Electric cars are a pipe dream

Discussion in 'General Science & Technology' started by Syzygys, May 20, 2010.

  1. elte Valued Senior Member

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    My car has a too-stingy carburetor that causes it to stall (It's defective). I need an electric motor attached to the engine that will not let it drop below idle speed.
     
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  3. DaS Energy Registered Senior Member

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    Hello elte,

    It may be cheaper to provide a degree of force to the idler screw?

    Cheers Peter
     
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  5. elte Valued Senior Member

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    Howdy Peter, oddly, the idle circuit is probably the only portion of the carburetor that works correctly! Once it finally will keep running and the cranking the starter motor can be discontinued, the car idles okay. However, when the gas pedal is pressed, the engine stalls. The accelerator pump seems not to be working, at the very least. I intend to inquire into the availability of a carburetor rebuild kit or some other option to try to fix the problem.
     
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  7. billvon Valued Senior Member

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    > I need an electric motor attached to the engine that will not let it drop below idle speed.

    I think a new carburetor would be a lot cheaper!
     
  8. elte Valued Senior Member

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    1,345
    >I think a new carburetor would be a lot cheaper!

    Indeed, thanks!
     
  9. Billy T Use Sugar Cane Alcohol car Fuel Valued Senior Member

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    with a twist on what is meant by "Electric cars" here is coming concern:

    "... Car-hacking: Bluetooth and other security issues: It's not time for full-on panic, but researchers have already successfully applied brakes remotely, listened into conversations and more. " from: http://www.computerworld.com/s/arti...y_issues?source=CTWNLE_nlt_dailyam_2012-08-06

    Story tells of one set of ~100 rental cars that were remotely stopped and horns turned on.
     
  10. Billy T Use Sugar Cane Alcohol car Fuel Valued Senior Member

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    Not a hybrid but cheaper and selling well as exports:
    Billy T question: Don´t almost all cars use asbestos containing break shoe pads? They are slowly ground up but gaskets in between parts of an exhaust system get no wear. Why what seem to be a double standard (and backwards)?
     
  11. Trippy ALEA IACTA EST Staff Member

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    No, not generally.

    Asbestos used to be used in brake pads, but has been phased out in favour of things such as (other) mineral fibres, cellulose, Aramid, PAN, copper fibres (also being phased out in places) and even chopped glass or steel.
     
  12. quant Registered Member

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    Electric cars have both good mileage, I think the Nissan leaf gives something like 100 m on a full charge and are far more efficient in energy use than IC petrol engines. This can easily be verified by looking at the watt hours ( or equivalent) used. For instance the Nissan Leaf has a battery capacity of about 23 KWh, a full charge gives 100 m (approx.) If a gallon of petrol is equivalent to 11KWh and the mileage is on average about 35 mpg, then it is possible to see that the electric car is about 1.5 times (approx) more efficient than an IC petrol engine. It is not the efficiency or the mileage that is the problem with electric cars, but the grid. If a large scale shift to electric cars took place the grid would not be able to cope. This is because cars use the energy consumed by an ordinary household during a single day i.e., about 18 KWh to travel about 50 m. in less than an hour. So everything will have to be scaled up to meet this demand. This in turn will mean that existing fossil fuel reserves, coal or oil are going to disappear at an exponential rate. So it is better to wait until a better more sustainable solution comes along.
     
  13. Syzygys As a mother, I am telling you Valued Senior Member

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    Untippable gyroscopic electric motorcycle:

    http://techcrunch.com/2012/09/10/li...e-market-with-its-two-wheeled-untippable-c-1/

    " The initial price will be $24,000 when the C-1 is expected to launch in 2014 and will take a year or two to drop down to $16,000. As it scales to being mass market (~100,000) around 2018, the price of the C-1 will drop down to $12,500. It is not only expected to top out at over 100 MPH but has an estimated range of up to 200 miles per charge and will go from 0-60 in roughly six seconds."

    if you watch the video in the link, this is basicly a 2 wheeled car. It behaves and drives like a car....
     
  14. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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  15. X-Man2 We're under no illusions. Registered Senior Member

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    The Germans have been busy at work developing the ebuggy and have claimed success with their prototypes.What is an ebuggy? It's a battery trailer that pushes an electric car.The plan is to have ebuggy exchange stations scattered about the Country so one can travel any distance on electric power.They claim it is cheaper than the battery exchange idea being implemented in other areas.Check it out.

    http://www.ebuggy.com/
     
  16. billvon Valued Senior Member

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    Forget battery trailer. Just use a gas (or propane, or ethanol, or biodiesel) powered pusher trailer. Rent one when you need to go long distances.
     
  17. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    That's an interesting idea. I didn't see how much extra range you might get out of one ebuggy trailer, but it's got to be better than being stuck in town or stopping for 30 minute recharge every 90 to 100 miles.
     
  18. Syzygys As a mother, I am telling you Valued Senior Member

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  19. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    Anyway you want to do the accounting, that car is out of my price range. If they want to be competitive, they need to be closer to the price of a Prius. To do that they will need to knock about $10,000 off the sticker price. I would like to know how they plan to do that?
     
  20. Stoniphi obscurely fossiliferous Valued Senior Member

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    From your fingers on the keyboard into GM's ears.

    I don't know how they did that, but they announced on the GMA morning news today that they are indeed knocking $10k off the price of a Volt.

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    Also saw an ad for a Hyundai electric that has a lifetime warranty on the battery and touts 100 miles on a full charge.
     
  21. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    Even so, $30,000 is still a bit high for my taste. Think I'll wait for Volt 2 in a couple of years.

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  22. Stoniphi obscurely fossiliferous Valued Senior Member

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    Yeah, I hear you on that. I hope to keep my ride putting with me for several more years myself. Hope they nail down some serious hybrid technology by that time for a decent price. A major battery breakthrough would indeed help on that score considerably.
     
  23. DaS Energy Registered Senior Member

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    Hello Syzygs,

    Question. On what premise do you base all ectric cars need a battery. Electricity does not need be stored but may taken direct from alternator to electric motor. There be no reason electricity why electricity need first be passed to a battery. Electricity need be generated somewhere so why not under the hood. This can be simply done 24/7, no museum technology needed.

    Cheers Peter

    Cheers Peter
     

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