U.S. Researcher Preparing Prototype Cars Powered by Heavy-Metal Thorium

WardsAuto.com ^ | Aug 11, 2011 | Keith Nuthall

[Oiao]

A U.S. company says it is getting closer to putting prototype electric cars on the road that will be powered by the heavy-metal thorium (Steam Electric 250MW)... with prototype in two years....never needs refueled.

[Oiao]

A U.S. company says it is getting closer to putting prototype electric cars on the road that will be powered by the heavy-metal thorium... with prototype in two years.

Because thorium is so dense, similar to uranium, it stores considerable potential energy: 1 gm of thorium equals the energy of 7,500 gallons (28,391 L) of gasoline Stevens says. So, using just 8 gm of thorium in a car should mean it would never need refueling.

Hedrick, the industrial minerals expert, says 7,500 gallons is “way more gasoline than an average person uses in a year. Switching to thorium-driven cars would make the U.S. energy self-sufficient, and carbon emissions would plummet.

[HangnJudge]

250MW ?

What are they driving, a supertanker?

[cripplecreek]

I used to have a bumper sticker that said “This truck powered by Metallica”.

[muawiyah]

And clean the air so much it'd bring on the long overdue NEXT ICE AGE.

Best build the heating plants first!

[Paladin2]

"Today, thorium is relatively expensive - about $5,000 per kilogram."

8 gm --> $40.

Maybe not so expensive?

[buccaneer81]

Thorium is what’s going to get astronauts to Mars and beyond.

[Ken522]

I wonder how well these nuclear power plants mounted in automobiles will hold together during a collision? The envirowennies will scream about the release of radiation ...

[jessduntno]

“Thorium is what’s going to get astronauts to Mars and beyond.”

I believe you are confusing it with Dilitium Crystals...

[azcap]

The car is nice but I want one in my house. The US should pioneer widespread self generation of electricity. No grid means stable and uninterruptable power. No grid means no transmission loss. The really game changing aspects are that the electric utility monopolies are gone. A retired couple could save up in their working years for a nice 30 year reactor and retire with no electric bill the rest of their lives.

[martin_fierro]

Cool.

[cc2k]

This is pie in the sky. Maybe someday.

If magically, we wake up tomorrow and very automobile plant in the world is magically making Thorium powered cars, and they cost the same as today's gasoline powered cars, then in 10 years, half the cars on the road will still be burning gasoline. That's the way the real world works. The median age of our vehicles is over 10 years today.

Now, let's inject reality and show why even half of the vehicles won't be thorium powered 10 years from today. Here are the reasons:

• There will be time (years) required to convert automobile manufacturing plants to produce these cars. This will most likely add as much as 11 years to the conversion process.
• It's likely that the equipment to produce the thorium reactors will be more expensive than the machinery that makes internal combustion gasoline and diesel engines. This will add more cost to the vehicles to pay for the more expensive manufacturing facilities.
• I'm going to guess that Thorium powered cars will be more expensive than gasoline powered cars. At a minimum, I expect that paying for several years of fuel costs in the purchase price of the vehicle will make the vehicle significantly less affordable. And there will be added safety equipment requirements. Higher prices mean that people will keep their current vehicles longer, extending that 10 year median vehicle age.
• I'm wondering what the comparitave cost per mile for fuel is. Gasoline, even with todays prices, is still a fairly cheap source of energy for transportation.

[umgud]

There is a vast cottage industry built around over-regulation and envirowhakoism. Anything that negates their existence is doomed to failure.

[buccaneer81]

You have a good point:

"Three megawatt hours of electricity would be required for an electric car to travel 12,000 miles a year."

NYT Article

[bigbob]

Me too! I’m still waiting for the home nuke plant the size of a cooler we were all sposed to have in our basements by now, generating free electricity.

But if they need to test drive this thing, I suggest they go run Algore down with it.

[Figment]

Heard some interesting stuff on a company touting thorium electrical generating plants the other day. Seems the research was done at Oak Ridge, but was written off because you couldn’t build nuclear weapons from it. Sounded promising

[microgood]

I want one for my home too.

[Salgak]

No, you’re the confused one. Dilithium Crystals are what make Folgers’ such good coffee (grin)

[martin_fierro]

Caddy Thorium Concept

[buccaneer81]

I believe you are confusing it with Dilitium Crystals...

Thorium doesn't need to be mixed by hand in an emergency...

[aquila48]

They must mean KW, in which case it would correspond 1.34x250= 335 HP.