There is a gentleman here in Georgia who collects micro cars. The original Austin Mini (later Cooper) is about the largest of the cars he has in his museum. Many were designed after WWII when European roads were in shambles, few Europeans owned cars, and gas was even more expensive than it is now in proportion to the average income. Thought some here might want to have a look.
http://www.microcarmuseum.com/tourindex.html
The early BMW cars are interesting. Enjoy
I'm afraid if I was stopped by that BMW police car, I wouldn't be able to stop laughing, It probably wouldn't help any to keep me from getting a ticket. :-/
In high school there was a guy who had one of those Isetta's. They weren't very heavy. A bunch of us picked it up and put on the boulevard between two trees (front/back) ;D then sat around until he came out. We did help him get it back on the street.
Every time I hear a BMW commercial touting performance, elegance, and mechanical sophistication, I think of one of these ;D
I think James Bond needed one of those BMW's.
BMW official history site
"The cars have a one-cylinder BMW motorcycle engine with a 4-speed transmission. The top speed is 53 mph, and it gets 63 miles per gallon. In 1958 you could buy one for $1,093."
http://www.bmwworld.com/models/vintage/isetta.htm
It seems like many of these micro cars could have been the starting place for developing more fuel efficient vehicles.
If the paradigm had been to make them slightly roomier, faster etc. incrementally, model year by model year, now 50 years later, we would have some very interesting, fuel efficient cars.
QuoteIn high school there was a guy who had one of those Isetta's. They weren't very heavy. A bunch of us picked it up and put on the boulevard between two trees (front/back) ;D then sat around until he came out. We did help him get it back on the street.
Our vice-principal in the eighth grade had a Renault if I remember right. We also picked it up and turned it sideways in the front entrance of the school. Unfortunately he did hot have a very good sense of humor. I don't remember exactly what happened but it seems it was not good. :(
We put a Geo Metro in the lobby of our College Dorm
removed the Steel doors and carried it inside...replaced the doors... ;D
Boy it hit the fan....
at 3 am after a dozen beers it seemed like an awesome idea... ::)
As per my rant about smaller cars with smaller engines...This is not only something that the people want...Something that we need...It is also very profitable for auto makers too
For example
here is something I came up with in the back of my mind years ago...The micro car thread made me think of it.
Take Chevrolet's most common 4 banger engine...The 2.2 litre Cavalier Engine...Now in the Cobalt...It was in the Corsica and in the later Sunbird and sunfires as well....Chevrolet made a million of em.
They are tough, cheap to work on...There are parts up the wazoo in every corner of the nation
So you want a eco car that gives 50 miles to the gallon....Simple....you just shave a cylinder off the 2.2 engine and you get a 1.8 litre 3 cylinder engine.
you change the transaxle and transmission ratios So that there is more acceleration power in lower gears at lower speeds High gear in the transmission whether it is manual or auto is overdrive and .76:1 and the transaxle ratio is 3.73 so the final drive ratio is approximately 2.83:1 which is about perfect for Economy at highway speed....But should provide plenty of passing gear power.
The beauty of this idea is that The pistons valves rods rockers...Are already designed...No new tech is needed. No new machinery and re-tooling.
Very simple to chop off 1 cylinder of the engine and crank.. very minor re-tooling done there...this saves millions and millions in research and development and keeps costs of production way down.
Also the current ecvt manual and auto trans at chevrolet are already designed and will bolt directly to the new engine...no new tech retooling or design needed...Ditto for axles etc....
And looking at the Aveo...Which is exactly the same size as the Scion 4 door hatch....You can easily make the car a little bit lighter...
Increasing compression in the 3 cylinder engine improves efficiency and power at the same time...The higher the compression the higher efficiency fuel is burned....No need to change the pistons...Minor modification to the head will solve that problem when it is re-tooled.
So there is an easy way to increase efficiency power in the motor...without spending money...the new motor is lighter also and remember that every 100 pounds is 10% mileage increase. And every time you reduce the weight you increase the power to weight ratio making the car perform better and better.
This is a car that would be very cheap to build...There would be no mechanical issues...No dependability issues...No research or tech is needed...It could be built tomorrow.
Take a platform that they are already using like the Aveo 2 and 4 door sedan...And the 4 door wagon...And reskin them with carbon fiber panels...It allows them to give them a styling upgrade without re-designing a whole new car...Which saves time and money...And it trims a lot of weight off the car
The car would not be expensive like a Prius...It would have more power...It would give better mileage...And...Most importantly...No need to worry about expensive battery replacement in a few years.
Cheap, Dependable stylish car that gives an honest to goodness 50 miles to the gallon.... It would be an instant success...The 21st century VW Bug
Carbon fiber would probably make it expensive. The body of my '95 Saturn is a plastic very similar to the common milk jug. It has resisted old ladies & their shopping carts as well as the elements better than any other car I've owned. When an oncoming truck lost some firewood and cracked the front left fender, a replacement was easily bolted on. The damaged part could/should have been ground up and remolded. It has a 1,.8 liter engine, was EPA rated at 34/40 mpg and I have gotten about that mileage for over 200,000 miles.
In 1995 there were two Saturn SL models with more HP. They sold better than the basic so the basic engine slowly got bigger over the years. For a few years after '95 the number of plastic panels in the Saturns increased but the buying public never accepted them. Last time I looked the bodies were more conventional, the basic motor was 2.2 liter and the EPA ratings were 29/35.
One of the benchmarks for small, simple, economical, easily repaired cars was the Citroen 2CV. I always wanted one of theses but few made it to America. Almost 4,000,000 of these were produced in a 42 year run. Public demand for more power and features was their undoing.
(http://www.highwayone.com/Images/Photos/Citroen/SparberCitroen.jpg)
The 1948 2CV featured: (From Wikipedia, emphasis mine)
* four wheel independent suspension that was inter-connected front to rear on the same side under certain conditions
* leading arm front suspension
* trailing arm rear suspension
* front-wheel drive
* inboard front brakes
* small, lightweight, air-cooled flat twin engine
* 4-speed manual transmission
* bolt-on detachable body panels
* front suicide doors
* detachable full length fabric sunroof and boot lid — for load carrying versatility
I've ridden in, or seen, a handful of those. But the guy doesn't seem to have a Deux Chevaux (2CV). There were a handful in Hawaii when I was there, a friend--Chet--had probably owned each of them at one time or another. We moved one on to and across a sidewalk once so he could leave a parking lot--there was someone in the building who was fanatic about "his parking space." Chet left what might have been a nice note to the guy, except that there wasn't a word of truth in it. Thank you so much for leaving me room to drive out!
Don't know if I ever knew that Clive Sinclair designed a very peculiar (dry weather only!) little car. I did once have one of his computers. Eventually, as with all of them one side of the numbers stopped working--1-5 IIRC. A shame because that little beast had better mathematics capability than the IBM PC of the time--and it had the same basic chip.
But my cousin's pregnant wife drove an Isetta cross country. The minister of a church I went to had a Messerschmitt. Friend drove a handful of us around the block in the Honda 600 convertible. Old boyfriend still had a King Midget in his salvage yard (at one stage it was the only vehicle he had that worked--his story of driving it 10 miles or so on the Interstate in a major thunderstorm was not pretty). Bruce Weiner doesn't seem to have a Morgan either--Vanderbilt professor had one, starter went out, not rebuildable, the Lucas people in Florida were having trouble getting one, and I guess the Morgan club didn't have a lead. He didn't mind. He was powerful enough in his department, that all he had to do was go sit in the car, three or four of his students would appear to push him off. And at home he had a hill. That went on for about a year.
The aforementioned boyfriend loved tinkering with cars. There were a handful of TR7's (with the rather too overbored Saab engine, they blew head gaskets and often worse) around that he had put a 1200 B210 engine in.
According to him a pretty easy conversion.
The British Light Car (I don't remember the exact definition) industry certainly did what Peter suggests. Plenty of small Austin engines in a lot of cars, Girling hydraulics, Lucas electrics.
And, in the early days of Rolls Royce, there were a handful of American companies making the coachwork for the (rolling chassis? or just engine/transmission--probably the former) cars shipped to this country.
I've got the last year of the Saturn where the automatic is rated at 35 mpg on the highway ('92). For a good long time I'd get little cards from the dealer asking me to please please trade it in, it was in high demand.
It may get that gas mileage if it's de-junked!
John
I agree that public demands a car have power and options... So if you are going to build an economy box it better have comfy seats...Cold AC...Decent stereo things like that....And it has to have enough power to drive up hills and maintain speed on the freeway
That said....Cars like the Saturn keep getting bigger... the motors have way, way more cubic inches torgue and power now.... The fuel mileage is considerably less 15 years after their inception.
More proof in my opinion that the Government and Detroit are in bed together to make sure cars to not on average give 40 miles to the gallon....To make sure that we consume more and more oil each year and that the Government collects massive amounts of tax on the oil we use.
I have owned a saturn and they are a decent enough car....They were roomy and worked well....The 5 speed wagon I had gave me about 34 miles to the gallon way back when.....I was pretty happy with the mileage. I love station wagons and it is hard to find a good economical station wagon
As for the carbon fiber panel arguement...I think that there are several types of compounds and composites... We need only to look at the after market fast and the furious replacement body kits for Hondas....To see that they can make high quality light and affordable panels for cars that are a direct bolt on.
And one of the things I am advocating here is the leggo principle. Take a proven platform...Make a few minor adjustments to it so that safety is of no concern...And plan on sticking with that basic platform for the next 10-12 years
Make all the body panels a direct bolt on so that...You can give the car a facelift in styling in a few years time to keep the new models looking fresh and stylish...without having to design a whole new car.
This sort of thing saves massive amounts of money time and research
There is a slight compromise in that the cars will never be the most advanced or radical when it comes to styling.... But I predict a movement would happen.
When people get incredible mileage from a car...When the car is the best value on the market...When it lasts as well or better than the hondas and toyotas... People get attached to them... Parents want that brand for their kids... Teens want that brand because they had one when they were in college and they remember every time the old car saved their lives by saving them so much money.
The niche Toyota and Honda had when they came to America was that they were the cheapest cars out there to buy...They were small and they gave great gas mileage....They looked like hell they rode like wheel barrows But people bought them and loved them because they saved money
The next generation toyotas and hondas now cost more than the domestic cars...But that good feeling people have about them did not go away...And owner loyalty is extremely high...No matter that they don't give that much better mileage, and they cost a considerable amount more than the domestic car....When it is time to replace the old Toyota or Honda...They have to have another Toyota or Honda...Nothing else is even considered.
With this ideology in mind...We can accept some inefficiencies in styling if it means that the cars can be built maintained cheaper than anything else on the road. If it means the consumer will turn towards that car specifically.
And you can plan on and use a platform for 10-12 years without designing a new car from scratch knowing that the public will in fact develop a following for that automobile and owner brand loyalty will dictate that they buy another even if the styling is slightly more advanced on the competition.
So I advocate bolt on components for the entire exterior shell...I advocate a exterior shell that is completely removeable.
I probably spend way too much of my free time thinking about this crap....I used to spend hours sketching cars.. designs... researching compounds for lightweight materials... I just truly believe that a easy to drive roomy compact can get 50 miles to the gallon even if Grandma or junior is driving it. And I truly believe that this car should be as cheap or cheaper than any compact out there instead of being the most expensive compact (Prius)
Glenn Want to lend me a billion dollars so I can build this thing and change the world? Anyone have bill gates phone number? ::)
I'd love to Peter, but have come to find out that people fail to fully appreciate things they come by too easily.
I'm afraid I have to turn you down for your own good. :-/
I've poked around the Microcar Museum site for years. I once stumbled across his parameters and I think the 2CV and Morgan were longer than his definition of a microcar. You and I might disagree with his definition but, hey, it's his nickel.
Now here is an interesting concept car
(http://www.daimlerchrysler.com/Projects/c2c/channel/images/213957_333807_381_254_bioniccar_exterior_600.jpg)
From the web site
"Equipped with a 103 kW/140-hp direct-injection diesel engine, the concept car consumes 4.3 litres of fuel per 100 kilometres (combined), making it 20 percent more economical than a comparable standard-production model. In accordance with the US measuring method (FTP 75) the range is around 70 miles per US gallon (combined), which is about 30 percent more than for a standard-production car. At a constant speed of 90 km/h the EU fuel consumption falls to a mere 2.8 litres per 100 kilometres – corresponding to 84 mpg in the US test programme. The concept car has a maximum speed of 190 km/h."
More info here
http://www.daimlerchrysler.com/dccom/0,,0-5-7154-1-503518-1-0-0-0-0-0-69-7145-0-0-0-0-0-0-0,00.html
IMHO Daimler Chrysler should get this thing to market ASAP and scrap the SmartCar project that they have already pumped over $1 Billion into and which gets far poorer mileage and will never sell in volume in the American market.
Amanda, you've had some friends with very interesting cars. I'd like to ride in one of those Messerschmitt's. From what I've read they squeezed a lot of performance out of their tiny engines.
You see that is what I am talking about.... that diesel car had 140 horsepower...So it would have all kinds of pep for being such a small car.
I am saying you could refine the looks a little and make it a wee bit larger so people did not feel totally cramped and that 84 miles to the gallon it gives on the highway would be less...But it would still be fantastic...Say 70 miles to the gallon on the highway and 60 miles to the gallon in the city.
These figures are double what the average run of the mill civic gets :o
I dunno how if diesel will ever be mainstream in America....the fuel is cleaner now...But they need special cat convertors for the Nox gas...And particulate filters as well if we want them to burn cleanly....I know that cat convertors and particulate convertors are very expensive and brutally expensive when you have to replace them when the car is about 8 years old :-[
Plus the fact that Diesel is 25 a gallon more than gasoline does not help either.
Glenn
My wife wants me to submit a proposal to the auto companies...I told her it was a waste of time...
I started drawing cars and sketching thinking about them when I was a little kid....It will just be something that I like to think about...I will always look at a new model car and make mental notes of what styling features work or don't work...Adding to the junk already floating around upstairs in the old hat holder ;)
And you know I disagree with the sentiment that you cannot lend me a billion dollars.... You know the sentiment that Ihave to do it myself....That can do revolutionary attitude got Tucker Killed....You of all people should know that.
And I am constantly watching out for them. :-/
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/black_helicopter_alert.gif)
Glenn
I was surfing around Europe car web sites tonight and I saw the Chevrolet Matiz
A little smaller than I would think Americans would go for...But looks pleasant...Moderately powered and gives 60 miles to the gallon :o
Without any hi tech hybrid system either!!!! ;) Just simple concepts...Light weight, smaller design and moderately powered small engine..
Of course it would never work in America...I mean after all the car costs a whopping $9500 us dollars fully equipped...Or 7,200 pounds for you brits
In case you are wondering that is a third the price of a Prius..And more fuel economy... yes the Prius is larger...But holy crap...1/3rd the price and better mileage....I think the masses would buy it...
Gas went up 25 cents a gallon here this week...$2.45 per gallon and rising.
There would be massive waiting lists for a $10,000 car that gave a honest to goodness 60 miles to the gallon
And the Matiz had AC, Cd player ABS brakes and Airbags....So it was not some 1970's econo car on steroids or something....It is fully equipped.
Another interesting concept is the emergence of reliable direct injection gasoline Engines... they are 30-40% more efficient...Slightly less power...But huge gains in fuel efficiency
I am still concerned about the level of sophisticated cat convertors and nox convertors required to catch all the particulates. Although the higher the compression ratio in the engine and the higher the combustion temputure the more efficient the fuel is burned and the less particulate matter is omitted.
Instead of super expensive hybrids...Why not just start producing a 3 cylinder 1.8 litre direct injection 4 door hatch that is slightly larger than the Matiz... With a direct injection engine there should be enough economy for 50 miles to the gallon easily and you can make the car a couple inches higher, wider and longer so people do not feel cramped
We cannot stop technology...ten years from now when Lithium Sulphide batteries are mainstream...The batteries in hybrids will have twice as much power and weigh half of what they currently weigh...When this happens they will be very hard to beat in terms of mileage and performance. you have to think that as the technologies emerge the cost of the electronics and batteries will start to drop as well.
But for the next decade the Prius is a lie...Too expensive and the mileage numbers are not attainable.
I read an article about the second generation hybrid cars and they have twice the power and much lower mileage per gallon....So it seems that the hybrid technology is not going to save the world after all...
The accord hybrids have 270 horsepower and only give 37 miles per gallon...meaning you will be hard pressed to get 30 miles per galln with them in everyday driving conditions
A perfect battery was already invented for the eectric car - GM bought the right- sold it to Chevron and they shelved it. You won't see that one again. That is not even a conspiracy theory -- see the movie Who Killed The Electric Car.
Glenn
Yes and no on the battery
You are 100% correct that a better battery was intentionally shelved...The Nickel metal hydride battery...Lithium ion and lithium suphur are leaps and bounds better than the battery Chevron and GM are holding at bay currently.
It did piss me off when GM buried the NiMH battery...I saw one of the Gm electric cars equipped with the new battery and it had double the range of the lead acid battery...Almost to the point where the little car was ectually feasible for most commuters...The chrge time was cut in half as well.
So GM did not totally shelve the idea...They did equip their electric cars with them and try them out at least :-/
These batteries were still not quite good enough to really change the market to create a paradigm shift.
The Lithium ion batteries will be close to getting it done in terms of major changes to the way we perceive electric cars energy storage and hybrids....The Lithium Sulphur and the Ceramic batteries will blow this revolution wide open...
So in that respect I am not that upset with GM....Shelving the NiMH batteries prevented an iferior product from clogging up the industry....Now we have a chance to start a true electric revolution on a better platform with a better battery
So in the end we as consumers will win!
When you think about it...The LI-S batteries have a chance to give an electric car a range of 300 miles or more...Without Charging...And they have made many advances to charging technologies...Rapid charging is getting to the point where it is feasible to consider a fueling station where you pull in the electric car and plug up for 10-15 minutes and then you are ready for another 300 miles.
Before it is all said and done I think the Li-S batteries in an electric car much like the one GM built will have a range of more than 300 miles per charge.
But battery tech also needs to drive the price down...So that when batteries get replaced it does not cost 5,000 to do so... We have already seen amazing longevity breakthroughs in the new batteries...Thousands and thousands of charge cycles are possible with the new batteries.
Here is a very interesting electric vehicle. It uses computer controlled motors on each wheel to give lots of torque combined with full time stability control and 4WD (thus the SUV moniker ;))
(http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/images/front_picture_library_UK/dir_432/car_photo_216014_7.jpg)
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoexpressnews/207689/lotus_zapx.html
The use of fast charge batteries are reported to allow for a ten minute charge up for a 300 mile range. The 7-11's of the world would love it! They would sell much more of the high margin food items - might even give the electricity away if they buy enough junk food!
The Popular Science write up on Zap's electric car calculated about a penny a mile for electric cost (that might have been for the smaller car) at any rate such a "fill up" would be about $3.00! :o
Three years ago I decided the "fuel of the future" was going to be electricity - and I haven't had any reason to change my mind. This is mainly because the electric grid is, or can become, a democratized in/out network of power suppliers/customers just like the Internet is for digital communications.
Have a look at the redox-gel battery it may be the battery of the future
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/science/earth/stories/s183244.htm
http://www.pinnaclevrb.com.au/index.asp?menu=1
Thank you John
Again you seem to be able to say what I want..Only much better...
I read an article ten years ago on the GM electric car and it said that the equivalent to gasoline cost.... If you were to put the price of a electric charge into like terms with the cost of gasoline...It would be like paying 13 cents a gallon :o
That was the instant I thought it was going to take hold
I still hate the prius because the batteries are junk and they are expensive. A used prius in my mind is worthless...But one that is 5 years old and needs the batteries replaced....yeah right! what does it cost to replace them...$6000? plus labour.
And Glenn... The Prius use the NiMH batteries very much like the ones that GM sat on and Shevled...
What I am looking forward to is seeing a hybrid like the prius...Or whatever...With the Lithium ion batteries... They will have the same capabilities with half the weight...Meaning that the performance and mileage should go way up without changing anything else.... If it also drives the battery price down maybe the cars will be cheaper to buy new (not likely though)
What I do not want to see is a Hybrid that has 270 horse and is fast as all get out but only gives 40 miles to the gallon.... It is sort of redundant to make it a hot rod when saving the world and economy is the idea behind the hybrid technology
Advanced Batteries and electronics should push hybrid cars like the Prius to 85 and 100 miles to the gallon....This would get emissions down to the levels where smog would disappear....And it would hold us over until the elctric car platform was perfected built and distributed across america...
Like John I really feel it is a better tech than hydrogen... If they can perfect hydrogen...I would rather see them generate electricity from hydrogen so that when we fill up our electric cars...We do not use coal fired power in them.
3-400 mile range in an electric car with a 10 minute charge time...would be amazing...I would drive one...Gladly
The best thing about something like this is that once it starts to get mass produced millions of inventors back yard tinkerers and mechanics will fiddle with it and start up companies will emerge all over with better computer chips for more mileage...Better low drag tires... etc.... Making the Electric car even better...
Pete there is already quite a community of folk tinkering with EV's. However, as you say batteries are the problem.
http://www.austinev.org/evalbum/
Jonesy
I guess that technology is lacking when it compares to our imaginations...We can see the car of the future and we know how it will work...We just have not figured it out yet
Battery advancement would change the world no doubt about it
Jonesy
A couple problems with the guy in Australia and his battery...He is claiming upto 4 times the charge of a lead acid battery...Well The advanced Lithium sulphide batteries are approaching that level.
And the main problem is that he advocates never to sell the batteries rather rent them to people for life. I am not sure how people will react to this idea.
One thing I see that could work...Is having charging stations where you pop the trunk and pull out half a dozen batteries and hand them to the person working at the station and they hand you half a dozen recharged batteries....And away you go....You pay a nominal recharge fee or whatever and away you go...
They have propane tank exchange systems like that all over North America...Drop off the empty and pick up the full one and on your way you go.
If this type of network was built on major roads...You would not need to own the batteries...The company that invented the batteries could set up all the refilling stations...But I seriously doubt they would have enough resources to even contemplate this sort of endeavor.
What would need to happen is that several electric car manufacturers would need to have a basic battery receptacle area on their cars...Like where the spare tire is on a hatchback...And design a battery storage area and make it easily accessible to get at and swap out the batteries.
If they are lightweight and easy to swap out people would go for it.
In gasoline cars the battery connections are standardized for all cars...meaning that Ford Chevrolet or Honda all can take regular battery from Wal-Mart or wherever.
Big name and big money electronic companies are working on Lithium Sulphide and ceramic batteries currently...I am afraid that they would outstrip the performance gains of the battery you are talking about within a few years.
Still if we could get manufacturers to start prepping and building infrastructure for electric cars now there would not be such a drastic layover to get these things on the road when the batteries we are hearing about are in production and available to the market
I don't know a lot about how the system works but I would imagine it would be something similar to our bottled gas setup I think what he is proposing is something like renting out the actual battery for a minimal charge and the user then pay's for the top-up. I think the way they charge these batteries is by just exchanging the fluid in them. I have done a bit of research but can't find out much more on the gel system but there is a fair bit on other redux systems around. I think it may work ok with a lot of service stations around the country where you just pull in and exchange the battery, just like the gas stations operate now. I am using nicd's on my bike now mainly because Lithium type batteries are a PITB to charge as well as being to expensive. NIMH are ok, as well, but again, they are finicky to charge. Have you thought about doing any conversions to electric on any of your cars? It sounds to me like you could turn out some decent vehicles with your mechanical knowledge. I think the main problem with other battery systems is their service life. They all require some sort of recycling system. With this gel redux one I think they just remove the fluid and regenerate it, so the whole system is pretty much lifetime+.
Just had another thought on this. You will notice the market he is starting in, China and India. These guys will latch on to this quickly and will, in a few years be pumping out cheap electric vehicles while the rest of the world is left behind. China is already ahead of the game on E-bikes.
It looks like these may be on the roads in Australia in the near future and they may already be available in the US.
http://www.revaindia.com/aboutevs.htm
http://www.revaaustralia.com.au/
I have pulled out this page, it seems to have a good explanation on how the "Redox Flow Cell" works and some possible uses.
http://www.vrb.unsw.edu.au/overview.htm
Now all I have to do is work out how to get my hands on some shares in the company. ;D
well china is going to leapfrog much of the world...They are dirty and have few emission requirements now...They have started to pump billions and billions into clean tech...They have legislated strict emission controls and they are going to get green and clean ...surpassing any and all efforts here in America...
Bush refused to enter into kyoto because he said it would put america at a unfair disadvantage....Meaning his oil buddies...But China and even india are going green...
cars have never been the preferred method of transport in China...always mopeds and scooters....If they can come up with workable electric scooters with decent range and batteries that are easy to change.. and affordable....China's emissions will drop very, very quickly.
for China...which is a energy hungry nation... the question will be how do they generate the electricity to recharge their batteries and power electric vehicles.
As for the redux charge system... I am not sure if it is better than a battery tech that you can just plug in and be charged in 10 minutes like the One that the lexus is using that John linked for us...
I would argue that maybe a battery system like the one in the lexus that you could swap out at the filling station in minutes is the way to go...because they charge so quickly! .... Guy works at the service station...he pulls your empties and installs full batteries and puts those in the charger... 10 minutes later they are ready for the next person...
Why not have this system set up...where you pay a nominal fee for full batteries....and included in the business model and plan is eliminating old worn batteries with new ones every so often....Just like when you drop off a propane tank that is close to expiring.. they re-service it... before it is used again.
As more and more battery advances are commonplace these old electric hybrids and cars will have more and more range and be cheaper and cheaper to operate if we come up with and use a common system to hook up the batteries...So that there is no major retro fitting when we replace a older battery pack with a newer model.
Colin Chapman designed the lotus super seven a 1200 pound screamer.now there is a book out and many web pages with these being built in a garage many over 300 horsepower.the original had a 60 hp and,were quiet efficient and fast materials under 250lbs complete prints.Mt oldest son bought the book and has pushed for two years to build one,i wanna build two his and mine using the most simple effecient four banger i can get my hands on.http://bangernomics.tripod.com/locost1.htm for American site go http://www.locostusa.com/ ps a small pick up bed is needed ,they are now putting diesels in them?
QuoteColin Chapman designed the lotus super seven a 1200 pound screamer.now there is a book out and many web pages with these being built in a garage many over 300 horsepower.the original had a 60 hp and,were quiet efficient and fast materials under 250lbs complete prints.Mt oldest son bought the book and has pushed for two years to build one,i wanna build two his and mine using the most simple effecient four banger i can get my hands on.http://bangernomics.tripod.com/locost1.htm
The Super Sevens were amazing!! I had a friend back home who had one. I think someone described them best as "the most fun you can have with your trousers on". Just driving one with your eyeballs at lug nut level of the 18-wheeler beside you was a thrill. But they were so FAST! They also rode a little rough. Go on.... build your dreams. :)
(https://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q75/djmillerbucket/oddsnends/super7.jpg)
Same guy had a wonderful classic Morgan, not quite as fast, but great looking.
(https://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q75/djmillerbucket/oddsnends/morgan.jpg)
FYI, Morgan's had a lot of wood in them. I helped my friend rebuild his where the wood in the doors and body had rotted (The wood supported the hand shaped body panels was from France and in the older ones, every so often they'd encounter shrapnel from WWI in the lumber used.) That's a genuine leather strap, felt lined, to hold the hood closed
it made my morning seeing a morgan Ash frame?the book by Ron Champion has complete blue prints,cut lengths and angles.driving a seven is not for the faint of heart even the early 60 hp would clobber almost anything on curvy roads.I want to build one that is simple to repair ,has a small bed in the back for groceries and see how many miles per gallon can be obtained at 1200 lbs?My other interest based o the end of cheap oil is at hand.Is the old design power boats while power then was low hull design made for efficiency and energy efficient affordable houses,this is the sight for that.Im not looking for points but see most houses as energy pigs and over priced. this reduces the quality of life for people