Author Topic: Electric LSR car  (Read 15437 times)

marcus

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Re: Electric LSR car
« Reply #15 on: June 30, 2013, 08:42:30 AM »
Gymnasium power!

Have you been to a Gym lately?  Row upon row of exercise machines with people exerting and burning vast amounts of calories to keep fit or loose weight.
Surly if every machine had a small generator instead of a resistance brake, we could generate massive amounts of power?  Millions of people use these machines throughout the day.

Great idea, but the reality is very surprising: I adapted some bicycles for a children's museum display a few years ago. One turned a propeller, another acted on a pair of air mattress bellows which connected to a swanee whistle, another drove a small generator which powered a small radio and the 4th lit up a series of small bulbs, pedal harder to light more.

You have to pedal pretty damned hard to light up a couple of small torch bulbs!

I know all the arguments for and against EVs and right now they do fulfill transport needs for a growing number of people, but I think mass use of them is still a long way off.

Speed has never really been an issue with electric car propulsion, range, charging and other issues are more limiting. In fact in the early days of motoring electric and steam powered cars were often the ones to beat, and it took a huge amount of research, development and inventiveness to make IC engines as "good" as they are now. I have little doubt that a similar amount of effort and money would bring significant improvements in EVs, after all, electric trains can go at amazing speed.

This LSR only re-proves what we already know: electric motors can go fast, so it does not prove that they are "useful" for mass use, but it DOES help to overcome a small amount of the widespread prejudice against EVs.
Just remember: as one door closes behind you, another slams in your face

Big Al

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Re: Electric LSR car
« Reply #16 on: June 30, 2013, 10:13:35 AM »
That is the point. The collective backing for the replacement should, with suitable fiscal pressure drive the standard ICE into replacement. It is therefore important the investment goes into the right sort of project to create a usable product. Batteries are not it, unless or until they can store a lot more energy for mass. Then you have the problem that that usually means rare earth elements, large holes in strange places and potential poison leakages.
Logically we have and industry and an understanding of ICR. We have vested interests making money from oil. The vested interests hoover up any successful looking technology that will breach their monopoly. The ICE folk want to perpetuate their market place and make the cars. I suspect the answer will be some sort of fuel cell cartridge feeding a modified ICE, with, or without, a back up electric motor, which is efficient and can be green in an urban area, depending on use. AS a nation sat with a huge coastline and with a higher average of air movement than most we are supremely set to add a world leading green edge to this technolgy. Sadly the ball is a bit grubby and in the gutter somewhere while the team captains argue of the colour of the shirts.  That suits the Oil and ICE men very well indeed.
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