Electric Vehicles (EV) and Hybrids are promising technologies although still in their infancy. As a consumer, hybrids cannot be justified from a pure economic standpoint, take this Wired article I previously mentioned as an aside:
Hybrids can cost from $1,500 to $4,500 more than their gas-only equivalents. The new mileage estimates mean it will take longer to recoup that extra cost in money saved on gas. Experts say the shift could dampen demand, although some hybrids will look better on paper than others.
According to a formula devised by Edmunds, it would take nearly 10 years to recoup the extra costs after buying a 2007 Mercury Mariner Hybrid, up from 6.6 according to the old mileage ratings. For the 2007 Honda Accord and Honda Civic hybrids it takes 14.5 and 6.5 years, respectively.
Economically, it’s hard to justify the purchase of a hybrid, considering the average length of ownership is less than 10 years. Electric cars aren’t any better, worse in fact. Consider the cost of batteries in the Tesla Roadster. $20,000 - the cost of 6,831 Lithium Ion Lap Top Batteries. Hardly worth considering, with the exception of a specialty car, which is the approach Tesla has wisely taken.
What is needed is a serious R & D effort to develop batteries for vehicle applications. Using power storage developed for mobile devices is expensive and ineffective. Using them as a platform for Electric vehicle development seems like a band aid approach to the problem. This is where efforts like GM and A123 Systems are so important. A123 has a Lithium Ion battery chemistry that is lighter, more compact and safer than conventional Li-Ion technologies. Now throw in some economy of scale and EV designers can stop using band aids.
Yes, you read that right, and it’s no typo. I have just one word: cool.
The car is powered by a 325bhp two stage Curtis turbine, fed via 4 LPG fired boilers. The current official steam powered land speed record was set in 1906 by Fred Marriott at 121.57mph. In 1984 Bob Barber attempted with a one way run of 145.607mph, a fire prevented the return run, therefore it is not recognized as a record. The Inspiration Team expect to get 200mph+ from their streamliner. Like I said, cool.
Read more
I flew home from Ft Lauderdale today, and I enjoy picking up a random magazine for a flight - like junk food for the brain. Today I bought the May 2007 copy of Popular Science, in it a special on the “Future Of The Car“. Interesting read, as a gearhead I have been reading articles on alternates for some time. One thing that strikes me as poor design in the Javelin Speedsled - a design flaw that seems to be commonly overlooked in several designs (see GM’s Skateboard concept); are hub mounted motors at each wheel. It has obvious benefits, like an open frame for liberal seating and body configurations. The flaw is this: disregard for unsprung weight, and rotating mass. It’s simple: the lower the weight of a wheel, brake and suspension assembly, the better the vehicle will ‘hold the road’. I don’t know about you, but I feel that future cars should out perform existing ones, in safety, as well as balls to the wall performance. The solution is a simple one, move the motors to the chassis, thus becoming sprung weight, and run short drive shafts to the wheels. I’m more than willing to retain a ‘conventional’ (read: existing) seating arrangement for function, these seating arrangements have served human transport well for over a century, why change it now?
I have more to discuss here than I have time right now, so more to come on this in future posts.
