Kannst du mir helfen?

As I stew in this warm pool of unemployment under a hot sun in the sagging, droopy diaper that is our sputtering economy, I'm finding that I am becoming increasingly interested in research, graduate school, and generally the development of new technology, particularly in the energy sector. This recently led me to consider the issue of individual vehicle transportation and what I believe to be a major roadblock preventing us from moving closer to widespread use of electrical vehicles- the limited storage and interchangeability of car batteries as well the lack of "gas station-style" infrastructure. As a result of this pondering, I have written a short article to serve as my view of the future for electrical vehicles if we can find a way to solve these problems.

Consider this:

You're driving your car along the highway and see that the battery's charge is getting low. You exit a few miles later and stop at the next service station. There, you show the attendant your "electrical car" driver's license and pay the $10 battery charge fee. The attendant pops your hood, disconnects the battery, takes it inside and replaces it with an identical, fully-charged battery. He reconnects the battery, closes the hood, and you're off again to sail down the highway.

Think about it: What if we had licenses to prove that you were the driver of a fully electrical vehicle. With this permit, and a small fee, you could go to the nearest charge station to replace your depleted battery with a fully-charged one. There is no hassle of finding a place to "plug in" your car (which would be a real headache for people who live in apartments) and no long waiting period while the battery recharges. Additionally, the small fee of replacing your battery is significantly less than you used to pay to refill your car's gas tank. All of this made possible by the development of the standard electrical car battery- interchangeable and identical for all electrical cars (somewhat like the batteries for our current gas vehicles, only capable of holding a significantly larger charge).

Granted, the development of this magical battery is definitely somewhere down the road. Right now, hybrid batteries are incredibly bulky, expensive, and you would never think about exchanging it on your own. Improved battery and electrical storage research is the key to really getting a system of electrical vehicles off the ground, which includes developing an infrastructure for electrical charge stations. Without significant advancements, however, electrical cars will likely remain nothing more than a fraction of all vehicles on the road.