Chevy Volt

sic71dart said
You should look into solar thermal technology. Its more efficient than photovoltaic and the energy can be stored as heat at night time in large tanks of superheated liquid salt to produce continuous reliable power. Plus its beautifully simple in that it works by just concentrating solar energy and using it to run a conventional generator like a coal or nat gas plant would.

I have seen this and it really is cool technology. I believe they have a test site for this in New Mexico IIRC. The only real downside is it's not something you can do at home, lol. I had 42 acres of land a ways back and was looking into being 100% independent of the grid. Photovoltaic supplemented by wind was the only real alternative with solar again for hot water. This is easier to pull off here in the sunny southwest than it would be in the midwest or east.

Racingduster said
Im a welder for CATERPILLAR and we make all of the paving equipment for asphalt. If that money would really do a damn thing then I can go back to work and not sit on the internet all day, Dont get me wrong, I LOVE this but.......It could be better

I hear ya. I looked at over 1500 jobs yesterday and found 6 that I'm qualified for. I did see a big ad for a local construction company looking for asphalt laborers so I'm hoping that trickles down your way. :)

homecloned said
I watched a show on the Discovery channel about this and more ramcharger. It was describing the whole infastructure of our country, from power grids, dams, bridges, subway systems, sewer systems, you name it. They are so out of date it will take a very long time to correct it all.

I saw that show too and it was freakin' scary!

Lone Yankee said
I have no idea what the iron and copper losses are on this thing, much less line-drop impedance losses for charging. Since it is not possible to move energy from point A to point B without spilling some in the middle, I wonder what its net efficiency is compared to a vehicle that makes it energy where it uses it.

Done anyone know?

Just a though. -LY

Good question LY. In addition the impedance losses you mentioned on step-down and rectification, there are other problems too.

As far as batteries are concerned, power in vs. power stored is called coulombic efficiency, then we have resistive efficiency which has to do with the fact that batteries must be charged at a higher voltage than they supply. The best battery technologies today are at about 75% when both these numbers averaged. Then we have Puekert's effect where coulombic efficiency drops off rapidly as current draw is increased. Then we have the aforementioned effect of temperature on batteries capacity. Of course there will be losses just due to the wiring in vehicle itself, power to run gauges, lights, heater, stereo, power windows, seats, etc.