why haven't any of the big auto manufacturers done this yet? the only real downside to an all-electric car is limited range... well, throw a gas-powered generator on board and use it to charge the batteries during extended highway jaunts, and you have the best of everything.
I think it said that there are no mechanical brakes on it. so when you slow down you charge the battery back up.
I didn't see what it ran in the quarter but I imagine it should be pretty quick with that 0 to 60 time.
Brown Eye wrote:why haven't any of the big auto manufacturers done this yet? the only real downside to an all-electric car is limited range... well, throw a gas-powered generator on board and use it to charge the batteries during extended highway jaunts, and you have the best of everything.
It costs a fortune...
Reliability is questionable...
Batteries have numerous problems by themselves...
It's heavy...
Requires more space...
Still, this Volt is coming, so we'll see who follows that.
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OHV notec wrote:Brown Eye wrote:why haven't any of the big auto manufacturers done this yet? the only real downside to an all-electric car is limited range... well, throw a gas-powered generator on board and use it to charge the batteries during extended highway jaunts, and you have the best of everything.
It costs a fortune...
Reliability is questionable...
Batteries have numerous problems by themselves...
It's heavy...
Requires more space...
Still, this Volt is coming, so we'll see who follows that.
The Volt uses that kind of a setup.
Reliability on any new technology is going to be a little questionable. Proofing takes time.
The only real problem with LiPo batteries is the propensity for the dielectric to catch fire when it's superheated or under heavy load and expanding. NiMH batteries have a better tolerance to this, but they're a lower energy density... it's a trade-off. The Battery, regenerative brakes and engines (including the recharger) would weigh roughly the same as an IC engine, transmission, brakes and a full tank of gas.
I seem to remember someone that did an electric engine conversion to a Fiero with lead-acid batteries about 10 years ago, and the electric components weighed about 60 lbs less than the 2.5 Iron Duke, tranny and a full tank of gas.
GAM (The Kilted One) wrote:The Volt uses that kind of a setup.
I already said that
GAM (The Kilted One) wrote:Reliability on any new technology is going to be a little questionable. Proofing takes time.
An elaboration never hurt anyone I suppose.
GAM (The Kilted One) wrote:The only real problem with LiPo batteries is the propensity for the dielectric to catch fire when it's superheated or under heavy load and expanding. NiMH batteries have a better tolerance to this, but they're a lower energy density... it's a trade-off. The Battery, regenerative brakes and engines (including the recharger) would weigh roughly the same as an IC engine, transmission, brakes and a full tank of gas.
I've always wondered about this but never followed through with any research lol. Do they not use mechanical brakes at all? Wouldn't the battery storage have the potential to 'overcharge'?
Don't forget that the batteries must be manufactured, and eventually disposed of. This can be a major problem if all the cars suddenly use them...
GAM (The Kilted One) wrote:I seem to remember someone that did an electric engine conversion to a Fiero with lead-acid batteries about 10 years ago, and the electric components weighed about 60 lbs less than the 2.5 Iron Duke, tranny and a full tank of gas.
That's nuts, 10 lead-acid batteries would probably weigh 400#+ by themselves (most homemade jobs seem to use about 10).
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I would like to see the additional range come from a Hydrogen fuel cell. I believe they can run on any hydrocarbon. A number of cities have been using the technology in bus'. I'm not sure why they have not advanced over the years. Since most drivers rarely travel more than 100km in a day, the fuel cell would remain charged until needed. There would be no need to have a bazillion charge stations, because people would rarely need one. Our excess electricity generating capacity is untapped and supposedly cheap during the night. That's where most of your driving energy will come from as you would still plug it in every night. 100km is easily achieved with an electric car. The addtion of an internal compustion engine into an electric vehicle seems almost rediculous.
I wonder what's wrong with Li ion?
Is there any recycleable battery?
One thing is for sure, if we manage to get electric vehicles on the road again, maintenance costs will drop bigtime.
Anyone ever watch"Who Killed the electric car?"?
Quote:
GAM (The Kilted One) wrote:The only real problem with LiPo batteries is the propensity for the dielectric to catch fire when it's superheated or under heavy load and expanding. NiMH batteries have a better tolerance to this, but they're a lower energy density... it's a trade-off. The Battery, regenerative brakes and engines (including the recharger) would weigh roughly the same as an IC engine, transmission, brakes and a full tank of gas.
I've always wondered about this but never followed through with any research lol. Do they not use mechanical brakes at all? Wouldn't the battery storage have the potential to 'overcharge'?
To my knowledge, no, and no. About the Volt, I have really no idea, though I would imagine so, there's no reason to waste the kinetic energy to heat unless you absolutely must. There would likely also be a way to halt charging of the unit at X% (I'd figure about 90% of capacity) so that any great amount of braking would just go into the battery to be used as normal, and in any case there would likely be a circuit breaker to stop charging or over charge would flow into a supercapacitor. The braking system can be made into an analog for the regular disc-brakes.
Quote:
Don't forget that the batteries must be manufactured, and eventually disposed of. This can be a major problem if all the cars suddenly use them...
True. But really the Li-Po batteries are being made with greater frequency and to a lot tougher standards. The ones in the Honda Insight don't have the same energy density as the Prius, and the Prius hasn't got the same energy density as the Tahoe Hybrid.
GAM (The Kilted One) wrote:I seem to remember someone that did an electric engine conversion to a Fiero with lead-acid batteries about 10 years ago, and the electric components weighed about 60 lbs less than the 2.5 Iron Duke, tranny and a full tank of gas.
That's nuts, 10 lead-acid batteries would probably weigh 400#+ by themselves (most homemade jobs seem to use about 10).
Yeah, a car like the Fiero needs a lot less battery (the one in question I think had 6 for direct drive and one for driving electronics), and I think that you can eliminate half the batteries by going to a small bank of supercapacitors... I think 50 farads would do but I don't remember.
