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hybrid technology

3K views 29 replies 14 participants last post by  jbranson 
#1 ·
so i took a long drive down to san diego this weekend....and at some points gas (regular unleaded) was topping 4 bucks....

anyway, on the drive back up i started thinking...if the biggest problem with the all electric cars is the batteries not holding enough charge for longer distances, why not just add a little (under 100cc) 4stroke electric generator to continually charge the batteries as you are driving?

it seems if you could keep the batteries charged, you could drive VERY long distances for VERY little gas....(i'm imagining the scene in dumb and dumber when they drive to aspen on the mini-bike!)

...i know there must be a good reason against this.....but i can't think of why......this way just seems to make more sense to me...the small amount of gas helping the electric, rather than the opposite which is currently considered "hybrid technology"...
 
#27 ·
thanks geeto,

the VOLT is exactly what i was thinking of! it just makes sense. small engine with virtually no load or transmission providing electricity to the batteries. i can only assume the biggest problem is how fast the batteries can actually charge, which equates to how far you can drive while charging...

the coolest part about this type of hybrid though, is the fact that when battery technology improves (which it no doubt will), you can just throw in the new batteries, remove the engine, and go...that is terrible news to makers of auto parts, but great news for the rest of the world!

and to the people who think you are just trading one type of emission for another have obviously never heard of solar panels. the combination of electric car and a solar powered home isn't some crazy far off futuristic fantasy...it's happening now.

on the political side of things, i think government tax breaks for r&d are pretty much worthless, however, tax breaks for actual units sold (with strict MPG guidelines) would provide great incentive to the big companies to invest in the r&d and technology to meet those guidelines, sell crazy amounts of inexpensive cars, and make crazy money. think about how cheap they are to make as well, with no engine or transmission!

i just the think the hybrids of recent are like one big joke on rich jerkoffs who think they're saving the world.

and as far as diesel goes, i think it would be one step forward, two steps back kinda thing...i mean if we already have the technology, why not just skip it? all of the "alternative fuels" are just one more thing we'll have to buy from the big oil companies....
 
#28 ·
I read in Pop-Mechanics recently that some really large capacitors will be finding their way into the hybrids of the future. Much lighter than batteries and they don't die after 100 discharges.

Actually Parks, the govt. has historically played a valuable role in developing the technologies that have made the USA a high tech world leader (until now that is). In the fifties, 2/3 of research money in computers came from uncle sam. The government started RCA, Boeing, and Bell Labs. These companies have been critical to the growth of the American economy. Its only recently that this practice has fallen out of favor and its one of the reasons India and China are going to ass-rape us this century.

I read all this stuff in a book called "3 Billion new Capitalists" It was pretty good.


PS. I drive a Datsun Diesel truck. Its 27 years old and if I drive it like mom, it goes 44 MPG. These a-holes at GM are bragging in their TV commercials about the chevy Cobalt getting 30 MPG.
 
#30 ·
Cseger,
Those new capacitors are called "super capacitors, or Ultra-capacitors"....and they will probably change our lives in the next five to ten years. Amazing things....pretty much like batteries except they can charge in 90 seconds, and typical cycle life is 500,000 - 1,000,000 recharges. Right now their power density is somewhat below lead acid batteries but still pretty good at about 40kw/kg. Coleman now has one of the first consumer products using them, it's a cordless screwdriver that recharges in 90 seconds. Strange to see a "D-cell" size "battery" with 1/4" diameter copper lugs for getting power in and out. Remember if they will recharge in 90 seconds...or discharge much faster even....then those connections have to handle a ton of current.

They will replace conventional batteries almost compleltely in about ten years. They work pretty much like conventional capacitors except their electron exchange happens on a nano-scale instead of the much larger scale seen on electrolytic capacitors. Very cool technology.

Those Datsun diesels have a cult following...people with like a million miles on them.
JohnnyB
 
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