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Electrics : Cars powered by electricity


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Want to be crushed like a beer can?

 

Try this car:

 

Available in California since Oct.2009 - starts at $25,000

 

With this one:

 

You can fly to work

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The Electric car can reduce considerable amont of Green house gases. powerlines are high voltage, because the high voltage means less current and therefore less resistance DISIP less energy to heat. Tesla wanted to put it in the atmosphere, but his experience never quite took off (sorry for the pun unintentional). Storage has always been the issue.

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I don't think there's a big difference with electrics and not when it comes to car. Cars powered by electricity is also using coal because in order to create the electricity or power that we are using everyday most companies are using coal so there's no difference in that. It's still the same so better to just get a hybrid rather than cars that are powered by electricity. In hybrid we can guarantee that it is environment friendly and is saving gas.

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I don't think there's a big difference with electrics and not when it comes to car. Cars powered by electricity is also using coal because in order to create the electricity or power that we are using everyday most companies are using coal so there's no difference in that. It's still the same so better to just get a hybrid rather than cars that are powered by electricity. In hybrid we can guarantee that it is environment friendly and is saving gas.

Chinese scientist working in the UK invents wee powered fuel cell

 

http://2ndgreenrevolution.com/2010/08/27/n...red-fuel-cells/

 

Not Just for Treating Jellyfish Stings; Urine Powered Fuel Cells

by Justin Manger on August 27th, 2010

 

Is the urea – also called carbamide – found in urine a waste that may be too precious to waste? NewScientist hints that it might be a new source of fuel for producing renewable energy. “An adult produces enough urine each year to drive a car 1678 miles (2700 km) on energy from the urea it contains, according to calculations by Shanwen Tao, who develops urea-powered fuel cells at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, UK.” Dr Shanwen Tao and his research partner Dr Rong Lan have developed a prototype (diagram below) that does just that. Dr. Tao explains how he came upon the idea:

 

“Growing up in rural eastern China I was aware of the use of urea as an agricultural fertiliser. When I became a chemist and was looking at fuel cell development I thought of using it in the process. We are only at prototype stage at present, but if this renewable material can be used as a commercially viable and environmentally friendly energy source then we will be absolutely delighted, and many people around the world will benefit.”

 

 

But how is it collected?

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A lot of people told that electric car is a zero emissions vehicle (ZEV.) If the electricity comes from a clean source the EV will be part of a Zero emissions vehicle transportation system. Even the combination of an electric vehicle and a coal fired power station is cleaner than a gasoline vehicle. http://www.electroauto.com/info/pollmyth.shtml

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I don't think there's a big difference with electrics and not when it comes to car. Cars powered by electricity is also using coal because in order to create the electricity or power that we are using everyday most companies are using coal so there's no difference in that. It's still the same so better to just get a hybrid rather than cars that are powered by electricity. In hybrid we can guarantee that it is environment friendly and is saving gas.

Well, they should sell the Nissan Leaf, for example, as a 'set' with enough solar panels for your garage/house to charge it. That way we save on using coal and its electric other than for the cost of the car and the panels plus installation.

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Nissan Leaf

feature-3.jpg

 

Park it here?

solar-panels.jpg

 

You can also think of the Leaf as a storage battery on wheels

 

Solar costs are dropping...

 

Berkeley, CA — The installed cost of solar photovoltaic (PV) power systems in the United States fell substantially in 2010 and into the first half of 2011, according to the latest edition of an annual PV cost tracking report released by the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab).

The average installed cost of residential and commercial PV systems completed in 2010 fell by roughly 17 percent from the year before, and by an additional 11 percent within the first six months of 2011. These recent installed cost reductions are attributable, in part, to dramatic reductions in the price of PV modules. Galen Barbose of Berkeley Lab’s Environmental Energy Technologies Division and co-author of the report explains: “Wholesale PV module prices have fallen precipitously since about 2008, and those upstream cost reductions have made their way through to consumers.”

===

http://newscenter.lbl.gov/news-releases/2011/09/15/tracking-the-sun-iv/

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BATTERIES (& Condensors) are important

 

Production of Electric Transport Vehicles, Motor-wheels and Super Condensers

 

Supercondensers

supercondenser-01.jpg

 

Ecological clean traction and impulse supercondenser banks are the quick-recharged sources of electric power with long cycle life. The less charging time is achieved in comparison with storage batteries! They are intended for electric power supply to various users of low and medium power to which severe requirements are applied on ecology cleanness, cycle lifetime and readiness for operation.

 

more: http://www.energia.r...rcondenser.html

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Here's John Thomas (aka MadHedgeFundTrader) on his iLeaf...;

 

 

 

"The Final Word on the Electric Nissan Leaf

 

After driving my all-electric Nissan Leaf four-door hatchback for two years, my final conclusion is that it is absolutely the perfect second car for most American families. Some 90% of all US driving is less than 40 miles a day, and this car is targeted at that market.

 

If a spouse has a reliable daily round trip commute of less than the car’s 80-mile range, this is your car. The ideal combination is to own a Leaf and a hybrid SUV for those long distance ski weekends, visits to out-of-state relatives, and road trips in general.

 

The real revelation comes when you realize that this is a car that creates its own fuel. When I depart the Berkeley Hills and reach the entrance to the Oakland Bay Bridge ten miles away, I have more power than when I started. That’s because the trip is entirely downhill. Wow!

 

There are other benefits beyond flipping your local Exxon station the bird when you cruise by. I often find handwritten notes stuck under my windshield wipers from young women asking for rides. When you are 61, such offers come increasingly few and far between. That alone is worth the cost of purchase. Now, I only use gas station for their toilets and air pumps, which somehow seems appropriate.

 

You can get all of this for $38,000, of which $7,500 can be applied as a federal tax credit. Or you can go to your local Nissan dealer, where you can pick up a used model in new condition with 16,000 miles on the clock for $20,000. Given that you are no longer spending $4,000 a year on gas and tune ups, you easily amortize the entire cost of a new car in in ten years. Expect to get a lot of thumbs up from bystanders as you silently drive by.

 

This is not a souped up golf cart by any means. After comfortably sliding my 6’4′ frame behind the wheel, I asked the salesman to pack the car with beefcake so I could give it a real test. Three farm boys from Tennessee, real heifers, dutifully piled in. It made no difference; the car took off like a Porsche.

 

When I first got the car, I tore off down the freeway at 90 mph, gleefully weaving in and out of the lumbering, gas guzzling GM Suburban’s, Cadillac Escalades, and Ford Excursions that inhabit California state highway 24. Eventually I throttled off, lest I get California’s first zero emissions speeding ticket.

The Leaf can be recharged from dead flat at home on a 240-volt plug in eight hours, or at your friend’s house in 16 hours at 110 volts. A GPS mapping system constantly displays your remaining range, as well as the locations of the nearest charging stations. If you run out of juice on the freeway, Nissan offers free roadside service with an immediate recharge. With a 600-pound lithium ion battery lining the bottom of the chassis, it has tremendous stability, and corners like it is on rails. The battery comes with an eight-year warranty and a ten-year life.

 

One problem is that the car is utterly soundless. That is an issue driving in shopping mall parking lots, when clueless kids, especially those wearing ear buds, walk directly in front of a moving car. It is just a matter of time before the state mandates required cartones for electric cars in motion.

 

When I took delivery of one of the first American Leaf’s, I was a pioneer. The entire San Francisco Bay area had only 25 public charging stations. More than a few times I ducked into sushi shops with a 100-foot extension cord in search of enough juice to get home. Once, I convinced the bemused parking attendants at the San Francisco Opera House to unplug their coffee machine to recharge my car. Even then, I coasted into my garage on my last couple of electrons, the car shouting warnings at me all the way. The pathfinder days are now long gone. Today, there are over 500 charging stations in this part of California.

 

I have to say that it helped being a pilot and a scientist. Calculation of range and fuel consumed to destination come as second nature to me. If I didn’t, I would have found my place at the bottom of the Atlantic, the Pacific, or the Persian Gulf, ages ago. So I would think twice about buying one of these for a right-brained high school English teacher with no technical aptitude whatsoever.

 

Figuring out the car’s actual performance was a mutual learning experience for both Nissan and me. There were quite a few calls to their engineers to discuss glitches and workarounds in the early days. Finally, Nissan sent a product development guy from Japan to discuss design of the second generation Leaf. By the way, their stock has been on fire for the past three months, up some 25%, as the weakening yen boosts their global competitiveness.

 

My local utility has been cheering from the sidelines. PG&E is offering a special Plug-in-Vehicle rate of only 4.6 cent per kilowatt hour from 12:00 am to 7:00 am, compared to the standard top tier rate of 40 cents per hour, an 89% discount. That means the Leaf’s 80-mile trip cost me 92 cents. This is the same as buying all the gasoline I want at 23 cents per gallon! In other words, the fuel is basically free.

 

When I asked the chief engineer about maintenance costs, I got a blank stare. Then he answered in a deadpan fashion, ‘there is no maintenance’. During the first 100,000 miles, the only expenses will be for brake pads and tires, as the 107 horsepower electric induction engine only has five moving parts operating at room temperature. Even the brake pads last forever, since the regenerative braking system does most of the stopping to generate more electric power. Instead of tune-ups, you get software upgrades. Only the tires need to be rotated every 8,000 miles.

 

Alas, it is time for me to move on from my beloved Leaf. As with a first high school love, the excitement of the unfamiliar eventually wears off, and you start looking to trade up. I also could use more performance. In the electric, zero emissions car world, that means buying a brand Tesla S-1 performance model (TSLA), which I will pick up at the Fremont, California factory as soon as I finish writing this letter. I’ll let you know how she works out, once I have broken her in."

NSANY-1-14-13.jpg

Electric-Car.jpg

 

Sounds great as long as there are charging stations or you don't need to go far...

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we may need to look at a similair system to trains

overhead cables or a side rail where power can be accessed

As our motorways have already blighted the countryside maybe

the installation of wind turbines/solar panels along the route would meet less opposition

and help provide clean energy for clean vehicles directly

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The Seaway was designed to mimic body action...

I'm sure that (Segway inventor) Kamen learned from his failure and is working on something else as his interests involve finding solutions to many of our world's problems in the medical and environmental areas. He is currently working on solutions to clean water in third-world countries' date=' low cost, clean power generation, and many others. He invented the portable dialysis machine among many other modern medical devices that have improved the lives of many people.[/quote']

 

No doubt, his next invention will be better.

 

I have only known well one great inventor in my life, that's Sir Clive Sinclair. He invented the pocket calulator and the Personal Computer - that's great going IMO.

 

sovibrant+sinclair+c5_2.jpg

 

But not all of Clive's inventions succeeded. The C-5 Electric Car never quite lived up to his expectations for it. I reckon it was too low, and hence those navigating it never felt safe in traffic. But if everyone was at the same height, it might have worked. Maybe some advanced community would ban cars, and allow only low electric vehicles, like Sinclair's. Then the C-5 might make a comeback.

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Yeah.

Maybe we need a SHIFT in how we think about batteries.

 

Most breakthroughs are "outside the box", rather than mere refinements of what came before

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