Posted on 04/21/2006 8:26:26 AM PDT by Behind Liberal Lines
An appeal is being made for donations to buy a new bank of batteries for the Cato-Meridian High School technology department's Sunpacer solar-electric car.
The Sunpacer, competing in the one-person commuter class, has won its category in the annual Tour de Sol competition nine of the past 13 years, including the last seven years in a row.
The car is being readied to compete in this year's event, scheduled for May 10-14 in Saratoga Springs.
Technology teacher Jeffrey Ostrowski said the batteries in the car overheated during last year's competition and there are questions about their reliability and range for this year's race.
"We're testing the old batteries now and we'll see how strong they are," Ostrowski said.
"But we'd like to get a new set to feel confident. They cost between $6,000 and $9,000 and the school budget doesn't cover parts for the car. It's always been a self-sustaining project," Ostrowski said.
He said any prize money won in prior competitions has gone into upgrading and improving the car and its equipment.
"We've got the car out and up and running. We're behind schedule, but we have our new crew in place and hope to defend our title," Ostrowski said.
Crew members are senior Matt Tucker, juniors Scott Mansfield and T.K. Hayden and sophomores Sasha Moore, Ashley Thomas and Brandon Rubadou.
Last year's competition and the one planned for this year focus on energy efficiency and a shortened race. It avoids the long, multi-state races of the past.
How can it be self sustaining if someone else has to pay for it?
3000 gallons of gas = 36000 miles at 12 mpg
$9000 = enough money to drive around the earth ~1.5 times in a gas guzzling SUV.
This is one of the basic flaws in any propulsion system that depends in part on storing energy in electric batteries.
The batteries themselves are either very expensive, or have problems with weight and/or reliability.
At best, batteries are only auxiliaries, not a primary energy source.
Note to self:
Think more.
>Doesn't sound very energy efficientECONOMICAL to me, if they have to spend $6000 to $9000 on batteries in a year.
OTOH, these kids are getting a first hand -- and first class -- look at a real engineering problem. Invaluable.
Well, if I can get its gravity working a little better I can collapse Jupiter to start a fusion reaction. That will give you a new sun. How's that?
Say I have an Idea....why doesn't Toyota pay for them? It seems they get 80% of their profitsd from the U.S., pay very little in taxes and receive a lot of incentives from state governments.
To the contrary.
They are operating on other peoples dough. That makes it cost efficient, just like the government.
Comparing the cost of that effort to the cost of mainstream production autos and fuel is just silly -- you're missing the point of the activity. An all-solar-powered electric car is on the bleeding edge -- I personally don't think it will ever become mainstream, but developing it will produce advances that can integrate into mainstream vehicles.
The current crop of hybrid gas/electric cars (like the Prius and others) didn't just become cost-competitive overnight either -- it took a decade or more of high-cost technology development to get hybrids to the marketplace. Now they're starting to prove themselves in practice.
Let American inventiveness and the free market do their thing -- don't pooh-pooh a car design that's in development just because it's not as cheap as cars that have been in mass production for decades. There are good things coming out of these competitions.
It is often times just as valuable to prove that these things wont work as it is to prove that they will.
The other question is: If this is such good research, why doesnt the battery maker provide the batteries for the student research. It would be tax deductible for them and would be excellent PR. Perhaps they already have done the math on it. Seems a shame to gouge schools for their research dollars, but it happens all the time.
You wrote:
"Heh. Doesn't sound very energy efficient to me, if they have to spend $6000 to $9000 on batteries in a year."
And if you read that article you posted completely you would
have seen this part.
"The Sunpacer, competing in the one-person commuter class, has won its category in the annual Tour de Sol competition nine of the past 13 years, including the last seven years in a row."
It doesn't say how many years those batteries have been used, but it does imply they were used at least last year.
All these worlds are yours except Europa. Attempt no landings there.
They could donate a set of Prius batteries at 7.5V per cell, and help the kids rewire the cluster to match the solar cell output.
A great way to inform people about Toyota capabilities.
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