OP
OP
Renewable, you mean?! Not going to ever power more than 5% of the country's needs.
A worry: the used car market
- Thread starter Magic Johnson
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A worry: the used car market
Tbf range extenders seem to be the way forward ATM, all the advantages of a leccy car but their own on board generator, which is usually a standard petrol engine atm but could be something else.
However going back to the original thread complicated as sin....although maybe a bit simpler than a hybrid as the engine never drives the wheels
However going back to the original thread complicated as sin....although maybe a bit simpler than a hybrid as the engine never drives the wheels
Wack a set of solar panels on your roof and you'd get fairly close, stick a solar car port on your drive and we'll do even better
The thing with electric cars is, they are very new, old cars drink a lot of fuel compared to today's cars and they tended to break down more often (even if they were easier to fix). I'm sure once electric cars have had a few years to grow they'll be able to use much less electricity than today's cars and therefore last longer/go further etc...
But that's many years down the line.
I'll just miss that satisfying grumble when I start my petroleum burning engine, I'm not sure I'll like an electrical whirr...
But that's many years down the line.
I'll just miss that satisfying grumble when I start my petroleum burning engine, I'm not sure I'll like an electrical whirr...
I wouldn't worry about it: a lot of the manufacturers are now piping synthetic engine sounds both into the cabin; as well as thinking about doing it outside, to 'warn' pedestrians...! [Had a Prius go past me, earlier. It was just about silent... (and very ugly...).]
Anyhoo: electric cars probably won't be 'the future' for very long (IMHO). Current battery technology is less green than oil. My money's on hydrogen cells....
PS: See also the upcoming articles on car technology in New Scientist.... :idea:
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:yeahthat: Just needs a bit more time to get more efficient ways to generate hydrogen. I even read somewhere normal petrol engines could be very easily converted to hydrogen (similar to LPG conversion).
I share your fears to be honest. Times many, I have longed for the days of simple carbs instead of complex fuel injection systems. Also, it used to be rare that a car experienced a fault that a set of points, and in extreme cases, a new rotor arm or dizzy cap couldn't solve. Maybe I'm just reminiscing with rose-tinted glasses, I don't know.
Of course, I can appreciate the need for new technologies, especially considering pollution and fuel shortages etc etc, but I miss the simpler times. Ahhh..... the joy of following an old carbed car, and the lovely aroma of unburnt fuel :yum:
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Rose tinted glasses for sure. I can remember growing up and my dads cars breaking down at least once every 3 months. Then him having to "tune up" his engine for season changes.
Modern technology makes cars more reliable for sure BUT when they go wrong it's usually more expensive / complex to fix (unless you know what you're doing and DIY). Thanks to the internet anyone who can read can do all but the most complex work on any modern car.
Modern technology makes cars more reliable for sure BUT when they go wrong it's usually more expensive / complex to fix (unless you know what you're doing and DIY). Thanks to the internet anyone who can read can do all but the most complex work on any modern car.
I am waiting for ITM's hydrogen generation and storage products to mature into the market. They have the technology to convert electricity (from solar or wind or tide) into hydrogen and to store this, either on a domestic or industrial basis. This solves the issue of unpredictable electricity generation and storage using rare earth metals, as long as the electrolysers don't require raw materials which are equally difficult to source.
http://www.itm-power.com/about-itm/
Agree with this
My 1st car was a carby uno, I spent more time tinkering with that in 9 months than all the cars I've had since. It wasn't a knackered car it was a car that had been garaged its whole life entirely rust free, 29k on it after 15 years but if it rained you got up 15 mins earlier because it might not start...and you would be taking the dizzy apart to get the moisture out with wd40 and then while starting it you might flood it with the choke etc etc. Also to pass the mot you had to turn the idle speed down...then turn it back up again so it didnt vibrate your eyeballs in traffic.
Yes now if my car didn't start I'd have a lot less idea where to start looking for faults but also if my car doesn't start on the key 1st time every time (something which even my beaten and abused mk1 55s managed better than the apparently cosseted uno) it'd be down the garage finding out what had gone wrong. Yes cars are more complex but you now take for granted it'll start and run whatever the weather or season with minimal input apart from servicing.
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Maybe I'm just comparing the oldest car I've ever owned to the newest car I've ever owned -
1987 Toyota Corolla, never had an issue in 3 years of ownership.
2002 Stilo, which was a pain in the arse (although I did love it anyway).
Maybe it's just because I used to enjoy tinkering with older cars because their simplicity made me feel more competent. Either way, I miss them. So there!
A motor that moves some plastic vents based on the output of a temperature sensor, its not exactly hard core, super advanced technology? This sort of thing has exsisted for years already in climate control systems
Would love to know where the beliefs around renewable energy come from? Large scale hydrogen production is ridiculously expensive hydrogen fuel cells are also highly complex and expensive, and hydrogen isn't very easy or safe to store and transport I guarantee that the future isn't hydrogen, not in my life time in any case
Possibly not, but I can't see a future without it.... This article -- and its comments -- give a fairly balanced view, I think....
i dont think hydrogen assisted diesels will be far away, people are already making home made systems
Hydrogen is no-where near sustainable. It's production is so energy intensive that if you can't grasp this fact then you really haven't looked into it enough depth. I'm with Andy on this one.
Um....
Depends how it's made...!
Do advise, as if you know of a renewable way which would still give us a single field to allow arable or live stock farming you'll very quickly become a very rich person.
Do I take it you're not a fan of wind power, then...?!
From the above article (from 2010...):
Vattenfall, sees this as an opportunity and is building a facility in Hamburg that will use excess wind power to split water molecules and produce hydrogen for a fleet of 20 fuel-cell buses. Power companies tend to disperse extra wind turbines in various locations to compensate for the fact that wind is inherently unreliable. But those excess turbines will produce more electricity than the grid can handle if the wind blows in too many places at once. When that happens, turbines are shut down. Once the Hamburg facility comes on line, Vattenfall will instead fire up the electrolysis unit, tapping the excess power to make hydrogen and keeping the grid stable.
Cost is still an issue, says Oliver Weinmann, head of innovation management for Vattenfall in Germany. He says that the company will be able to produce hydrogen at €3–4 ($4–5.3) per kilogram, compared with €2 per kilogram for hydrogen produced from natural gas. But with Europe looking to expand its use of renewable energy over the coming decade, the growth potential is enormous, says Weinmann.
"It is not really a question of whether we can afford the hydrogen infrastructure," says Freese. "The question is whether we can afford not to have hydrogen infrastructure if we want to use renewables."
Perhaps I have too much faith in science and technology...? Cost is still an issue, says Oliver Weinmann, head of innovation management for Vattenfall in Germany. He says that the company will be able to produce hydrogen at €3–4 ($4–5.3) per kilogram, compared with €2 per kilogram for hydrogen produced from natural gas. But with Europe looking to expand its use of renewable energy over the coming decade, the growth potential is enormous, says Weinmann.
"It is not really a question of whether we can afford the hydrogen infrastructure," says Freese. "The question is whether we can afford not to have hydrogen infrastructure if we want to use renewables."
dudes setup i see had a header tank off a car with water in, an alloy thing with battery power going in, (he was looking into powering it eventaully from a generator off prop shaft, so it would only be working when van was driving along) the hydrogen produced went into air intake it made van do 75 mpg of diesel instead of about 35
Do I take it you're not a fan of wind power, then...?!
Nope, I'm actually all for wind and solar, but also happen to know its pitfalls and capabilities
