tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post5000976955716410806..comments2024-03-28T13:53:04.287-05:00Comments on Bayou Renaissance Man: An interesting new approach to the urban runaboutPeterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-35223445440318178692009-06-19T04:07:08.754-05:002009-06-19T04:07:08.754-05:00Series-hybrid is how diesel-electric submarines an...Series-hybrid is how diesel-electric submarines and locomotives work now.Jim Marchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16830919998461849806noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-43088882952871173872009-06-19T04:06:04.950-05:002009-06-19T04:06:04.950-05:00The most efficient setup is to use a small diesel ...The most efficient setup is to use a small diesel set up purely as an electric generator, power a small battery bank with that, power an electric drive motor with the batteries - also known as a "series hybrid".<br /><br />The reason you use diesel is simple: a diesel engine has a very narrow powerband and low peak RPM, which is a problem if you try and use it as a primary drive motor. The narrow powerband is why semis have up to 18 gears. But when a diesel is run in it's very narrow "happy place" of RPMs versus power versus efficiency, they're VERY efficient, moreso than gasoline-type motors (which includes natural gas, propane and alky fuels).<br /><br />So you run a diesel as a generator and keep it 100% of the time in it's "happy place". <br /><br />The efficiency bonus is the ability to do regenerative braking, pulling power out of the wheels and into the battery pack on braking.<br /><br />Note that a diesel-cycle engine can run on other fuels - biodiesel, pure veggie oil if pre-heated, kerosene if tuned right, and some other options. The "diesel cycle" is all about blowing up the fuel through very high compression strokes.<br /><br />Biodiesel via algae sources has huge potential as a renewable fuel source that doesn't conflict with (read: limit or raise prices on) food production the way corn-based fuels do. Diverting food production to fuel is a terrible idea.Jim Marchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16830919998461849806noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-41051737368367004202009-06-18T14:12:38.677-05:002009-06-18T14:12:38.677-05:00Hydrogen is a non-starter. For the range this get...Hydrogen is a non-starter. For the range this gets, batteries will work just as well.<br /><br />Also, leasing is what GM did with the EV-1 , and the business plan was shared by other manufacturers. Unless the local company owns the car, it's far too easy to get them off the road later. I'm not comfortable with that arrangement.<br /><br />On the other hand, it's very easy these days to do small lot manufacturing, even with things like cars, economically. I hope to eventually build such a plant, to manufacture cars for local consumption. The only real problem is safety testing, the demands of the various governments prevent easy entry into the car market. Hopefully I can bypass some of these with local use only contracts.Lorenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14843550881990596267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-52651036059797537142009-06-17T13:23:24.942-05:002009-06-17T13:23:24.942-05:00I hate to rain on someone's symbol...
Hydroge...I hate to rain on someone's symbol...<br /><br />Hydrogen is not an energy source, it is an energy storage medium. And not a very efficient one. Its energy density is so poor that it can't be trucked or piped any appreciable distance without using more energy than you are moving, meaning that it needs to be produced close to its source.<br /><br />See: http://www.energybulletin.net/node/4541Wayne Conradhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10595005905880642013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-53459009392017763962009-06-17T01:54:11.041-05:002009-06-17T01:54:11.041-05:00Spiffy, it's about time someone modernized the...Spiffy, it's about time someone modernized the C2V.<br /><br />-TimTim Dnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-25261521893384278352009-06-17T01:05:02.319-05:002009-06-17T01:05:02.319-05:00The development model is called "open source&...The development model is called "open source" - the entire Linux operating system with most of it's applications is built on this model, summarizable as "if you recieve free, give free".<br /><br />I'm typing this on a cheap ($500 six months ago) laptop that started life with M$-Windows, but is now fully converted to a particular "distribution" of Linux known as "Ubuntu" - assembled in South Africa.<br /><br />This ability to take open-source stuff and modify it any way you want (and then re-distribute that) leads to some strange stuff. For example, somebody packaged up Ubuntu with a porn filter and some Bible study tools and called it "Ubuntu Christian Edition". Which caused copycats in short order - Islamic (even stronger porn filter!) and Hindu variants.<br /><br />Which led inevitably to a parody: Ubuntu Satanic Edition. Google it if you want, be warned the website for same is non-work-safe and the variant itself includes, you guessed it, a porn *index*.<br /><br />So open-source works, but can get weird.<br /><br />Expect some damned peculiar variants of this car, eventually.Jim Marchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16830919998461849806noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-22196669434534926932009-06-17T00:33:56.492-05:002009-06-17T00:33:56.492-05:00I like the technological advances - ultracaps in p...I like the technological advances - ultracaps in particular - but hydrogen is a non-starter. It sounds great on paper but it has to come from somewhere, and that somewhere is either catalyzed natural gas or electrolyzed seawater. <br /><br />JimAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com