>Power vs. convenience -- a familiar tradeoff.
cool, then you could have a big dial on your dash, reading "wimpy" at one
end, "Normal" in the middle and "COBRA POWER" on the phat end.
-james "stuck on one setting" creasy
----- Original Message -----
From: Michael R. Clements <mrclem@telocity.com>
To: John J. Stimson-III <john@idsfa.net>
Cc: James Creasy <black94pgt@pacbell.net>; <Nandaholz@aol.com>;
<ba-autox@autox.team.net>
Sent: Tuesday, June 19, 2001 2:12 PM
Subject: RE: Electric Autocrossing (was: Cheap Gas?)
> My understanding is that more voltage requires the cells to be in series,
> which reduces charge capacity (compared to being in parallel, where they
> produce lower voltage but have higher capacity). Power vs. convenience --
a
> familiar tradeoff.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: John J. Stimson-III [mailto:john@idsfa.net]
> Sent: Tuesday, June 19, 2001 13:55
> To: Michael R. Clements
> Cc: James Creasy; Nandaholz@aol.com; ba-autox@autox.team.net
> Subject: Electric Autocrossing (was: Cheap Gas?)
>
>
> Maybe. The bulk of the weight is in the batteries. The batteries are
> heavy because of the amount of energy they store. That relates to the
> range of the vehicle, not the power. Power delivery is more closely
> related to the total voltage and the type/size of the motors. There
> are electric dragsters that play the range vs. weight game and achieve
> phenomenal 1/4 mile times.
>
> A hybrid with more of a motor than the Insight, with just enough
> battery to last through one autocross run and then recharge between
> runs, could be pretty good.
>
> Or you could lose the engine altogether and have just enough battery
> for three or four runs (or a quick-change battery bank good for one
> run!). Of course, you'd have to bring the car to the autocross on a
> trailer, but that's not any different from the Street Prepared cars...
>
> On Tue, Jun 19, 2001 at 01:07:13PM -0700, Michael R. Clements wrote:
> > Yup, a perfectly flat torque curve is ideal for autocross. But electric
> power,
> > when you include the batteries, still doesn't have the power to weight
ratio
> > of gasoline. This is especially noticeable in R/C airplanes, where you
can
> get
> > 1 hp glow fuel (nitromethane) engines that weigh about 8 ounces
(normally
> > aspirated). Lesse, that's 2 hp per pound, and I think even the S2000
engine
> > weighs more than 120 lbs. AFAIK, electricity can't beat that -- can it?
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: James Creasy [mailto:black94pgt@pacbell.net]
> > Sent: Tuesday, June 19, 2001 10:03
> > To: mrclem@telocity.com; Nandaholz@aol.com; ba-autox@autox.team.net
> > Subject: Re: Cheap Gas?
> >
> >
> > i think you could make a pretty cool hybrid car with super performance.
> > have a gasoline motor for cruising and charging the battery pack,
reclaim
> > power under braking rather than wasting it as heat.
> >
> > you could have a pretty small battery for light weight and a very
powerful
> > electric motor(s) to assist the gas motor. electric motors are great
for
> > launches because they produce maximum torque at 0 RPM.
> >
> > of course you might have only a few 0-60 in 2.5 seconds launches before
the
> > battery runs down and you need to cruise a bit to charge it back up, but
by
> > then the corvette will have given up. maybe turn down the power for a
few
> > autocross runs. talk about torque on demand!!
> >
> > in fact, i see that our local honda hybrid (NOT a sports car) on street
> > tires is a tiny tick behind a 127hp civic on R-tires in SFR!
> >
> > -james
> >
> > PS down with social engineering!
> >
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Michael R. Clements <mrclem@telocity.com>
> > To: <Nandaholz@aol.com>; <ba-autox@autox.team.net>
> > Sent: Tuesday, June 19, 2001 9:37 AM
> > Subject: RE: Cheap Gas?
> >
> >
> > > Sure, yeah, let's tax the heck out of gas (and diesel) like other
> > countries
> > > do. Since just about everything is transported by vehicles that burn
gas
> > or
> > > diesel, we can make everything cost more. This would be great for the
> > economy!
> > > And it would have another salient benefit: we could carry things on
our
> > backs
> > > instead of transporting them with vehicles that use fossil fuels. Not
only
> > > would this give us cleaner air, it would create thousands of jobs
> > overnight!
> > >
> > > But why stop there? We could also adopt the socialist economies of
other
> > > countries, so we can enjoy right here at home the benefits of double
digit
> > > inflation and unemployment, without having to travel to Europe!
> > >
> > > Seriously, consider that gas powered vehicles so far outnumber
> > "alternative"
> > > transportation, that making new gas powered vehicles even 1% more
> > efficient
> > > would lower overall pollution far more than a fleet of electric cars
ever
> > > would. When you consider that the millions / billions of dollars spent
so
> > far
> > > on electric cars and other "alternative" technologies, in the absence
of
> > > government subsidies, would have been spent on current gas technology,
we
> > > might have cleaner air today if these programs had never been enacted.
> > >
> > > In short, as Kevin says, social engineering sucks. Not only does it
rarely
> > > (never?) achieve its intended objective, it usually exacerbates the
very
> > > problems it was intended to solve, leaving a morass for future
generations
> > to
> > > fix.
> > >
> > > just my $0.02. P.S. my sarcasm is directed at the idea, not at any
person.
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: owner-ba-autox@autox.team.net
> > > [mailto:owner-ba-autox@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of Nandaholz@aol.com
> > > Sent: Tuesday, June 19, 2001 09:06
> > > To: ba-autox@autox.team.net
> > > Subject: Re: Cheap Gas?
> > >
> > >
> > > I really think we need to increase gas prices....say up to $5 per
gallon
> > like
> > > in other markets around the world. This would have a serious impact on
the
> > > amount of single occupancy cars and FUV's on the road, and would
promote
> > > alternative transportation like motorcycles and smaller hybrid
vehicles.
> > Maybe
> > > more attention would be devoted to telecommuting, shifted work
schedules
> > etc.
> > >
> > > .. just my $0.02
> > > ~Nanda
>
> --
>
> john@idsfa.net John Stimson
> http://www.idsfa.net/~john/ HMC Physics '94
|