"Harry Krause" wrote in message
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Jeff Rigby wrote:
"RCE" wrote in message
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"Shortwave Sportfishing" wrote in message
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Makes sense now. Thanks, both Tom and DSK. Wanna start up a business
building diesel electric drives?
im in.
I am half serious. I need something to do anyway. Thinking we buy an
old boat maybe already with a small diesel, add a battery bank, charging
system, inverter and a big old electric motor. I have access to
machining, welding and fabrication services, plus controls, electrical
and CAD design if needed. Even have some space we could use. We could
build a prototype and optimize it for proof of concept .... then .... on
to Wall Street.

Hmmmmm..... this one has caught my attention. I wonder if Mrs.E would
donate her GB?

RCE
Hybrid cars make sense in other ways too. What if we as a country
decided to equip one lane of the national interstates with a power rail
that hybrid cars could use. What if we decided NOW on a protocol for
accessing a future system and have all current hybrid and electric car
designs easily modifiable to use that system if we implement it in the
future?

This could start in the major cities and spread out to semi urban areas
along interstate routes.

The days of massive infrastructure investment in this country are over. We
can't even keep what we have from crumbling.

You must live in a predominately democrat county/state.

At about (guess) 4KW/hr at 60mph at current prices that's about $0.80 per 60
miles or about .013 cents/mile compared with a
41 mpg car at current prices $2.40/gal at 6 cents a mile. ** 60 times better
** To be conservative factor in 30% transmission loss and it's still
economical. Factor in health benefits, independence from foreign oil,
factor in nuclear (more efficient less cost per kwh) and it's even more cost
effective.

While I'm against public transportation for a number of reasons, this I
could get behind. Interstates and several toll cross town expressways in
each major city would be all that would have to be modified.

My guess is based from what I remember from college (30 years ago) about a
car needing 15HP to maintain 55MPH speeds. Today we have smaller lighter
cars (the ones that get 41 MPG) that are more aerodynamic so I'm figuring
less than 10HP.