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The battery pack Tesla typically uses weighs 1,200 pounds/544 kilograms. If you want to add a small ICE as a charger that is another 200 pounds/91 kilograms, at least, and you still need a conduit to transfer the charging energy to the batteries like a transmission, which is yet another 200 pounds.I think it's a step in the right direction. Remove the heavy and expensive drivetrain/transmission and slap electric motors at the wheels. Run motors off battery power. Plop in a small, very tuned and efficient ICE to recharge battery. Doesn't seem like it would be that hard. A properly designed/tuned engine that only runs at specific low RPM ranges could be hugely more efficient as a DC generator. Also.. no more transmission problems.
I've been saying this should be in every vehicle (excepting special purpose vehicles) for like 15 years, since I read about the first hybrids.
And think about what it could do for tractor trailer trucks. Keep the diesel engine idling at a low specific rate and let the batteries and electric motors take the abuse.
I have even had delusions of small electric generating super efficient turbine engines replacing the general ICE as a generator. Take a closed loop turbine, designed to run an optimal efficiency, and they will sip fuel all day long. Also the emissions from a setup like a turbine hybrid would have to be so much better than a regular gas or diesel ICE. I know I read something about this years ago, let me see if I can find it.
The battery pack Tesla typically uses weighs 1,200 pounds/544 kilograms. If you want to add a small ICE as a charger that is another 200 pounds/91 kilograms, at least, and you still need a conduit to transfer the charging energy to the batteries like a transmission, which is yet another 200 pounds.
A small I4 engine + automatic transmission + driveline + fuel tank weighs 600-700 pounds/272-318 kilograms when wet. That is nearly just one-third the weight compared to the above scenario.
Depends upon the highway.Let me know when one can go for as long as I can drive... hybrids offer little to no advantage when you are mostly a highway driver...
Volvo is making the changes they need to do in order to be compliant with their own countries laws.So...Volvo is getting out of the car business. That's how I read it.
Are micro turbines a real thing yet? I wonder how much wattage/amperage you would need to charge the batteries instead of an ICE
also saw this : http://newatlas.com/techrules-turbine-recharging-supercar/42624/
Facebook post said:So I'm sitting here wondering...Otto cycle ICE are still used as the primary backup to recharge batteries and to provide additional power to hybrid cars.
Gas turbines have an efficiency of ~60%, well above standard 25%->35% of standard ICE. They can also run on a variety of common fuels.
The reason turbines weren't used was because turbines were slow to spin up to acceptable speeds to supply power. However with battery backups, this is not an issue. There is sufficient reserve in the batteries to backup the turbine until the turbine spools up to power the automobile.
So what am I missing?
Friends said:The likely issue will be creating turbines that are that small that have acceptable performance and low maintenance for consumer grade products. As they have never been rolled out in high quantities and given the required tolerances, it would just not make a lot of sense at the consumer level. We have 100+ years of experience with Otto Cycle engines. All you need is a youtube video of a turbine blade failure of a production vehicle and consumer acceptance of the product would never recover
If a person worries about mpg or gas prices, they will always drive a shitbox grocery getter.
Not true. Gimme a 1975-1978 Datsun 280z and some money to fix it up and I can show you a nice little sports car that can get 27+ mpg on the highway, around 20-25mpg in the city, has good acceleration and can go 120-140mph. And the handling on corners is to die for if set up properly.
You can have sporty, good mpg and good power if you know what you are doing.
Now if you are looking at the "smart" cars and wanting 35-40mpg+, sure you are going to have a crap car that will crumple to cracker-jack box size if it gets in a wreck.
This might work for a luxury car maker but wouldn't work for most brands. Also Volvo has to be one of the smaller car manufacturers now.
Agreed. And same can be said about many cars. Fox body mustang for instance. 4-cyl, 5-speed, and proper tire size. 27-28 around town, and close to 40-mpg on the highway.Not true. Gimme a 1975-1978 Datsun 280z and some money to fix it up and I can show you a nice little sports car that can get 27+ mpg on the highway, around 20-25mpg in the city, has good acceleration and can go 120-140mph. And the handling on corners is to die for if set up properly.
You can have sporty, good mpg and good power if you know what you are doing.
I know right! Lets keep dreaming about those keebler elfs making new oil too!.. maybe more oil will come from that too.Rough numbers: current batteries have an energy density of about 250 Wh/kg. 500 is on the far distant horizon. Fuel sits around 12,000 Wh/kg.
That's an advantage to fuel of 48 to 1. And, as I use fuel, I get more performance (lighter load to carry). I can use it right down to the last drop. With batteries, dropping below 80% will permanently reduce the battery's ability to hold a charge.
That's why battery packs are so heavy and why range is so short: 250 Wh/kg. Physics.
Keep dreaming. Good things can come from dreams.
I know right! Lets keep dreaming about those keebler elfs making new oil too!.. maybe more oil will come from that too.
Still easier than making new fossil fuels.He forgot to mention the power grid is nowhere in the kind of shape it needs to be in to supply the demands of charging cars on a regular basis. That overhaul has been on the books since the 70's/80's. And it's gotten nowhere fast.
Where you going to get the additional power from? Nuclear? Coal? Other fossil fuels?Still easier than making new fossil fuels.
I know right! Lets keep dreaming about those keebler elfs making new oil too!.. maybe more oil will come from that too.
I know right! Lets keep dreaming about those keebler elfs making new oil too!.. maybe more oil will come from that too.
So hopefully by 2025, but more likely by 2040. That's 23 years and 8 years in the future. I seriously doubt they can pull that off by 2025.It might not work in "Global warming doesn't Exist" USA, but the rest of the world is Changing.
So far, Norway, Netherlands and France have announced they will banning gas/diesel engines in the coming decades:
https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and...ale-of-combustion-engines-from-2025-1.2757955
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/france-petrol-diesel-ban-vehicles-cars-2040-a7826831.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/enviro...-replace-with-electric-vehicles-a7065616.html
Volvo is just getting ready for reality.
So hopefully by 2025, but more likely by 2040. That's 23 years and 8 years in the future. I seriously doubt they can pull that off by 2025.
It's virtue signaling of the worst kind. No one is saying Global Warming doesn't exist. What I was saying is that a car company with a record year of 500k car sales against an industry that is moving 35.6m units a year, isn't indicative of a trend.
Also by 2040 the people who instituted the policy won't be around-- sounds a lot like California, enacting laws that won't take affect until after the politician has left office.
I'm saying they will not accomplish it by 2025, and 2040 makes it someone else's problem.So you are complaining that 2025 is too close and 2040 is too far away???
I never said you were saying Global Warming didn't exist, but that is the position of the US government, the head of the EPA, and much of the US population.
https://newrepublic.com/minutes/141238/epa-chief-scott-pruitt-just-went-full-climate-denier
"But now that Pruitt’s all settled in at the EPA, he’s getting a little less shy. In a CNBC interview on Thursday morning, Pruitt explicitly said that carbon dioxide doesn’t cause global warming"
yeah and they mean nothing to people that actually live outside of that area (like I do). I need my car to be able to perform in ALL conditions and thankfully, Subaru meets my needs with AWD and good fuel economy... a 2WD car sucks when roads are not plowed and you need to be able to get somewhere.
I'm saying they will not accomplish it by 2025, and 2040 makes it someone else's problem.
What does what the US government says have to do with what Volvo is doing, but I'll play.
Can you show me the actual proof that Global Warming is caused by man? Step up where Bill Nye failed by all means.
Again, it's not that global warming exists, it's whether or not it's man made.
"But now that Pruitt’s all settled in at the EPA, he’s getting a little less shy. In a CNBC interview on Thursday morning, Pruitt explicitly said that carbon dioxide doesn’t cause global warming"
a 2 wheel drive car even with snow tires will not go though more than 10--12 inches of snow... a real awd car will without issue even on all season tires.A 2WD is fine in the snow if you are a competent driver. No issues there.
I would say drivable, but I wouldn't go so far as saying "plenty capable" in snowy conditions.2WD is plenty capable with the proper tires.
AGW isn't settled science. The preponderance of the data we currently have actually shows the opposite of what AGW theory proposes, but we don't have nearly enough data to say definitively one way or another. As Krazy925 said: the question isn't if global warming exists and is happening, but is mankind affecting the warming cycle of the planet, and if so, by how much.So you are an AGW denier. Sorry I don't have time for people who deny science.
Like I said, the rest of world is getting on dealing with scientific realities.
Volvo is preparing for that.
So you are complaining that 2025 is too close and 2040 is too far away???
I never said you were saying Global Warming didn't exist, but that is the position of the US government, the head of the EPA, and much of the US population.
https://newrepublic.com/minutes/141238/epa-chief-scott-pruitt-just-went-full-climate-denier
"But now that Pruitt’s all settled in at the EPA, he’s getting a little less shy. In a CNBC interview on Thursday morning, Pruitt explicitly said that carbon dioxide doesn’t cause global warming"
Someone doesn't have any proofSo you are an AGW denier. Sorry I don't have time for people who deny science.
Like I said, the rest of world is getting on dealing with scientific realities.
Volvo is preparing for that.
Depends upon the highway.
If you mean the highways connecting suburbs to major metro areas, then you might be surprised how good hybrids are when traffic can regularly go from smooth to stop and go in an instant. Or worse for MAJOR metro areas where it's stop and go most of the daylight hours.
Also, wouldn't surprise me if hybrids were still better for highways, yeah they don't benefit as much but unless you're talking a place like Kansas where the elevation doesn't change more than a couple feet over the entire state, getting all those downward recharges do add up.
I would say drivable, but I wouldn't go so far as saying "plenty capable" in snowy conditions.
AGW isn't settled science. The preponderance of the data we currently have actually shows the opposite of what AGW theory proposes, but we don't have nearly enough data to say definitively one way or another. As Krazy925 said: the question isn't if global warming exists and is happening, but is mankind affecting the warming cycle of the planet, and if so, by how much.
Found this earlier today:
https://thsresearch.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/ef-gast-data-research-report-062717.pdf
Interesting paper.
What's more interesting is how in case after case, the global climate alarmists are found to be "fudging" data to support a pre-conceived solution. Thanks for the link.
What's more interesting is how in case after case, the global climate alarmists are found to be "fudging" data to support a pre-conceived solution. Thanks for the link.
ICE had a good, 100years.
RIP
Ever watch Street Outlaws? Graveyard cars? Phantomworks? Gas Monkey?
ICE's going nowhere anytime soon.
And if I don't drive like a complete idiot I can get 350+ miles in my 2005 Toyota Matrix. I've already done it. Good luck EV beating that.