I was watching the Science channel the other day, and a $20,000 "performance" electric car went 0-60 in the same amount of time a $750,000 ferrari enzo would. Are we on the verge of an automotive revolution? Anyone's thoughts on these electric cars? Apparently the transmission only has one gear, and it mentioned that normal every day braking is no longer needed, as when you let off of the gas pedal, the car slows down at a slow, smooth rate. This no-shifting no-brake thing seems a little bit too simple for my pleasure...
On some electric cars, the braking generates power for recharging the batterys. I like the idea of smooth and quiet. We are slowly getting there.............
IP: Logged
04:28 PM
Toddster Member
Posts: 20871 From: Roswell, Georgia Registered: May 2001
I think I saw that one on TechTV. It was a really, REALLY light car, like 1800lbs or something fully loaded with 2 people. I believe it looks kinda like a miata. I think one of the problems they were having was the batteries weren't holding up to many spirited runs, and you were limited range wise... But they were going to switch to something new that was coming out or something... I like it though!
Yes, they did mention the braking part. The momentum of stopping actually serves to recharge the batteries. It has a 300 mile range, and requires 3 hours to recharge, can hook up to any outlet. would make a 1300 mile trip a little irritating But it's more for spirited driving than cross-continental travel, I'm sure you could do it if you were patient though.
IP: Logged
05:53 PM
Boondawg Member
Posts: 38235 From: Displaced Alaskan Registered: Jun 2003
Yes, they did mention the braking part. The momentum of stopping actually serves to recharge the batteries. It has a 300 mile range, and requires 3 hours to recharge, can hook up to any outlet. would make a 1300 mile trip a little irritating But it's more for spirited driving than cross-continental travel, I'm sure you could do it if you were patient though.
*and brought a portable generator* (they are really good on gas!)
IP: Logged
05:56 PM
Boondawg Member
Posts: 38235 From: Displaced Alaskan Registered: Jun 2003
Got me thinking..............(you smell smoke?) How about a series of capasitors hooked to a small gas generator in an electric car? Then use a rectafier to controll the amount of amps to the motor? Capasitors fill fast with small voltage, and fire fast with large voltage, and you could fire them off to the rectifier like a gattling gun. You may need so many of them, that the weight would be prohibitive.............and the energy loss, in the way of heat.............. Ah, forget it!
IP: Logged
06:15 PM
Boondawg Member
Posts: 38235 From: Displaced Alaskan Registered: Jun 2003
hi well known fact , electric motors provide instant on demand TORQUE, no waiting, watch how soon with better batts and motors they cut that time down, downside is limited range and long recharge and wieght concerns..................................................
IP: Logged
06:45 PM
fierodog Member
Posts: 972 From: Mantua, Ohio, USA Registered: Jun 2004
I was thinking of this last week funny it came up here I think it would be awsome if you could cut down all that battery weight the eletric motor could be cool. That probably half the reason they are slow still. I was also thinking this. We have dumpped tons of money into making computer chips more powerful yet smaller at the same time! Well what happened to the solar panel??? One size fits all? I'm sure there is room for improvement there since the design hasn't changed in 20 years!! Why cant they make these smaller and more powerfull? If it evovled like the proccesors we have a cell the size of a calculator cell would power a car? Does this reasoning make scence to anyone else?
IP: Logged
06:45 PM
PFF
System Bot
Boondawg Member
Posts: 38235 From: Displaced Alaskan Registered: Jun 2003
A major European chip maker said this week it had discovered new ways to produce solar cells which will generate electricity twenty times cheaper than today's solar panels.
STMicroelectronics, Europe's largest semiconductor maker, said that, by the end of next year, it expected to have made the first stable prototypes of the new cells, which could then be put into production.
Most of today's solar cells, which convert sunlight into electricity, are produced with expensive silicon, the same material used in most semiconductors.
The French-Italian company expects cheaper organic materials such as plastics to bring down the price of producing energy. Over a typical 20-year life span of a solar cell, a single produced watt should cost as little as $0.20, compared with the current $4.
The new solar cells would even be able to compete with electricity generated by burning fossil fuels such as oil and gas, which costs about $0.40 per watt, said Salvo Coffa, who heads ST's research group that is developing the technology.
IP: Logged
06:50 PM
Boondawg Member
Posts: 38235 From: Displaced Alaskan Registered: Jun 2003
Solar cells work because silicon releases electrons in response to photons in the sun's rays.
If one layer of silicon is treated to make it rich in electrons, and the other treated to make it contain far fewer, then a flow, or electric current can be produced between the two.
Most solar panels are made using crystals of silicon - which make them both expensive to produce, relatively thick, and totally inflexible.
However, Professor John Wilson's team at Heriot-Watt is trying to create solar cells which are as much as 100 times thinner.
He believes that a workable cell can be created by depositing thin films of silicon on to a glass substrate.
These films - only a few microns thick - could in theory be laid on to fabrics, or clothing fibres prior to the weaving process.
IP: Logged
06:54 PM
pokeyfiero Member
Posts: 16233 From: Free America! Registered: Dec 2003
I was thinking of this last week funny it came up here I think it would be awsome if you could cut down all that battery weight the eletric motor could be cool. That probably half the reason they are slow still. I was also thinking this. We have dumpped tons of money into making computer chips more powerful yet smaller at the same time! Well what happened to the solar panel??? One size fits all? I'm sure there is room for improvement there since the design hasn't changed in 20 years!! Why cant they make these smaller and more powerfull? If it evovled like the proccesors we have a cell the size of a calculator cell would power a car? Does this reasoning make scence to anyone else?
it sure does make sense. Necesitiy is the mother of invention.
IP: Logged
06:58 PM
tjfennel Member
Posts: 585 From: Honolulu, HI, USA Registered: May 2003
In a way I'm not surprised someone could do that with a small, light car. A while ago I read something about an electric drag racer that looked like a Top Fuel rail, and I believe I found it through Google:
if Toyota'd just put the Volta into production, we'd have a 'synergy drive' driven 400hp supercar that gets 450miles out of a single fill-up, 4 seconds 0-60 acceleration, and exotic styling. mmmmmmm... i'm having another Voltagasm.
IP: Logged
07:21 PM
ryan.hess Member
Posts: 20784 From: Orlando, FL Registered: Dec 2002
What we need are higher-density energy storage devices... Batteries and chemical storage are 0ld sk00l. Solar cells that produce enough power for a car would have to be larger than the car itself... I think it's time to step up to nuclear power. And nobody say hydrogen! That makes me That's still chemical storage that gets you the same energy out as it costs to split the water through electrolysis.
IP: Logged
07:22 PM
87FieroGTx Member
Posts: 2630 From: Bath, New York, USA Registered: Jun 2001
What we need are higher-density energy storage devices... Batteries and chemical storage are 0ld sk00l. Solar cells that produce enough power for a car would have to be larger than the car itself... I think it's time to step up to nuclear power. And nobody say hydrogen! That makes me That's still chemical storage that gets you the same energy out as it costs to split the water through electrolysis.
This will never happen to many nuke happy groups out there that would majorly abuse this. Of course solar cells are too big thats why i said we need more research to reduce the size and increase power output. According to Boondawg they have started working on it. Its cool they made it cheeper hopefully they sell it that way. If it is clear and that flexible and thin maybe we could use it as clear coating over are paint!! It would be equvilant to a panel the size of the car!! Oh ryan wasn't trying to start a flame war just wouldn't trust my wife with anything nuclear let alone some terrorist somewhere.
heh, nuclear tech. in a car, god knows what the terrorists would think up next, lol. But back on the track, how far down the road until electric cars become much more efficient and reliable than any internal combustion engine? I believe that the internal combustion engines' days are numbered, I agree there will always be some sticking around, but if you can go faster, farther, and cheaper in an electric, what incentive is there to buying a gas-powered engine?
Edit: btw, boondawg, the people that built the 3.4 0-60 electric car used small battery-looking cores as opposed to batteries. They used an astronomical amount, that probly saved alot of weight over a car battery.
Edit #2: sorry guys, misinformation is horrible, they never posted exact numbers on the show, just made you believe that they were the same as a ferrari enzo. the stats can be located here http://www.acpropulsion.com/tzero_pages/tzero_home.htm once again, sorry guys. I remember now that he mentioned that it would last 300 miles with normal in-town stop and go driving, no brakes = no recharge.
Edit #3:all my info seems to be skewed, maybe they were talking about a different version???
James
[This message has been edited by JamesCurtis (edited 08-03-2004).]
IP: Logged
12:10 AM
cccharlie Member
Posts: 2006 From: North Smithfield, RI Registered: Jan 2003
What we need are higher-density energy storage devices... Batteries and chemical storage are 0ld sk00l. Solar cells that produce enough power for a car would have to be larger than the car itself... I think it's time to step up to nuclear power. And nobody say hydrogen! That makes me That's still chemical storage that gets you the same energy out as it costs to split the water through electrolysis.
If hydrogen is the most space efficient and fastest recharging energy storage system, it will be used.
But you are right - producing H2 requires energy - so why not use nukes to produce the hydrogen???? The thought of a nuclear generator in a car is silly at best.
Some day, the world's oil will be depleted. Then, we will build huge nuke plants in barren wastelands like Saudi Arabia and Texas. At that point, the population of those places will have either moved or will be desperate for employment because their only product is gone.
That's still chemical storage that gets you the same energy out as it costs to split the water through electrolysis.
