@BrianK

The family wouldn't fit in a car aimed for commuters anyway.

Unless we're talking "micro family" here?

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This weeks pet peeve:
Using "voltage" instead of "potential", which leads to inventing new words like "amperage" instead of "current" (I, measured in A) or possible "charge" (amperehours, Ah or Coulomb, C). Sometimes I don't even know what people mean.

@vortexau

Quote:

Well, just for YOU - I have performed an exhaustive search and have found an Electric Car that doesn't run from its internal battries:

Thanks! That must have been extreamly exhaustive search.

One thing I thought was kind of cool was a conveyor belt type thing with slow lanes on the outside and faster lanes on the inside. So you step on at 5 mph and progress to progressivly faster lanes until you are actually going pretty fast. I read about this in a Hienlen story which also pointed out the down side to it. Maintenance.

@simplex

It takes 4 hours to refill your car in your garage, while you are sleeping, with the enclosed air compressor. You can also refill it in an "air station" in 3 minutes. It takes more time to refill your tires...

More info...

Saluditos,

Ferrán

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Amiga user since 1988
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@simplex

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I've read about those hydrogen combustion engines, but where's the beef? I'm waiting and waiting, but there's no product available! If all you did was put a hydrogen pump at every Ford dealer, you'd be set, and you'd have a guaranteed income from Ford buyers

It's a bit more complex then a hydrogen pump at every Ford dealer. You need to create the infrastructure to break water into it's core components along with a method of distribution to get the Hydrogen to each site. Honda has some trials with it's FCX Fuel Cell Car in California that uses Hydrogen. They provide a solar station to create the power to break the water but currently these stations provide about 16 liters per day of Hydrogen -- definitely not enough for the average US consumer.

Additionally, Ford's P2000 internal combustion engine has an efficency rating equivalent to a diesel. I know we're talking about getting rid of foreign oil but diesel improves mileage @ 30% over gas and there's already distribution and production methods in place. Diesel will reduce foreign oil consumption, compared to gas, and be a less radical shift then hydrogen. Once again you can run those diesel engines with parital vegetable oil or all vegetable oil instead. I think in the near term a shift to the 97% cleaner diesel, 2006 in the US, makes a good starting point. From there we can add on other fuels such as hydrogen. Hydrogen isn't ready now so diesel short term solution with hydrogen shift for the longer term.

I think something that's been left out of these discussions is using an alternative method of transportation. Roads are very expensive. The next logical use would be rail, but it seems US citizens want their independence and define the automobile as an extension of themselves and a way to leverage independence. However, an alternative rail construction such as removing the idea of a centralized node to a decentralized nodal system would make more sense. PRT, Personalized Rapid Transport, seems to be an interesting idea. Those interested look at http://www.skywebexpress.com/ .. this system uses electricity which we could generate by a variety of means.

@BrianK

There's an interesting process just ramping up called "thermal depolymerization" that can (they say) break down any waste product into base minerals and what's essentially diesel oil. The pilot plant processes the turkey waste from the ConAgra Butterball plant into 500-700 barrels of oil per day. It's 85% efficient, meaning only 15% of the resulting fuel is needed to drive the process. Not bad, considering the stuff has to be dealt with anyway. Unlike petro-based diesel, there's no sulfur in it. The company claims the process can be 'tuned' to handle many different waste streams... old tires, tired peecees, sewage.... AOL CDROMS....

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It's got 32 bits and it uses them all. It's overclocked, watch the bouncing ball!

Quote:

by peggus on 14-Aug-2004 16:49:23 @Intuitioned Quote: Intuitioned wrote: @ihatewestlife2002 ... Electric transportation is all very well but largely the electricity comes from power stations burning fossil fuels, or even nuclear, so where is the advantage. Well, in therory at least it's a lot easier to clean a few centralized powerstations than many million mobile ones. You can keep the city cores clean since most powerstations are outside cities. Plus you don't have to transport large amounts of fuel to gas stations in polluting trucks. In practice though, todays batteries can have just as much of an environmental impact…

Nuclear energy is cleaner than fossil fuels but has its own challenges and risks associated with waste disposal. Battery technology also needs improvement for electric transportation's environmental benefits to be maximized.

Quote:

by vortexau on 26-Aug-2004 12:22:55 @nzv58l Quote: nzv58l wrote: @vortexau Quote: Reva in India is set to market their electric car that costs 0.85 US cents per km on the road. That car looks like a real chick magnet! Can you picture it cruisin down woodward next to Mustang's, Cuda's and Corvette's. . . . . . . . . I consider it a drag buying one battery at 60 bucks let alone 8 batteries at possibly more! I don't think electric cars with current technology is to be a good replacement for gas. Performance is not good enough and batteries are heavy, dangerous and wear out. Well, just for YOU - I have performed an exhaustive search and have found an Electric…

Reva Auto Rickshaw in India offers a different approach to electric vehicles by not relying on batteries. Instead, it uses human power as the primary source of energy for transportation, which could be an interesting alternative viewpoint considering current battery concerns and costs. However, this option may appeal more to those seeking cost-effective personal mobility rather than conventional cars like Mustang's or Corvettes.