The perfect car

genebo · #1 12/12/08, 06:58 PM

This may not be the best place to post this, but I don't know of any others, so here goes:

The perfect car will be solar powered electric. It will be able to travel a hundred miles on a single battery charge, that it can get from a home roof mounted solar array. It will use motor braking during coasting to charge the battery. Braking energy will be used to charge the battery. It will drive through and derive charging power from all four wheels. It will have flexible solar panels on parts of the body to provide charging. Enough on-board charging will be provided to boost the batteries and extend the range while you're working or shopping.

To go a step further, a standard will be established and plugs will be shaped to reflect the voltage used. Electric charging stations will be available at all service stations and parking locations. Put a few bucks in the meter and charge up.

Standardized removable battery packs will extend the range to 300 miles. Major service stations will provide exchange service for these batteries, so if you have to take a trip, you can drive up to 300 miles, then pull into an Exxon station, instantly swap your batteries for fresh ones and pay the $30 fee with a credit card.

I hope that there is someone reading this who can make this happen. If you are that person, keep me in mind. I'm your test driver!

Genebo

Michael Kawalek · #2 12/13/08, 09:36 AM

You must watch a lot of Star Trek!

PyroDon · #3 12/13/08, 10:28 AM

well first off rather than flexible solar cells the car will be painted with photovoltic paint which will constantly add a trickle charge.
or a much simpler method such as fuel cells where you pull up and fill up on hydrogen which then combines in the battery to produce the electricity and exits the car in the form of distilled water .
I can see that by your plan electric companies should make a killing a few bucks for a few cents worth of kWs would be a great deal for them , but your still burning fossil fuels to get the electricity.
the real problem isnt building an electric car that can do the job the problem is doing it at a cost people can afford. then you have the safety issues . 120 volts at high amps become a real issue in a crash as do hydrogen tanks , and acid leaking batteries . explosive gases and sparks from electrical shorts dont mix well at all .
Now figure out how to make bomb proof hydrogen tanks and a method of cheaply producing hydrogen and we will be all set .

genebo · #4 12/13/08, 11:12 AM

I never watched Star Trek, but worked at NASA for 38 years. We believed that if you could dream it up, we could make it happen.

The hydrogen fuel cell is an example.

Actually, most of the electronics and communications devices and many of the transportation forms we take for granted today were once science fiction. Some are even ahead of science fiction.

Do you know why the PV device was invented?

Genebo

wy_white_wolf · #5 12/13/08, 03:42 PM

Why even use batteries?

Capacitors can store energy more effeciently and don't need replaced like batteries. They can also be quickly charged so it would be about the same as pulling into a gas station to charge them.

genebo · #6 12/13/08, 08:37 PM

What is the cost of a large capacitor (or capacitors) compared to a battery? Can you get them big enough to provide power for a long time?

Genebo

kendall j · #7 12/23/08, 09:15 AM

Super capacitors or ultra capacitors are very expensive. Capacitors would charge in seconds, but capacitors tend to give up their charge rapidly.

I guess if you built a large enough capicitor, you could get it to hold a charge longer, but it would be insanely high in cost at this point. Combining batteries with capacitors could work well. Having capacitors that charge during a regenerative braking cycle would be useful for a burst of energy to use on acceleration.

Kendall

genebo · #8 12/23/08, 07:17 PM

"A regenerative braking cycle". Is that the proper name for using the motor to slow the car by loading it to charge the battery (or capacitor)? I've been looking for the correct term for that.

Genebo

BeaG · #9 12/30/08, 04:52 AM

Here is a link to an "air powered" car that uses no fuel except compressed air. The car will be available in the US next year for under $20,000. This is interesting reading; the average economy is expected to be 106 gasoline-equivalent mpg. On the left hand side, there is a link that shows how the motor works.

http://zeropollutionmotors.us/?page_id=43

57plymouth · #10 12/30/08, 10:54 AM

Sorry, this is the perfect car.

The perfect car - Alternative Energy

wy_white_wolf · #11 12/30/08, 11:14 AM

So, Christine lives

Kevingr · #12 12/30/08, 11:27 AM

I think it needs to get at least 250 miles on a charge without special batteries or extra charging and be priced in the mid to low twenties. My commute to work is 60 miles one way, throw in a trip to Costco or Sam's on the way home, then your mother calls and wants you to swing over there and help her clean out her gutters. By the time your day is done you've but on 200 miles.

Granted, driving 200 miles a day isn't the norm for most people, but for many country people it is. The only car that gets me excited so far is the Tesla, but it's to expensive and impractical for daily family car. To charge these vehicles we would need something other than fossil fuel burning plants though, nuclear, solar, wind? Maybe a home hybrid solar/wind system that runs a process to create hydrogen fuel cells that are used to run generators?

CamM · #13 12/30/08, 12:18 PM

I think it'd work better to have a little windmill anchored to the chassis recharging from the wind produced while the car drives. It's hard to believe that right now solar panels could do much for a car quickly enough to regenerate it.

wy_white_wolf · #14 12/30/08, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CamM

I think it'd work better to have a little windmill anchored to the chassis recharging from the wind produced while the car drives. It's hard to believe that right now solar panels could do much for a car quickly enough to regenerate it.

The wind genny would do less than solar panels. The increased drag from it would take more energy to overcome than it can generate.

rzrubek · #15 12/30/08, 05:15 PM

This looks like an electric car to me. Only thing different is it is using compressed air for the battery. I hope it works good though, as air tanks are much cheaper and easier to recycle than batteries.

gwest · #16 12/30/08, 06:48 PM

Ram turbines built into the chassis to power generators to produce electricity to charge the batteries while in motion would work. Now just scale it all down to fit.

wy_white_wolf · #17 12/30/08, 09:50 PM

If this is what you mean by Ram Turbine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ram_air_turbine

Nope, The extra turbulance created by them takes more power to overcome than they produce.

MELOC · #18 12/30/08, 10:19 PM

it would take 4 hours to fill the tank at home when it is plugged in. if electricity costs 10 cents per kwh, that would be 55 cents x 4 hours. that means you could "fill er' up" for $2.20 and if you drive under 35 mph, you would burn no gas. i think that is pretty awesome.