A Car For the Future
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Agent
Member # 2210
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written Sunday, May 29 2005 08:22
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I found this to be very interesting. It is a concept diesel hybrid sedan. Because it is a diesel engine, it would also be able to run on b100-- 100% biodiesel. You could have a car with no reliance on oil, decent handling, and good milage. http://www.gm.com/company/gmability/adv_tech/100_news/astra_011005.html -------------------- Wasting your time and mine looking for a good laugh. Star Bright, Star Light, Oh I Wish I May, I Wish Might, Wish For One Star Tonight. Posts: 1084 | Registered: Thursday, November 7 2002 08:00 |
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Shaper
Member # 5450
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written Monday, May 30 2005 01:19
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Apparently Toyota are making a car that is similar to that. Should be interesting. -------------------- I'll put a Spring in your step. Polaris Posts: 2396 | Registered: Saturday, January 29 2005 08:00 |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 1546
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written Monday, May 30 2005 03:05
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Electric and Solar hybrid cars are far better, imo. They may still be expensive to build/buy, but they are incredibly efficient to run, with minimal greenhouse emissions and ongoing costs. Beats the crap out of any other kind of Green car, or Future car, or however you choose to categorise it. -------------------- A Sucaran Child is standing here. You say, "hello" The small child looks at Preserver Aldous wide-eyed and awed. Posts: 269 | Registered: Friday, July 19 2002 07:00 |
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Agent
Member # 2210
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written Monday, May 30 2005 04:03
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umm, this is a form of electric hybrid. the main difference is that it is not a gasoline hyrbid. I am interested in hybrids that run on a combination of electric and ethanol, or electric and biodiesel-- no gasoline. Pure solar cars are still not efficient enough. Of course this is my favorite alternative car. The air car. It runs on compressed air. A great idea. It is for real. http://www.theaircar.com/ [ Monday, May 30, 2005 04:09: Message edited by: I'll Steal Your Toast ] -------------------- Wasting your time and mine looking for a good laugh. Star Bright, Star Light, Oh I Wish I May, I Wish Might, Wish For One Star Tonight. Posts: 1084 | Registered: Thursday, November 7 2002 08:00 |
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...b10010b...
Member # 869
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written Monday, May 30 2005 04:50
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That's all well and good, but what happens when all the compressed air mines have been mined out? -------------------- My BoE Page Bandwagons are fun! Roots Hunted! Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00 |
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Agent
Member # 2210
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written Monday, May 30 2005 04:53
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Everyone will stop breathing and we will have nothing to worry about. :o That is interesting. My understanding is that it costs 1.5 euros to fill the tank with a 300 km range. There is not much electricity used in a tire pump at a refilling station. This is exactly what it says-- air. There is no combustion involved. The energy comes from compression. [ Monday, May 30, 2005 05:47: Message edited by: I'll Steal Your Toast ] -------------------- Wasting your time and mine looking for a good laugh. Star Bright, Star Light, Oh I Wish I May, I Wish Might, Wish For One Star Tonight. Posts: 1084 | Registered: Thursday, November 7 2002 08:00 |
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...b10010b...
Member # 869
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written Monday, May 30 2005 04:55
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The point I was trying to make was that compressed air cars have exactly the same problem as hydrogen cars: you need to input energy from another source to make the fuel. -------------------- My BoE Page Bandwagons are fun! Roots Hunted! Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00 |
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Apprentice
Member # 3347
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written Monday, May 30 2005 06:57
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A good point Thuryl... "The point I was trying to make was that compressed air cars have exactly the same problem as hydrogen cars: you need to input energy from another source to make the fuel." Ford is working on an internal combustion engine that uses fuel cell supplied with electricity generated by the internal combustion engine. What you wind up with is is a car that runs on water, and water is the only exhaust. So you get a win/win situation. One advantage to dry fuel cell storage is they don't loose energy in transportation. Over one third of electricity made in power plants is lost due to ineffeciences (sp) With the fuel cell canister systems, you make them at the power plant and carry to where you need the energy. -------------------- “Where did this apple come from?” --Alan Turing Posts: 49 | Registered: Wednesday, August 13 2003 07:00 |
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Agent
Member # 2210
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written Monday, May 30 2005 07:01
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The fuel is compressed air. It is the air you breathe. You don't need to process or make it. You need to take the air and put it into a tank so you can squirt it into the engine. The engine runs on compression, so it is not used up. It goes in one end becomes tightly compressed then goes out the other end. It is like the air rocket you had as a kid. You would pump the air into the rocket. Then as the rocket built up enough pressure you would release it and it would go up into the air. You could do it as many times as you wanted, the air would not run out. You are right, you don't get something for nothing. You need to use an electrical system to compress the air either as a plug in in a house, or to pressurize the air in the filling station. The question is how much electricity is used to pressurize the air. Because it is a standalone facility it would be possible to pressurize the air using solar electric panels or wind power. This is a catch which I did not find an answer for at the company web site. [ Monday, May 30, 2005 07:33: Message edited by: I'll Steal Your Toast ] -------------------- Wasting your time and mine looking for a good laugh. Star Bright, Star Light, Oh I Wish I May, I Wish Might, Wish For One Star Tonight. Posts: 1084 | Registered: Thursday, November 7 2002 08:00 |
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The Establishment
Member # 6
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written Monday, May 30 2005 07:12
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But where are you going to get the energy to compress the air? You don't get something for nothing. -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power!! Posts: 3726 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
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Apprentice
Member # 3347
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written Monday, May 30 2005 07:44
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Here are a few good links to companies that are doing fuel cell energy now, and a kit on building your own fc powered car. Fuel-Cell Vehicles http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_vehicles/advanced_vehicles/page.cfm?pageID=208 Ballard http://www.ballard.com/ FuelCell Energy look at those machines... http://www.fce.com/site/company/company.html Fuel Cell Bus at Georgetown Uni. http://fuelcellbus.georgetown.edu/ Build your own fuel cell car http://www.utoypia.com/fuelcellcar.php UTC Power http://www.utcfuelcells.com/utcpower/index.htm -------------------- “Where did this apple come from?” --Alan Turing Posts: 49 | Registered: Wednesday, August 13 2003 07:00 |
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Master
Member # 4614
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written Monday, May 30 2005 08:02
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And then there's hydrogen cars. But you need a good spark control system for those. -------------------- -ben4808 For those who love to spam: CSM Forums RIFQ Posts: 3360 | Registered: Friday, June 25 2004 07:00 |
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Agent
Member # 2210
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written Monday, May 30 2005 09:15
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Where the largest conversions to alternative fuel vehicles are is fleet vehicles. They go to a central location and refuel. There are 500 biodiesel fleets. I think there are heavy requirements for government fleets to convert to alternative fuel vehicles. There are numerous public vehicle fleets and government fleets that are electric and electric diesel. In public transportation where refuelling is centrally located and purchasing is on a large scale it is much easier to convert to alternative fuel vehicles. This also goes for for transportation companies where fleets are centrally located. With clean air requirements for long haul trucks and heavy equipment biodiesel will increase in use in the construction industry. There already is significant use of ethanol, biodiesel, electric vehicles, and electric diesel hybrids in fleet vehicles. This is not as visible to us because we think mainly of home transportation. By the way a great site if you are interested in news and investing in hydrogen is: http://www.h2fc.com -- Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Investor. Oh and this is really cool. I love it. The Indy 500 is going to be fueled by Ethanol starting next year. http://www.indy500.com/news/story.php?story_id=4105 This is a list of all the alternative fuel pumps available by type of fuel, Electric seems to be doing fantastic in California, E85 and biodiesel aren't doing too bad either. http://www.eere.energy.gov/afdc/infrastructure/station_counts.html [ Monday, May 30, 2005 17:10: Message edited by: I'll Steal Your Toast ] -------------------- Wasting your time and mine looking for a good laugh. Star Bright, Star Light, Oh I Wish I May, I Wish Might, Wish For One Star Tonight. Posts: 1084 | Registered: Thursday, November 7 2002 08:00 |
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Warrior
Member # 4590
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written Monday, May 30 2005 13:46
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I remember reading about a car that used compressed air being developed at some university a number of years ago. IIRC, the problem with it was that it was inefficent, and even if it worked at it's best efficency, it couldn't provide enough power for a full-sized car to reach reasonable speeds. The idea was pretty cool, though. It would be a great idea to power a kid's toy car that they could ride like that. -------------------- I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation. - George Bernard Shaw Posts: 103 | Registered: Sunday, June 20 2004 07:00 |