Both are good answers except the second sentence of the first answer is flawed. True the voltage is zero, but the energy is stored in the speed of the electrons in the loop, otherwise we could not extract energy from a super conductor loop. If you don't extract energy from the loop the electrons would circulate very long time: Not forever, as nearby objects extract minute amounts of energy from the super conducting loop in spite of efforts to minimize this extraction.
Current technology allows only modest amounts of current to be stored in the super conducting loop, so batteries are likely better by both weight and volume. In the near future super conducting loops may be better than batteries for quick spurts of energy, for dynamic breaking, for long shelf life, and for number of charge, recharge cycles. Yes room temperature will be an important improvement, but not an infinite improvement. Neil
If Room Temperature Superconductors Are Discovered, Could This Allow for Electric Cars to Run "forever"?
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NO. A super conductor will pass current in a loop forever, true, but if you try to draw power from it, it will quickly go down to zero. The energy in a superconducting loop is zero, since there is current, but no voltage, and power is the product of the two, which equals zero.
No. It would eliminate the power wasted to "IR" (~wiring) losses, but energy is used to raise the car up hills and to move it through the air. The energy to raise the car may be recovered when it comes back down but losses to friction with the air and road are converted to heat and are not recoverable.
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