It will probably turn out to be bunkum but these claims about the fast charging
capability from this company look pretty amazing, and even if its not quite true battery technology has advanved incredibly in the last 10 years
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New ceramic battery may replace gas engines
Texas company is working on an "energy storage" device made from ceramics. It's not technically a battery because it doesn't use chemicals. It can allegedly charge within 5 minutes with enough energy to move a car 500 miles on about $9 worth of electricity -- about 45 cents a gallon.
According to the patent, the device is made of a ceramic powder coated with aluminum oxide and glass.
Company is very secretive, and has taken down its website.
"A ceramic power source for electric cars that could blow away the combustion engine." (CNN; Sept. 20, 2006)
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We really need to get these difficult technical and engineering problems out of the hands of politicians who bless their tiny brains and money-grasping instincts don't have a clue.
I'm no fan of our current crop of politicians, but replacing them with unaccountable people doesn't seem like a great step forward. Recent experience of unelected experts has left us with brilliant successes like banks which behaved like incompetently-run casinos, a telecoms system still bottlenecked by paired copper wires, and personal transport which consists of 1500kg of metal to carry one or two people.
Could this be why our youngsters seem no longer to be taught history beyond the 2nd World War (during which, politicians actually ceased to squabble like 2 year olds and worked together for a common aim).
The problem at the moment is that we don't have a common aim. Some people want an economic system which shares the wealth around, some want a system which provides a few folks with the opportunity to get staggeringly rich, and others want to prioritise the environment.
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how about electrification of all the roads with overhead lines and we can all drive about in fancier versions of dodgem cars!
personally if I was in charge I would stipulate that any household wanting to buy more than one car should be forced to buy electric as the 2nd one, its would be a start
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Silly suggestion but stand as an MP and then leader of a party. Too many on here come up with ideas and step back.
I think more of us in the UK in general could/should think of this. There is no point in complaining. Not bad wages and pensions either.
Rob
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I think more of us in the UK in general could/should think of this.
No recruits from the BR, honour, decency and principles here...
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My point is do something (and don't complain here or anywhere) or accept it and shut up ;-)
Edited by rtj70 on 02/01/2009 at 00:28
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My point is do something (and don't complain here or anywhere) or accept it and shut up ;-)
Web definitions for forum
a public meeting or assembly for open discussion
right then brothers:
we want electric cars
and when do we want them?
now!
Edited by rtj70 on 02/01/2009 at 00:38
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But to have clean electric cars now you need clean production of electricity.
And this site is moderated ;-) !!!!
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Exactly and my point was that if we have 30 million electric cars we are going to need a lot more power plants to generate the electricity. Our experiments in renewable energy so far have not been great, wind farms for example are very inefficient. I don't know the stats what fussil fuels are burnt to produce our electricity, I know its mainly gas and coal and of course the neclear plants. But even the modern low sulpur coal is not exactly clean.
This is why I don't really see much future for the electric car its raw form, and also the motors are not going to last for ever, I know there will be a lot more simple than internal combustion engines I can see us ended up with extremely expensive none servicible motors. The bushes on the motor are gone sir, that will be £1750 for the new motor and £600 fitting but not to worry sir they all come with a 5000 mile guarentee.
Personaly I think there could be a huge future in the humble push bike, but until the roads are made safer for them too many people like myself who actually loves off road cycling will put off.
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up with extremely expensive none servicible motors. The bushes on the motor are gone sir that will be £1750 for the new motor and £600 fitting but not to worry sir they all come with a 5000 mile guarentee.
Bushes - I'll assume you mean brushes, this isn't a problem as I very much doubt that any electric car (current or future) would used a brushed motor. The only wear item would be the bearings, these will last a very long time and can easily be replaced.
Putting aside the fuel/energy costs an electric car will be a lot cheaper to maintain and also a lot more reliable.
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I wonder if you've ever been the the Forum in Rome ;-)
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Rome? now there's a place, my wife is Italian so we've been many times, the best view is from Palantine Hill, you can see the forum, The Colloseum and most breathtaking of all the 500 yard long Circus where Ben Hur took part in his chariot race!
Horse drawn transport!!!
And as for 30 million electric cars being unsupportable with our present system Rattle maybe not, if they were charged overnight we have enough capacity already
Edited by malden blue on 02/01/2009 at 00:59
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"I can see us ended up with extremely expensive none servicible motors. The bushes on the motor are gone sir, that will be £1750"
Think positive Rattle - there would be no rattling tappets or oil pressure switches ;)
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The breaker's yards are already filling up with diesel cars with electronic faults that are too expensive to fix...
I'm kind of retired now but it always struck me as mad that as I sat in the queues I could see cars sitting in queues going the other way. I used to work for BT, they were always encouraging people to work from home. Not us though.
Btw replacing the copper wires with glass would require massive, no, make that MASSIVE investment, since BT has been privatised they're too busy making money to make that sort of commitment.
How about if formula 1 cars were all made to run on electricity? Imagine the investment that would be poured into electric vehicle technology! Yeah, ok, pigs *charged* and ready to fly.
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>>How about if formula 1 cars were all made to run on electricity?Imagine the investment that would be poured into electric vehicle technology
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Would all the cars have noise generators else ear plug makeres would protest :-)
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Read the book "The End of Oil" it is guaranteed to give you a lighter right foot.
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I'm sure people laughed at the idea of diesel racing cars, until Le Mans allowed them, and they started winning...
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Sort of an aside question for the more worldly - in countries where they cant afford petrol and run their cars on alternatives, what are these alternatives. I read something about Brazil but cant recall the details.
I dont think the internal combustion engine is dead at all, I just think we need a renewable source of fuel and a way to produce it which Im sure is possible if we want it bad enough.
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>I read something about Brazil but cant recall the details
They make a lot of ethanol (alcohol if you prefer) by fermenting sugar-cane commercially. To do that they destroy rainforest to create more growing space. In the long run, not a clever idea, as rainforest gobbles up the CO2 the cars produce. But hey - who cares about the long run, eh?
On 'sustainable' energy, we depend on the energy output from the sun, which is at a pretty fixed rate. Even if we managed to trap most of it from solar, tide, wind, etc, I doubt that it could cater for the world's energy demands.
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Your point about the energy of tyhe sun is a good one, though I think you would be amazed if you knew how much energy we actually absorb from the sun if we could tap into just one hundreth it would supply all our energy needs, I work in the HVAC controls industry and geo thermal technology is just starting to take off here in the UK, without going into too much detail for every 1kw of energy used to exract ground heat you get 3kw free energy in return
And as long as the sun continues to rise that heat source will be renewed every single day of the year (touch wood as if it dosnt we really are in big triuble :-) )
If we all installed heat pumps that would free up capacity to charge up our battery powered cars of the future!
Edited by malden blue on 02/01/2009 at 12:34
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I wouldn't be surprised if building regulations in 10 years time state that only heat pump type boilers can be fitted, in the same way you can only install a condensing boiler at the moment.
This isn't all doom and gloom, electric cars have many benefits over an IC engine. The big problem at the moment is how to store energy efficiently, for that task petrol and diesel is extremely hard to beat in terms of energy density and ease of use and transportation.
Air powered cars look like they have potential for city type cars. Clean, cheap, simple and safe technology.
Wind power - probably one of our best sources of energy for the UK. For those who say it's unreliable, the output can be smooted by storing excess energy in the form of pumping water uphill into large lakes to drive turbines or compressing air.
Given that we are going into a recession and need to create jobs we should be making a huge investment in alternative energy research. We would benefit directly from the technology ourselves and could also then create an industry around selling that tech to the rest of the world.
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especially if regulations enforce the installation of underfloor heating too moonshine as geo thermal is ideal for use with that low temp form of heating...it runs at about 40c
it dosnt require vast areas of land either contrary to popular misconception, apartment blocks for instance are ideal using pilings driven beneath the foundations
anyone with a moderate sized garden can install one though and with rising energy prices its becoming ever more sensible in mere economic terms too (its the payback time required to pay for installation thats the problem especially given the fact that the givernment have reduced the grants available)
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The Sun is mostly made of hydrogen. Just wait until night and then go and get as much as you want.
This is an environmentally friendly post. It's recycling an old joke.
JH
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Horse and cart.
My daughter told me today that the little shetland is coming along nicely, and learning to pull the cart we recently made. He is quite amazingly strong, and could become a serious conveyor of local shopping, saving one car.
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