IMM wrote:


On the vehicle side, matters are more complex. Of course, local CHP power
stations drip charging electric car overnight is very sensible, but we do
not have the infrastructure for this, as yet. Also what do you do in a
city, when you car is parked on the road? How do you charge it?


Hang a cable out of the window, or *gasp* build undergroung parking
areas with electrical sockets?

Or charge them up in supermarket car parks etc etc.

You CAN fully charge a lithium car in about an hour, but you need
specailsed charging facilities to do it safely.




There are far more efficient diesel and gasoline engines around, and are
running.


Sadly these would require huge changes in engine factories, costing huge
amounts of money.

These can be developed fully and integrated into a hybrid setup.
Another method suggested is waste heat from an advanced rotary engine (not
an inefficient Wankel design) which has well over 50% efficiency, driving a
small Stirling engine from its waste heat, which drives a compressor, which
charges an air tank. The compressed air assists drive via an air motor in a
hybrid setup. This is a fine stop gap, and around town the car can run on
non-polluting air, which is generated from what would have been wasted heat.
The whole setup can be small in size as rotary engines are small and a
compressor/air motors is also small. The compressor can also be the starter
motor too.



hugely complicated and expensive.

You could simply have a smaller engine that charges the batteries.




---
--

Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.558 / Virus Database: 350 - Release Date: 02/01/2004