Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I can hardly wait to see the size of the electric motor that can move a 18 wheeler with 40 ,000 kilos of cargo in it. Not going to happen. No body seems to think about the drawbacks to the wonderful idea of electric vehicles.
xxx.
I'd watch for the Tesla semi unveiling later in October. Cummins has already unveiled their concept.
What's not to like about an electric truck? 100% of engine torque is achieved at 0 RPM. Batteries are the limiting factor
This should have happened long ago actually, I strongly believe they have been suppressing vehicle technology for many years, all for the sake of the oil and gas industry, as well as the 100s of other industries that feed off gas/ diesel cars in general. Its 2017 folks, no one should still be using internal combustion engines.
Nikola Tesla had plans for an electromagnetic car, that had a small number of moving parts, the reason it was suppressed and classified was because its fuel could not be 'metered' out and sold to the public like gas or oil. Its been MANY MANY years since Tesla came with this, cant imagine what they have in the current SAPs!!
Believe half of what you see and practically none of what you read about Nik Tesla. It's easy to credit him with inventions that he gave vague descriptions of without ever building a working prototype, applying for usable patents, or providing actual working plans. Just don't.
And no, nobody builds a working machine then destroys it without leaving records because it is 'too dangerous'.
And NOTHING that could make someone a profit can ever be 'suppressed'. It will find its way to market.
I'd watch for the Tesla semi unveiling later in October. Cummins has already unveiled their concept.
What's not to like about an electric truck? 100% of engine torque is achieved at 0 RPM. Batteries are the limiting factor
Not to mention you don't have to smell those stinking diesel fumes. They always give me a headache.
Because I live next to a major shipping line railroad, I get to experience that wonderful aroma every day. I suppose the diesel electric locomotive will be the last to go all electric, if ever. I can't a battery large enough to do that job. And what about range of travel? Those trains travel thousands of miles without ever being shut down.
You say "many" but in terms of a percentage of the population, you are talking about less than 1% who frequently drive 600 miles in a single sitting aside from one-off vacations. Additionally, aside from people residing in a city, most families have two cars. The idea is that the electric cars are for the daily commute and the gas cars are for the trips.
I don't know why people keep raising this red herring.
It's not a red herring to people who travel frequently. Do you have statistics on how many cars people who often travel long distances own? I'm not arguing with anyone; I asked a legitimate question. If you don't have a factual answer there is no need to attempt to bolster your argument with your own red herrings.
I can hardly wait to see the size of the electric motor that can move a 18 wheeler with 40 ,000 kilos of cargo in it. Not going to happen. No body seems to think about the drawbacks to the wonderful idea of electric vehicles.
xxx.
Pretty much all trains & nearly all the really big earthmoving equipment out there is, and has been (for a looooong time) powered by a diesel generator powering electric motors. A semi is a small load for electric motors.
Oh, the electric motor isn't the problem. All big locomotives, whether diesel or electric use electric motors at the axle end (the diesel only drives a generator to power the electric motor). The largest mining trucks are electric. Even the largest ships use electric motors.
The real issue with electric cars is energy storage. Battery technology just isn't there yet. Actually what I envision would be a small turbine driving a genset that would charge the battery when needed. That would be the most thermally efficient set up I can think off with current technology because the genset could be designed to only kick in when needed and operate at it's optimum efficiency with the battery taking the surge loads.
These hybrids go back to before WWII. The catch is you need something to GENERATE ELECTRICITY. You can't just install a magic wall plug and get "clean power" from the wall.
Power generation will be nuke, coal, NG, or oil for a while. Windmills and solar are not the Nirvana solution, they have plenty of problems that nobody wants to talk about while pretending everything is peachy.
Aircraft will be powered by jets for a while. Rockets too.
My grandfather went to town as a youth in something pulled by horses.
Pretty much the same way my family went to town and got around for the previous couple thousand years.
His birth predates flight, antibiotics, phones and a host of other inventions. (I'm in my late 40's).
Oh and his farm got 60 bushels of corn and acre and now gets 180.
I just don't think some of us stop and soberly contemplate the pace of technological development and just how much things are going to change in the next 10-20 years, let alone 50.
Just look at TV as we know it right now as well as the war on box retail. The pace of change right now is something historians will point to centuries from now when we're all long in the ground.
*shrug* There is a lot of money to be made solving electric motors and battery storage etc. I have complete faith in the power of money to attract some minds that will do amazing things. Buckle up sweethearts, change is the new normal.
Many people in the DC area commute more than 60 miles one way, because housing is so expensive close in. Current electric cars might be able to make it both ways on one charge, when they are relatively new, but as anything battery driven ages, the longevity of the charge diminishes. If forced to buy one, I would want to carry a portable generator and a gallon of gas in the car to make sure I can get home at night. If everybody does that, I hope they solve the accident problem.
I can picture a bunch of cars on the side of the road with a little honda generator plugged into it spewing fumes in the early evening.
I don't think we would want conductors embedded in the road, nor overhead wires like they had in cities with trollies in years gone by, in order to provide power on the fly.
Of course, GM can always count on a bailout from the US government when they go belly up on this idea.
The real issue with electric cars is energy storage. Battery technology just isn't there yet.
Pressurized-water reactors. Forget batteries. Clean nuclear-powered, electric cars and aircraft are the future. In fact weren't they talk about something like that back in the 50s/60s?
"The NEW Isotope 5000! Never needs refueling or plugging in! Just add water and hit the road! Drives 100000 miles on a single enriched uranium fuel pellet!"
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
