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Electric cars aren't practical because the batteries are heavy and expensive. Electric motors exist that generate comparable horsepower as gas engines. Therefore:
On a particular bus route put a coil (parallel to the direction of travel) along the route, just under the pavement, that is plugged
into the city's power grid. On the bus put half of a transformer facing right under the bus several inches off the ground. Plug that into a battery array on the bus that powers an electric motor. (think electric razor recharge station, its two halves of a transformer that join to transfer current)
It would be sort of like a street car but more versatile since the bus could go off route some of the time because of the minimal battery power. But it would be emission free.
Once the infrastructure is in place and perfected, car manufacturers could incorporate this into personal vehicles. Cars would have small gas tanks for when they are "off road", but a powerful enough electric motor and battery supply would keep gas usage to a minimum. Smart card like devices could charge the drivers the amount of electricity they are pulling from the grid, or a tax could be placed on vehicles that have this feature to pay for the electricity.
NO fuel consumption!
http://www.halfbake...fuel_20consumption!
Same idea. [bungston, Oct 17 2004]
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I like it, but feel sorry for those crossing the street with pacemakers. |
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It's definitely going to have an impact on car chases. It's hard to imagine Vin Deisel trying to get away from the cops in a little electric buggy thing. |
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Anyway, I don't know about the science stuff, but yeah, it sounds okay to me. |
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This might seem workable except for the fact that you propose that many many vehicles would eventually be propelled or assisted by this system. Whether you realize it or not, the powered side of the system will actually see a resistance drop with each additional vehicle, whether inductive or directly connected to the system. Conceivably, the system will eventually see something resembling a dead short, which will undoubtedly wreak havoc with the power grid.
Resistive windings beneath the pavement might help to a degree, but would necessitate frequent sub-stations, as the available amperage to an individial vehicle will decrease more and more the farther you travel. The system would be very inefficient if configured in this manner.
The proper application would involve solving for a nearly infinitely variable number of parallel circuits and maintaining enough resistance to keep the power grid in harmony while maintaining efficiency. |
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Any steel-bodied car driving over
this coil will slow down as a
current is induced in the coil
leading to a back emf being
induced in the car. Ths could be a
good thing (if the coil were
positioned at a busy intersection,
for example). However,
aluminium-bodied cars wouldn't
slow down (or not so much,
anyway) and would crash into all
the rapidly deccelarating
steel-bodied cars... |
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Brilliant - there must be scope for
ordinary people to get money this
way - "Thanks for my grant.
Because of X you can't see what
I've done with the money. Because
of Y it doesn't work. Sorry". |
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[kidmoe] Each of the three ideas you've posted has been HalfBaked. Please, please, please search before posting. |
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have the primary coils only at bus stops. current is triggered in primary by radio/computer/proximity control on the bus, which lowers its secondary on to road surface while passengers embark/disembark. a few minutes recharging batteries/flywheel would be enough to go a few bus stops. couldn't be more difficult than a trolley-bus network to set up |
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