions conducive to wind power.  That said, we will still need reliable, grid connected utilities and/or an inexpensive means of energy storage (keep the fingers crossed for EESTOR or something similar).  Will that happen?  I'm afraid my own crystal ball starts to get cloudy here:-(

And guys- take a day off occassionally- you certainly deserve one for the excellent job, and great service, you do each podcast;-)

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A solar panel will never reach 100% efficiency.  If you had a 100% efficient pv panel and put it in space and touched it it would be at absolute zero.  The Johnson supersoaker guy claims to get 60% efficiency so I would put that at the max.   Hybrid panels exist today that get 15% electrical efficiency and 45% heat efficiency for 60% net.  If you touch a pv panel when it is 30 degrees in Los Angeles, the panel might be 90 degrees.  Thus a large array could heat and cool your home too.

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