On Sep 19, 2:25*pm, The Natural Philosopher
wrote:
tony sayer wrote:
In article , Doctor *Drivel invalid@not-
for-mail.invalid scribeth thus
Andy Champ wrote:
On 15/09/2012 16:22, Doctor Drivel wrote:
"Andy Champ" wrote in message
news:c9idnXW628EadM3NnZ2dnUVZ8oMAAAAA@eclipse. net.uk...
On 11/09/2012 23:53, Doctor Drivel wrote:
You could *have a 10 year old car and slap in a new battery set
and it is transformed.
I have a ten year old car. *I haven't had to buy a new engine,
gearbox, or anything else big.
You must pay attention. The car can be "transformed". Replacing your
auto box will cost about the same as battery set but the car is not
transformed, just still the same as it was.
Oh, I thought you meant it was transformed from a dying heap back to
the equivalent of a new model. *What does the new battery do that the
original didn't?
Pay attention at the back!. *Batteries are improving all the time. In 12
years time a new battery set will get the car a lot further than the current
crop. Economy will be vastly improved.

Incidentally while one day I'm sure I'll meet an auto box that can do
a better job than me I haven't yet. *The Prius may well have such a
transmission - but it's damned expensive.
The Prius is an old design, it is 15 years old now. *Mine is still superb to
drive.

Three people I know of who bought them no longer have them as they
"outgrew" the effective range..

The Vaux' Ampera is vastly superior and the new cars predicated to
be out using the small, light, Lotus 1200cc 3 cyl' genny engine (range
extender) running at its efficient constant speed "sweet spot" will be even
better.

Audi are looking into using a very small Wankel engine as a range extender
genny slapped under the boot. For the rare times it will be used it is fine.
Wankels are efficient running at their constant high speed "sweet spot", so
come into their own as a genny. The very small size and no vibration is also
a great major advantage.

This is an interesting subject and the electric motor transmission is
excellent just need to get that prime mover power sorted first and that
it seems .. isn't going to be that easy..

And thats the rub. Where is the prime power coming from as at the moment
we are using an Internal Combustion engine using fossil fuel to make the
difference between the stored electric motive energy made using mainly
fossil and the inefficiencies of doing that..

I think the real breakthrough is yet to come..

the problem is there IS no possible breakthrough with any available
technology.

Whilst stuff we know about gets a little better - batteries, flywheels,
super-capacitors etc, nothing comes close to carbon fuel in an oxygen
bearing atmosphere in terms of being a safe, light, and compact storage
of energy.

Except nuclear materials. *A kg of plutonium is equivalent to about 2
million liters of diesel.

which at similar thermal efficiencies is enough to take a car to te subn
- 93 million miles (though not back)

IF we could find a way to harness the fissile energy in a safe compact
way..and reckon that 500,000 miles is enough for a car, you need less
than 6g of plutonium to run a car for that distance. About 0.3cc!

There's several tonnes of plutonium festering up at Sellafield right now.

If someone said to me,. as a pretty experienced engineer. do you think
its more likely that :-

(a) a battery at least ten times better energy density or some other
similar electrical storage system could be developed in the next 50 years?

or :

(b) a way to make a light, safe, radiation free sealed plutonium powered
reactor/generator would happen in the next 50 years?

I'd have to say the latter is *possible, but unlikely, but the former is
simply impossible.

There is no problem of course in transporting 0.3cc of plutonium in a
totally sealed crashproof way. *That's done all the time. Just a box big
enough and thick enough is all it takes.

The problem is how to get the gamma ray energy out without neutrons and
contamination with fission products so you can get heat, but no crap as
well.

Maybe pure hydrogen fusion is an easier thing to do.. ceramic piston
sucks in water vapour, compresses it, and a laser fires at top dead
centre, making a bang, and some helium.. and some oxygen:-)


You ARE in cloud cuckoo land. Such technolgies are not even on the
horizon.