Electric cars are the future
I was appalled to read the “Electric pitfalls” letter (Your Voice, Professional Engineering No 6, 2021) suggesting that we should stick to “clean and reliable diesel” cars for a while yet. What will it take to get people to really recognise the implications of climate change?
As a member of a past winning team of the Royal Academy of Engineering’s MacRobert Award, for me engineering is all about innovation and problem solving. Whilst I fully accept current electric cars have some limitations, they are at least a step in the right direction. We are unlikely to achieve a perfect EV solution in one step. Supporting incremental changes and developments towards better EVs and lower impacts on climate should be an objective for engineers.
If we all followed John Halstead’s suggestion, I fear we will never achieve any movement towards halting the devastating impact of climate change. In his letter he suggests that going to a meeting 200 miles away will mean sitting in a garage coffee shop for a couple of hours. Does he not realise that most of the latest EVs are already capable of much more than 200 miles without recharge. Indeed, the new Mercedes EQS has a range of up to 453 miles.
He seems unaware that fast recharging is now a reality, meaning that in some circumstances charging even a large 100+kWh battery to 80% capacity can take as little as 31 minutes with the right infrastructure. That could mean adding a further 350 miles of range in a 30-minute refreshment stop.
EVs have no flammable fuel to ignite in the event of an accident. Surely what we need is informed debate, innovative ideas and solutions to the problems, something engineers should be good at! There is certainly a need for a better charging infrastructure, but the incentive for this will come from more EV use. Many hotels/meeting venues already have EV chargers, and workplace charge points are to be encouraged.
Whilst I remain optimistic that innovative engineers will find even better charging solutions and better batteries/fuel cells etc, what we need right now is more support for the sector. The more people that buy EVs the better the commercial proposition will become, so I for one have my name down for a new EV.
The internal combustion engine may be ‘cheap’ to run today, but the more people stick to it the less likely there will even be a tomorrow! ‘Cheap’ perhaps but what a cost!
Dr Ray Bacon, Haslemere, West Sussex
Out of Africa: your chance to become a mentor
I am involved with a UK charity, Engineers for Change Sierra Leone (EfCSL). We work with the Sierra Leone Institution of Engineers (SLIE) and local academic institutions to build the capacity of engineering practice and policy in Sierra Leone.
This work aims to integrate, build on and improve the landscape for sustainable and resilient infrastructure to increase economic growth, reduce poverty and respond to climate change.
This is no small task in a country with limited resources but major steps are being made and Fourah Bay College in Freetown is now producing graduates, some of whose degrees have been accepted by IMechE as qualifying for incorporated engineer. This is a considerable achievement and in the next few months SLIE and EfCSL will launch a graduate development programme loosely based upon the IMechE’s SRS/MPDS model and aligned to UKSPEC4.
In the absence of a mature graduate development environment, it’s important that these graduates aren’t allowed to fall into a dark hole. We need mentors. Each developing engineer will have a local equivalent of the IMechE’s delegate mentor but we need mentors registered with IMechE to provide guidance from afar.
I mentor a developing engineer in Freetown and it is a real challenge but if you look at where Africa has been in the queue for Covid vaccines and you apply the same prioritisation to carbon-free technology you can see how important it is for the country to increase its self-sufficiency in engineering capability.
If you think you could lend a hand, please contact EfCSL via their website: engineersforchange-sl.org
Owen Davies, Ivybridge, Devon
Containers earn their keep
The urgent need to counter atmospheric CO2 could lead to all sorts of unexpected and often wacky ideas. Is this one?
Electric shipping containers: these would have suitably protected solar panels on top with substantial batteries in the base. Although their circuitry and technology can evolve, they would always have compatible intelligent connectivity. Normal stacking would complete their electrical connection. Exposed upper ends of such connections would need a design to automatically seal against wet weather.
Containers are scattered all over the world so their collective solar panel area will be significant even if only the top containers stacked on ships and docks would be exposed. On ships and lorries their batteries could contribute to electric drive systems.
Buried deep in dockyard stacks, their intelligent connectivity would allow all their batteries to contribute to national electricity storage capacity.
Denis W Oglesby, Bingley, West Yorkshire
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Content published by Professional Engineering does not necessarily represent the views of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.