New Mars Forums

Dook

Banned

From: USA

Registered: 2004-01-09

Posts: 1,409

Re: New Electric Vehicles

We are currently looking to hybrid vehicles, bio-diesel fuel sources, and hydrogen fuel cells as options for the future power source for our vehicles.  But these may not prove to be the best option.

The hydrogen infrastructure is not well established, it's expensive, and you need to use energy to convert water to hydrogen so it's not really a solution for the countries energy needs.

Bio-diesel is not well established either but it is coming along.  It would be nice if we could produce our entire bio-diesel supply.  One bad thing about using bio-diesel is that it produces more smog than gasoline but I believe there are emissions equipment that can help reduce the amount of smog produced.

What about a hybrid electric vehicle?

Mostly powered by batteries the vehicle would have a small diesel engine that powers a generator to produce electricity for long trips.  The batteries should be enough for 90% of our driving needs.  Also if you covered the upper surfaces of the vehicle (hood, roof, and rear deck lid) with flexible solar panels they could recharge the batteries while the vehicle is sitting in the sun while you are at work or in the shopping center, restuarant, or school.

This vehicle would use very little fuel since almost every trip would be from battery power and the batteries would be recharged by the sun.

GCNRevenger

Member

From: Earth

Registered: 2003-10-14

Posts: 6,056

Re: New Electric Vehicles

Ummm. We already have those, Dook, and they use about half the gas as a normal car.

The batteries are a storage device too, not a energy source. The diesel generator would still produce most of the energy, and hence still pollute and require hydrocarbon fuels. Solar pannels the size you would put on top of a car really don't do you much good, even high efficency ones, compared to the amount of energy you need to push the car. They also don't do you much good if your car is in a garage, on a cloudy/rainy day, or the sun isn't overhead.

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[i]"The power of accurate observation is often called cynicism by those that do not have it." - George Bernard Shaw[/i]

[i]The glass is at 50% of capacity[/i]

Dook

Banned

From: USA

Registered: 2004-01-09

Posts: 1,409

Re: New Electric Vehicles

We have hybrid vehicles that use about half the gas of regular vehicles but we don't have any that supplement the battery recharging with solar. 

A pure electric vehicle would do the job for most our driving needs but it's a hassle recharging it from home power and no one wants a vehicle that can only go 200 miles.  So the hybrid engine is a necessary addition and a welcome backup. 

Solar cells wouldn't provide much energy while driving but that's not where the benefit really lies.  Our vehicles sit, mostly in the sun, for 8 hours a day while we are at work.  They can recharge the batteries enough for lunch runs and the commute home.  So if 90% of our driving uses this renewable source it will drastically reduce our foreign oil needs. 

And yes I know batteries only store energy and the solar panels don't work in a garage or at night or when bad weather is overhead.  Still the benefit would be huge.

dicktice

Member

From: Nova Scotia, Canada

Registered: 2002-11-01

Posts: 1,764

Re: New Electric Vehicles

"We" don't have hybrid gasoline, etc./electric vehicles, it's the Japanese that do, in production several generations down the line, to our shame. Give 'em credit: They see into the future of do-able technology better than our establishment. I guess, like Avis, they have to "try harder." Why do I keep thinking of, you know, the tortoise and the hare?

GCNRevenger

Member

From: Earth

Registered: 2003-10-14

Posts: 6,056

Re: New Electric Vehicles

A pure electric vehicle would do the job for most our driving needs but it's a hassle recharging it from home power and no one wants a vehicle that can only go 200 miles.  So the hybrid engine is a necessary addition and a welcome backup. 

Solar cells wouldn't provide much energy while driving but that's not where the benefit really lies.  Our vehicles sit, mostly in the sun, for 8 hours a day while we are at work.  They can recharge the batteries enough for lunch runs and the commute home.  So if 90% of our driving uses this renewable source it will drastically reduce our foreign oil needs.

But that just isn't true. Eight hours of solar power for a few square meters or non-tracking noon-facing solar pannels just doesn't make that much electricity.

And, a large portion of peoples' cars DO sit in a garage or in the shadow of something. The bennefits would be negligible... I think you underestimate the huge amount of energy that fossil fuels contain. Gasoline is perhaps the most powerful explosive known to man... when its is vaporized anyway. Think of the ultralight optimized solar cars that universities build to compete? Even with a few multiples of the energy via storage, it wouldn't be all that much.

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[i]"The power of accurate observation is often called cynicism by those that do not have it." - George Bernard Shaw[/i]

[i]The glass is at 50% of capacity[/i]

SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 28,832

Re: New Electric Vehicles

A lot of water has traveled under this bridge as the electric vehicle and hybrid have become more common place. Seems that not only has Elon Musk and other come to the table to provide a vehicle but now charging stations are much more in demand.
Who ever heard of No Charge Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Seems this is part of a settlement for smog emission tampering with VW.

Calliban

Member

From: Northern England, UK

Registered: 2019-08-18

Posts: 3,410

Re: New Electric Vehicles

Electric vehicles are heavily subsidised.  Sadly, their baseline economics hasn't changed much since 2005.  Same low energy density batteries as before.  They are just being pushed by more powerful interests.

On a different note, what the hell did Dook do to get banned?

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"Plan and prepare for every possibility, and you will never act. It is nobler to have courage as we stumble into half the things we fear than to analyse every possible obstacle and begin nothing. Great things are achieved by embracing great dangers."

SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 28,832

Re: New Electric Vehicles

It was personally directed attacks on members of which there were a couple that occured on the same day....

What is more sad is that we are in that same boat still for mars....

SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 28,832

Re: New Electric Vehicles

Seems the day is here for the Heavy-Duty Engine Manufacturer Detroit Diesel Is Now in the Electric Semi-Truck Business

So mars will have a battery powered heavy hauler for mars ready when we can deliver it....

Using an eAxle design, Detroit's ePowertrain operates at 400 volts and can be had in either single or dual-motor configurations. The single motor setup delivers 180 horsepower and 11,500 pound-feet of torque while the dual-motor is good for 360 hp and 23,000 pound-feet. The eCascadia and eM2 will be available with the buyer's choice of three battery sizes: 210, 315, or 475 kWh.

As for how all of this translates when the rubber meets the road, Detroit says initial offerings of the medium-duty eM2 will be good for more than 230 miles of range while the Class 8 eCascadia tractor will last 250 miles on a charge. As a reference point, Tesla is promising either 300 or 500 miles of range from its yet-to-be-delivered Semi depending on the model.

Mars_B4_Moon

Member

Registered: 2006-03-23

Posts: 9,175

Re: New Electric Vehicles

Singapore targets 2040 to remove all internal combustion engine cars as installation of EV charging points in parking lots of all new buildings has begun

https://infidelpro.com/singapore-target … king-lots/

SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 28,832

Re: New Electric Vehicles

Singapore has a total land area of 724.2 square kilometres (279.6 sq mi).

The mainland of Singapore measures 50 kilometres (31 mi) from east to west and 27 kilometres (17 mi) from north to south with 193 kilometres (120 mi) of coastline.

Depending on the person situation they are not traveling all that far.

Despite its small area, Rhode Island, measuring only about 48 miles long and 37 miles wide, is the smallest of the U.S. states.

kbd512

Administrator

Registered: 2015-01-02

Posts: 7,416

Re: New Electric Vehicles

This is one of the first electric cars I've seen that is roughly the right idea, but of course, the damn thing costs $260,000 USD.  I seem to have left the money for a car like this tied up in my house.  They claim they're going to get their production model price down to $175,000 USD, but fat chance of that actually happening.  The car in question only weighs 1,500kg with its 60kWh battery.  It's drag coefficient is claimed to be 0.19, which puts it right at the top of the charts for all production cars that I know of, just barely beating out the new Mercedes-Benz.  In an industry-first for EVs, the company has a no-BS approach to measuring vehicle range.  The vehicle is claimed to be able to drive 380 miles at 75mph, and the simple math regarding its energy consumption per mile is commensurate with its battery capacity, at least when new, so they're not lying.  The car also has a very large onboard solar array built into the chassis, that can generate upwards of 500W in full Sun.  You're using a lot more power than that while driving at highway speeds, so the utter nonsense about never needing to charge it is just that, but it would produce enough power for air conditioning and electronics in the vehicle, even with the vehicle turned off.

This Is The Lightyear Zero! A Crazy Aerodynamic Electric Car That Is Covered In Solar Panels

The US version won't come with side-mounted cameras instead of rearview mirrors, but it's still a very aerodynamically clean vehicle.  The door handles are not wonky motorized electronic nonsense like a Tesla, either.  It has real hydraulic brakes to boot, rather than more electronic crap.  Cars should have manual steering, manual brakes, and manual transmissions if they have any.  Gadgets don't add value.

One thing that's always baffled me about the electronic mirror gadgetry is why nobody has tried for a mirror mounted inside the vehicle, using something akin to a periscope running across the top of the B-pillar.  This can't be that hard to figure out.  Aircraft have had rear-view and side-view mirrors mounted inside the canopy since before they had fully enclosed canopies.

SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 28,832

Re: New Electric Vehicles

Something wrong with the zeros on the price tag....