Posted on 03/05/2015 5:37:16 PM PST by LogicDesigner
Those compactors you see at malls, grocery stores, large office buildings, etc. usually have a 10 hp motor just to compact the trash. Once the store ak worked at had a prolonged power outage ad was running off a large 200+kW rental diesel generator. You could hear genset throttle up to pick up that load when we started the compactor.
A little bit. It seems like there is a high ratio of speculation to information out there. I’ve just resigned myself to wait until we hear something of substance about what Apple is actually doing.
There will be nothing of substance from Apple because they NEVER EVER pre-announce what they are working on. All anyone will ever get, until the day a car is announced for sale “next week” ... is solely articles which are “sniffing around the edges” ... and nothing more. Apple is totally different from other companies in this regard.
One of my local garbage companies recently converted it’s curbside fleet to CNG. Much quitter than diesel, has the required range and no toxic battery pack to dispose of at the trucks EOL. Also the mechanics do not need tons of additional training as it is a just a dieel,engine converted to,run on CNG.
Lithium ion batteries are not toxic, contrary to all the speculation that you may see in the comments section. Lead-acid batteries are far more toxic and we handle them just fine. (Just google lithium battery toxicity and read any of the results.)
Besides, the batteries are way too valuable to not reuse or recycle in some way. There is a market for second-hand automotive batteries out there for use as home backup electricity storage for people with solar panels. Tesla also has a recycling system set up for its batteries and Toyota recycles 100% of the components in their Prius batteries.
I suspect that the GT engine would be run continuously to provide "baseline" power, with regenerative braking to provide "surge" power.
Has the additional advantage of keeping the battery compartment and cab of the vehicle warm (main reason for problematic battery operation in cold weather is that batteries simply lose charging and charge storage capability when cold).
Hydraulics are actually pretty quiet in and of themselves. The noise comes from having to "surge" the diesel to power the hydraulic pump. With the hydraulic pump run by an electric motor, noise level should drop significantly.
Energy Density is the issue, and regardless of all the PR around EVs, they simply do not have the energy density to compete with fossil fuel.
Unless, or until, some fundamental break through in battery technology comes along, they will remain a niche and very expensive product.
The current (no pun intended) technologies are jokes for serious transport energy requirements.
Think federally funded incentive programs. There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.
That's no problem -- the greenies got the Forest Service to change their pickups from gas to CNG, and put the huge required tank in the back of the pickup, causing it to no longer be a pickup! D'oh! Libs and their propensity for unintended consequences. Doesn't matter if something works or not, if it gives lip service to some liberal shiboleth, it can't be a bad thing, right?
I guess it's worth looking at for a vehicle that is on the street a lot, every day, carrying a fair number of people. But, being retired, I'm driving less than 40 miles a week unless its vacation or a consulting job somewhere. So it doesn't make sense for a homebody like me to try either CNG or EVs. I'm gonna be dead before I see a net positive ROI.
“Why not convert the skool buses to use the fryer grease from the cafe??”
My old high school dos this. Its a small school, and they only have two buses. There really isn’t much of a conversion to the bus...its really just a matter of filtering the grease to a useable fuel. Its not particularly a money saver, and they don’t have nearly enough to meet all the bus fuel needs, but an interesting science experiment.
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