Posted on 02/22/2019 8:10:01 PM PST by Olog-hai
They said that electric cars were the future a century ago, too. That was before the electric starter was invented for the Otto cycle engine.
I see hybrids having a few, because it should be possible to design a system that takes the load off enough to save on gas to pay for the battery.
But we’ve topped out what can be done on electricity alone and, without some unknown scientific principle being discovered, they will not improve much from where they are and they are almost useless as things stand.
Few should be read as future.
My daughter has a Volt and she loves it. We have solar and she can plug it in every day for almost nothing. It switches to gas automatically or you can do it yourself.
And it’s a beautiful car.
Is that you, barack?
-40 Fahrenheit in 5mph traffic is no place for a battery-powered vehicle.
Even though we can split atoms, what do we do with the energy? Boil water!
Even the internal combustion engine is taking advantage of expanded vapors aka steam power.
That’s the one Howard Hughes owned IIRC.
Very interesting how Leno upgrades the Dobles’ steam generators with modern high-temperature ceramic coatings so that heating up to 3,000°F (also normal operating temperature inside a steam locomotive firebox) is not only easier but results in far less heat stress on the generator.
That’s the right way to do it; nuclear subs that use steam turbines don’t need a refuel for about half a century.
Most power plants that use other fuels, i.e. chemical reactions rather than nuclear, don’t use the hot gases from the combustion to turn the big turbines either; they use steam. Some are combined-cycle plants that use both hot gas and steam.
“Is that you, barack?”
Are you kidding? Barack doesn’t own a Volt.
If you haven’t seen them, Jay Leno has several steam videos, they are excellent. His staff have become experts on the technology with the effort they took getting them running.
[GM, he said, should have spent more to promote the car. “I’ve been really surprised at the lack of marketing,” he said. “I would not have an electric car if I did not have that gas engine.”]
The 2017-19 Volts can easily go 53 miles when fully charged. The gas engine sends a charge to the battery which powers the electric engine. The Bolt can go at least 238 miles on a charge and do 0-60 in 6.5 seconds. There are now Teslas out there that have over 300,000 miles and still at 80% or better of original battery capacity.
I wish FR had an edit button. The engine only kicks in when the battery is depleted but does not directly power the car. It recharges the battery which powers the electric motor that drives the car.
One of my favorites is his Advance steam tractor. Pity he keeps it in the city instead of having it in the fields where they can really show what they are capable of.
The Dobles are fascinating because since their steam generators heat up a half gallon of water at a time, there’s no danger of a boiler explosion in spite of the high heat thanks to the smaller volumes of steam.
That’s probably what needs to be done in order to sell more hybrids, optimizing the relationship between burning fuel and using the battery, refining it to a point where there is a seamless change between burning gasoline and using the battery where the driver isn’t having to think about it. It just happens.
“Embrace the technology”
I do. In a 450 HP 5.0. 0-60 in 3.9,
@22 mpg and a 350 mile range. I can
even use my heater when it’s cold.
Yeah, how about that? Now they have the Bolt.
2019 Chevy Bolt EV Review - The Best Electric Car? | TheStraightPipes | Published on Oct 30, 2018
Hyundai Kona Electric vs. Chevrolet Bolt EV: Which Is the Best Affordable Long-Range EV? | Edmunds | Published on Nov 24, 2018
“”Five years from now when I’m not president anymore, I’ll buy one and drive it myself,” Obama promised 1,600 auto workers at a United Auto Workers union event in Detroit”. BHO February 2012
Sure hope Onama kept his promise.
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