Lately I have been thinking along the lines of weight efficiency. It would be a good idea to purchase your car with just the amount of capacity (assuming 80% losses) you will need for 80 percent of your driving (let's say you drive 40 miles to work and your company will provide a charging station - you should then select the 40 mile range option). Thinking along the lines of Project Better Place there would be a compartment for adding additional capacity - either rented, leased or purchased. If the industry came up with the equivalent standard of the AA battery (only larger) that was designed for automated swap-out then you could add just the right amount to make you comfortable. If you don't like to stop often and are not carrying any passengers you could cram every cavity with batteries. Your efficiency would not be as good (due to the weight) but at highway speeds with great tires weight is less of an issue than it is if you are changing speeds often. Thus, I feel that there should be flexibility in the amount of battery capacity you can carry. Also, if there was a standard battery size it would be easier for Project Better Place swap-out stations (or equivalent) to accommodate tiny cars and trucks without stocking many different sizes. If we start to think along these lines we will have the flexibility to upgrade when new technology comes out, be more weight efficient and can slowly wean ourselves from petroleum as more quick-charge stations or swap-out stations become available.
Perhaps we should be asking, "Ok we now use gas and eventually don't want to use any. It's impossible right now but won't be in the future. How can we transition as fast as possible without loosing functionality?"
