| |
|
|
Chevy Volt - 230 mpg Yeah right
It's 2030, 21 years from now - are some of us / most of us driving vehicles powered by electricity - I can see it.
This kind of thinking with our reluctance to move from fossil fuel will ensure the Europeans figure it all out and we are left to purchase either their technology or Arab oil. WE have to get going on this.
|
|
 Add Photo
Bookmarks: |
|
|
|
|
Chevy Volt - 230 mpg Yeah right
It may have changed, I know they are 'pending' approval in BC, and in Quebec I think there is a pilot project allowing them to be used in 'select urban areas' and (I think) only on streets with a 50 km/h (35mph) or less speed limit.
The vehicle itself is electronically limited to a maximum of 40 km/h (25 mph) anyways.
The reality of it is, vehicles like the diesel Smart have an overall cost per mile of travel that is lower than the electrics. The batteries are the stumbling block as Ken pointed out.
Personally, I think you will see CNG (compressed natural gas) as a common fuel long before electric.
Best of luck.
|
|
Add Photo
Bookmarks: |
|
|
|
|
Chevy Volt - 230 mpg Yeah right
|
Quote:
|
It's 2030, 21 years from now - are some of us / most of us driving vehicles powered by electricity - I can see it.This kind of thinking with our reluctance to move from fossil fuel will ensure the Europeans figure it all out and we are left to purchase either their technology or Arab oil. WE have to get going on this.
|
|
Hey, I like the idea of electric cars, they can be very fast 
But for those to work in any quantity we need to vastly increase generating capacity and the environmentalists pretty much have us hamstrung in that regard. California hasn't built any generating capacity in decades and instead steals it from the Pacific NW via the BPA and an effective beltway lobbying machine. Even socialist France gets most of their power from nukes and we can't even reprocess the fuel here. Then there is the problem that battery technology is nowhere near good enough to replace the internal combustion engine.
Since we can't seem to get those things fixed it seems that biodiesel is the most realistic alternative.
Instead of realistic solutions we throw money at stupid projects as political payola. Here they are building a $20 million solar generating facility that is expected to produce $5 million of electricity over its entire life. Yeah, that makes sense in a governmental sort of way.
|
|
Add Photo
Bookmarks: |
|
|
|
|
Chevy Volt - 230 mpg Yeah right
IMHO biodiesel will be the same boondoggle that Ethanol is today.
Instead of using common-sense sources the Goober-mint will buckle to political lobby pressure and continue to allow the use (and domination of the industry) of Soybean oil.
Just like as has happened with corn and Ethanol, so too will the soybean / biodiesel situation cause global price spikes and waste of valuable crops and land.
Oh well.
Best of luck.
|
|
Add Photo
Bookmarks: |
|
|
|
|
Chevy Volt - 230 mpg Yeah right
OK Murf, you and your engineer buddys have overlooked one of the most basic ways to power anything."Rubber Bands". Any of you Geezers or Geezerets my age remember buying the model airplane kit at the five and dime for fifty cents that were powwered by a rubber band. Easy to recycle, could be rewound by a squirrel in a cage running all night to wind it up for you. Get with it guy.
|
|
Add Photo
Bookmarks: |
|
|
|
|
Chevy Volt - 230 mpg Yeah right
|
Quote:
|
OK Murf, you and your engineer buddys have overlooked one of the most basic ways to power anything."Rubber Bands". Any of you Geezers or Geezerets my age remember buying the model airplane kit at the five and dime for fifty cents that were powwered by a rubber band. Easy to recycle, could be rewound by a squirrel in a cage running all night to wind it up for you. Get with it guy.
|
|
The modern incarnation of rubber bands is flywheels. There are prototype cars running on flywheels which can store surprising amounts of energy.
|
|
Add Photo
Bookmarks: |
|
|
|
|
Chevy Volt - 230 mpg Yeah right
Kenny there is work under way to use microwaves beamed from space. How it gets turned into power I'm not sure--steam, possibly.
No one in the posts that I saw has mentioned regenerative braking--I hear but know if that's part of the factors of the Volt getting great MPG.
In another life, back in '93 the company I worked for was engineering and building battery trays for experimental electric Ford Rangers. These trays were massive--made to fit between the frame rails and about 8-10 feet long and 1 foot deep. I believe they were made of a carbon fiber composite and seemed like they were about a 1/2" thick. Ford nixed the project early on.
|
|
Add Photo
Bookmarks: |
|
|
|
|
Chevy Volt - 230 mpg Yeah right
Frank, you made my day buddy!!! 
Actually UPS (the people with the brown trucks  ) have spent a bunch of money to develop a very high tech 'rubber band'.
When the driver steps on the 'brakes' a hydraulic pump/motor connected to the drive line creates load by charging what is basically a huge pair of scuba tanks beneath the truck. Then when the driver needs to pull away from a stop, the charged tank then creates pressure that spins the pump/motor making the truck pull away and start rolling.
UPS feels that between the savings in brakes and fuel (the new trucks will have much smaller engines since they will be needed for 'cruise' only, not acceleration) on a fleet of their size it's worth the money in R & D.
Best of luck.
|
|
Add Photo
Bookmarks: |
|
|
|
|
Chevy Volt - 230 mpg Yeah right
And then there is the ROAD TAX issue in all this conversation. So with the electric car there is no way to tax it's fuel so they now must have the system some in the current Fed Admin want to track all driving for each vechile. So how do you say big brother is watching you more and more and well what does it matter, he will be living with us by then.
I believe we need to just go back to horses and mules. They generate heat (will leave it to greater minds to heat the cabin with it), they can mow your yard so no energy wasted to do that. Oh, they produce pollution also!! But look one of those is fertlizer to grow the grass to power them to produce more fertlier to grow more grass. Puts a new twist on one of my favorite TV shows..."Ice Road Mule Skinners".
|
|
Add Photo
Bookmarks: |
|
|
|
|
Chevy Volt - 230 mpg Yeah right
I'm betting the number crunchers are already at work figuring out a way to tax the Volt and the air powered UPS trucks. So in the real world even if the UPS trucks pay less road tax they will pass on to the consumer the cost of however the tax people decide to ream it out of them to make up the difference?
Now road tax on a horse, say 50 cents a bushel for their oats? Their has to be some government official in charge of this issue.
|
|
Add Photo
Bookmarks: |
|
|
|
Gas Generator Weather Protecti
08-13-2009, 11:53 
Pics
Reply
Digg It 
Del.icio.us 
