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See the original image at aussiecynic.com

Let the Power Move You!

aussiecynic.com — For many years we have heard talk about the electric car. The Machine which will replace the Petrol Motor with an environmentally friendly version, a non emitting vehicle.There is no reason why we should be paying anybody to power our cars, to recharge our electric vehicles.

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  • jeddjohnson, on 07/07/2008, -1/+10I'll be making a purchase on new car in the coming months and am definitely looking at getting something that is more fuel efficient than the explorer I have been driving all over the east the last 5 years.
    • AussieCynic, on 07/07/2008, -1/+5have you thought of a bio fuel conversion... you can run diesel vehcles from used chip shop cooking oil?
    • Pittance, on 07/08/2008, -0/+3Do you have any idea what kind of crap you have to go through to get the oil to run? Collection, filtering, and a slight processing depending, then itll run. Thats not including what it would take to modify the car. Also, do you know if the car is street legal seeing as it is a major modification without much precedent? The collection alone would be a huge pain. Either you bring a tanker truck to a frito-lay factory, or you go around town to the fast food joints to collect your fuel. Also, since it is still burning an organic compound, it would still emit pollution. It would have to pass emissions and inspection, or it would be illegal.

      Btw jedd. Just about anything is more fuel efficient than a damn explorer. What possessed you to buy a huge mammon of steel as a primary transport in the first place?
  • hmd1987, on 07/07/2008, -1/+9you make an excellent argument...indeed the only problem is that the alternative
    fuel companies want to be the new oil companies. hence, i doubt anyone will want
    to mass produce a battery-operated car that can recharge while you drive - it makes too much sense and saves too much of the people's money! haha.
    • billbugger, on 07/08/2008, -0/+1unless it's the car companies that want to be the next oil companies
  • sexyromio, on 07/07/2008, -3/+7i will buy this car.
    but you have to give me resources of it's repairing garrages
    :)
    • fixty, on 07/07/2008, -0/+6huh? anyway electric cars have vastly fewer parts than gas cars, so maintenance should be less of an issue all things being equal.
      • Cancerkitty, on 07/07/2008, -3/+4That may be, but while we're in transition from traditional engines, qualified mechanics will probably be outrageously expensive, as will replacement parts.
  • fixty, on 07/07/2008, -0/+27FTA:

    "But I was wondering why these cars are not self charging? After over 171 years of discussion, I would have thought the human race would have progressed so much further with this than we have. We have turbine technology, it isnt difficult to run a small turbine, eg Alternator to recharge the electric battery cells as you drive along, my car does this now. The alternator is turned by the fan belt which in turn charges the cars battery…. I can not see why such technology can not be used in an electric car. Many of these Electric cars are either front or rear wheel drive why is it not possible to use the remaining front or rear axel to turn an alternator which recharges the batteries as the vehicle is driven along? But then again how would big business make any money out of us if they cant charge us for the fuel we are using. Perhaps it is time for a complete rethink of things are run!"

    *smacks forehead*
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perpetual_motion
    • AussieCynic, on 07/07/2008, -5/+4I have heard the perpetual motion arguement and it doesnt stand up because it is not a perpetual motion issue...
      The car starts via the battery as with all electric cars, then it is matter of the alternator charging the battery cells as it is driven along...
      Your cars alternator currently charges your cars battery whilst the radio, air con, dvd electrics etc are running this is no different...
      It is the same as charging and using Solar Panels to run your house electricity you do not turn of your house to charge your Solar cells they charge on a continuous basis a electric car should be no different...
      Perpetual motion is completely different...
      • LittlemanTAMU, on 07/07/2008, -0/+8No, you don't have to "turn off your house" because the solar system is usually sized to generate more energy than you use and charge batteries with the extra energy that you can use at night.

        If you run an alternator off your electric car, you're just diverting useful energy through a lossy process to recharge the car's batteries at a net energy loss (i.e. the process wastes energy). Alternators exist in automobiles with internal combustion engines because there are electronics in them and they need a supply of electricity to run everything. They're just a way of converting the mechanical energy of the engine into electricity. If your power source is already electricity, there's no reason for an alternator. Regenerative braking, etc. is what's completely different (and actually useful).
      • AussieCynic, on 07/07/2008, -5/+3Thats why I possed the question... why cant you?
        to see if there are alternated ways to charge the batteries.. the answer everyones seems to say is the perpetual motions which does not fit...
        There are ways of converting the energy to electricity without the loss from the vehicle itself though so it is not an illusion or impossible as we are being led to believe... I have heard of the regenerative braking system, but only used in Hybrids with petrol electric...
      • GiJoeBob, on 07/07/2008, -0/+10You cannot do it because you would be using more energy running the alternator than you would be getting out of it.
      • doctechnical, on 07/07/2008, -0/+16Putting an alternator on an axle will add load to the axle, that is, make it harder to turn. This requires more energy to be drained from the batteries to turn that axle. The amount of energy you "recover" from the alternator will be LESS than the amount you drained from the battery to turn it in the first place - in other words, you lose energy in the process. You'll drain the batteries faster and lower your overall range.

        Physics is a bitch: You can't win, you can't break even, and you can't leave the game.
      • AgentMull, on 07/08/2008, -0/+4"There are ways of converting the energy to electricity without the loss from the vehicle itself though so it is not an illusion or impossible as we are being led to believe... I have heard of the regenerative braking system, but only used in Hybrids with petrol electric..."
        Congratulations! You have just won a Nobel Prize in Physics for your discovery of free energy.

        Energy is ALWAYS conserved. When your car is moving along, it has a certain amount of kinetic energy which is half of the product of your total mass and your velocity squared. If you take any of that energy away (i.e. running an alternator off of your wheels, heating up your brakes by using them) you take some of that kinetic energy away and convert it into either heat, noise or some form of 'waste,' or potential energy. You can't get more energy out of your moving car than your engine put into getting it moving in the first place.
      • fixty, on 07/08/2008, -0/+5Aussie - I didn't mean to be dismissive. It's good to ask questions about electric vehicles. They rule!

        So here's an experiment that you can perform yourself that will help clear up the alternator issue:
        -Start up your gas car and let it idle.
        -Make sure the lights are off and the AC is off.
        -Now listen to the engine and watch the r.p.m. guage - this should give you a "baseline" reading for the experiment.
        -Note the alternator is now under "minimal load" because nothing electrical is switched on.
        -Now switch on the air conditioning and high beams and watch the r.p.m. gauge drop and listen for the sound the engine makes.

        The r.p.m. count should have dropped a bit and the engine should have sounded like it was working a bit harder. This is because the car is now drawing a lot of electricity from the battery to power the electronics and this in turn increases the "load" on the alternator to replenish the battery - it actually becomes physically harder for the gas engine to turn the alternator's shaft when it's under load like this. This means more gas must be used to do so.

        Another way to think of it: A car's wheels are harder for the engine to turn when the car is going up hill. This means more gas is needed to do so because the wheels are under heavy load. Think of the alternator as another wheel that your car's engine must turn. When the alternator is under load it becomes harder for the gas engine to turn it too.

        Once this concept is clear, understanding why alternators can't be used to continually (perpetually) charge an electric car's batteries may become more clear - Just as putting the alternator under load in a gas car makes the engine use more gas, putting an alternator under load in an electric car to charge its batteries would put the electric car motor turning that alternator under more load, which would cause the electric car motor to use more electricity than the alternator could replace. For "the system" (motor, alternator, battery) to do otherwise, to create more energy than went into it, would violate the conservation of energy law in physics.

        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation_of_energ ...

        I hope this was maybe a more clear explanation.
      • andyd273, on 07/08/2008, -0/+2So, I'm assuming this is how regenerative braking works?
        Instead of having brake pads, you simply have a few alternators hooked up to the axles, but without any tension on the belts. Then when you push the brake peddle, the belts engage, drag is caused, and the car slows.
        The harder you push on the brake, the more alternator belts engage, or maybe a gearing system so that the alternator spins faster, which would cause more drag. Then, as a final back up, just in case a belt snaps, you put brake pads in that engage if pressure is applied to the peddle and there is not enough drag on the axle.
        I am not an engineer, but from my limited knowledge that is how I would set it up.
        Am I close?
    • DrDoogie, on 07/08/2008, -0/+0Oh Snap!!! A Joke... Earth to Matil, its not like we think we are in some sort of car that breaks the laws of physics!!!
    • shadowspawn, on 07/08/2008, -0/+1As a kid it took a long, long time to figure out why perpetual motion couldn't happen. My dad was an engineer and he tried his best... then it dawned on me. well, a lightbulb went on.

      I actually smiled from that quote from the article. It does give hope, y'know. It's honest and from the heart... some things that you think should work but don't, well they seem like they make sense until you dive into the world of physics. Or go to the Smithsonian and turn that cool wheel with the weights.

      I still think regenerative breaking is the fist key. And highway conveyor belts.
  • BCCStu, on 07/07/2008, -0/+10I want this. And a Stanley Steamer.
  • AmyVernon, on 07/07/2008, -0/+11i honestly had no idea the electric car went back so far. huh.
  • kavutu, on 07/07/2008, -0/+5I have one of these!!!
  • hep2djive, on 07/07/2008, -1/+2does that THANG have a hemi?
  • sukmydigg, on 07/07/2008, -0/+5I'm also surprised by the electric car's historical presence. Maybe they'll finally be able to mass-produce one soon.
    • tim620, on 07/08/2008, -0/+1I've been waiting for mass-produced electric cars for years. If it is coming soon, I welcome it. Maybe something good will come out of the high gas prices.
  • Fangsinmybeard, on 07/07/2008, -0/+2The technology for clean transportation has been around for more than a century, yet we get our asses handed to us by some greedy bastard who likes to poison everything he touches.
  • SinisterSaracen, on 07/08/2008, -0/+2Forget electric, where's my bloody Flux Capacitor?!
  • Rewebbed, on 07/08/2008, -1/+2"Let The Power Move You!" ? who writes this crap?
    • Pittance, on 07/08/2008, -3/+2Aussiecynic. Hes responding a lot above. he also appears to be an idiot who does not understand basic physics.
  • orangekid13, on 07/08/2008, -0/+5if you really want to go green, nix the demand for all those materials and go buy a bike and a bus pass
    • andyd273, on 07/08/2008, -0/+2Eh, I bike the 8 miles to work sometimes, but the roads along the way are not the best place to be biking... quite busy.
      Sadly no real mass transit in this area.
      If only we could all be so lucky.
      • AussieCynic, on 07/08/2008, -0/+2We have no public transport either, it is 180km to the closest major town... I am can not ride a bike 180km through the mountain ranges of where I am either...
        no buses, no trains no alternative except car
  • nontoxyc, on 07/08/2008, -1/+1Electric cars are great, don't get me wrong, the only small problem is that the battery alone costs about $10,000 and lasts for about 5 years. Guess what it takes to make the battery? Lots and lots of oil.

    Battery powered cars have these limitations: the battery is big, heavy, and expensive, it takes oil to produce the battery, and then the battery wears out after a short time and has to be replaced. That's why there's no mass-produced battery-operated car.

    You want a green car look at compressed air cars.
    • breadfred, on 07/08/2008, -0/+1Don't forget your ear muffles. Or do they come for free? On a serious note, all energy has to come from somewhere. It does not come for free, however much we want it to. What we really need is a type of energy that does not harm the environment when harvesting it. The medium we use to transport this energy to your car is not that important at this stage.
  • chiefbandit2200, on 07/09/2008, -0/+1” Oh well, we will leave at that the rest is to much like hard work, we can all a few dollars of this so lets leave it…”

    huh? guy needs to learn to write
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