| Author | Message | ||
     Electraglider_1997 |
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/autotech/0,71648-0.html?tw=wn_technology_1 | ||
| Chief |
Here's a couple more for you. http://www.plug2work.com/angellabsllc/index.html http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=467 | ||
| Blake |
Beware product peddlers making claims without providing any evidence to back them up. | ||
| Chief |
I'm not saying that I'm investing in these ideas I'm just showing some of the different ideas floating around out there. | ||
| Blake |
Not meaning to criticize you Chief. It just tickles my funnybone to see folks making claims of superior efficiency without any evidence to back them up. If this stuff were actually viable, it would be in production and capturing market share, not just showing up like some kind of late night infomercial. Know what I mean? | ||
| Jlnance |
I agree Blake that there are a lot of scams in the world, and it pays to be wary. But still, not every good idea has been thought of and developed yet. I've seen people say the same thing about the innovations Buell has developed: "If it was a good idea, Honda would be doing it." | ||
| Chief |
Yeah I know what you mean but you could also look at it from the point of view that the big money oil companies no matter how much they claim they want efficiency know that efficient engines loose them money and they don't want that. I'm not a big conspiracy guy but I know that big money has a way of making good ideas go away. i.e. Tucker automobiles But your right some of these ideas ore so hokey you can't help but laugh at them but others look like they might be a good idea. | ||
| Mb182 |
"If it was a good idea, Honda would be doing it." So why don't they have Transalp's or other dual sports for sale in US?? MB | ||
| Smcnamara |
That's it! A Honda Trans-Alp powered by a split-cycle engine featuring reverse-rotating wheel rotors. A sure-fire winner!  | ||
| Blake |
Jim, The big difference, which in my mind is key, is that Buell is producing products and selling them and they are a great success. The pie in the sky technomercials fall entirely short of any of that. Chief, I think you are a conspiracy believer and don't know it. Either that or the big oil conspiracy has apparently been shattered. Did you miss the new electric, hybrid and even hydrogen powered vehicles that are now beginning to populate our roads? Oil companies have no hold over the automotive manufacturers, who would likely KILL to gain an advantage in engine efficiency over their competitors, on account of that is what consumers are demanding. | ||
| Chief |
Blake, the numbers of electric and hybrid powered cars on the road is so small that it does'nt even come close to making an impact yet, as for hydrogen I don't know of any on the road. I know auto companies especially chrysler are experimenting with them and of all these ideas I like the hydrogen the best. But as long as the majority of the population is playing the one up the Joneses I got more bling than you game, big fuel sucking S.U.V's are going to continue to sell and make the oil companies very happy. For what it's worth I've already heard some states are getting worried that if everyone buy's a fuel efficient vehicle and gas sales go down , the roads will be in disrepair because of the large percentage of gas tax that goes toward road repair. So they are talking about taxing you for how many miles of road you use somehow. I don't think that there is some big oil conspiracy but it is only good business for them to get folks to buy gas guzzlers. What I am surprised of is that they arent working any harder than they are on a replacement for fossile fuels so they can profit from that once the oil dries up. I know they talk big game about working on newer and cleaner things but with the money big oil makes things should be happening a little faster than they are. But I guess thats just a case of things are good now and we have no worries so we'll let the next guy figure that out. Fugem we'll be gone. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Chief, All the states have to do is up the fuel tax so that those using the most feel it the most. What they really need is a pollution tax. If you want to pollute you should pay for the privilege and then they should pump it into the offenders home while they are sleeping. | ||
| Chief |
Amen. Seems a little premature to be freaking out about anything anyways, I mean as it stands most hybrid cars cost so much that it would take years to recoup the price difference in gas savings and by the time that happens your batteries need changed so your forking out more money and polluting the environment more by getting rid of the old batteries than you would have by just driving a non hybrid car anyways. Jeez you just can't win. | ||
| Blake |
Chief, The point is that they are being manufactured, marketed and sold, in ever increasing numbers. Ever see electric golf carts? Those big oil spooks must be falling down on their job of killing high efficiency and/or non-petrol powered vehicles. I hear the subways run on electric power too. Go figure. I don't think hybrid cars are that expensive, are they? I saw a Prius just a few weeks ago, and one of those Ford SUV hybrids too. | ||
| Chief |
Um yeah I have seen electric golf carts and electric bicycles and electric cars (though I've never seen a pure electric car on the road) My point is that there arent that many , NOWHERE near enough to make a difference. Also a honda civic hybrid starts at $22,150 and gets 49mpg city 51 highway a gas powered civic starts at $14,760 and gets 30mpg city 40 highway, A Ford Escape hybrid starts at $26,215 and gets 36mpg city 31 highway a gas powered Escape starts at $19,780 and gets 23mpg highway 26 city. According to honda's own website (they have a nifty little calculator to figure this out) if you pay an average of $3.00 a gallon for gas, drive an average of 40 miles a day and get an average of 30mpg if you bought a civic hybrid over a gas powered civic it would take you over 10 years to save enough on gas to make up for the price difference. Heck you said it yourself you saw a Prius a few weeks ago (how long ago did you last see a gas powered car?) Yes they are out there but there arent many of them. And they arent big oil spooks they are big oil business men who are doing there job namely selling their product. You do know that electric cars have been around for over 100 years don't you. Of course back then battery technology was total crap but even nowadays with a pure electric vehicle you are very limited in your driving range (though getting better all the time) As for your electric subway trains where do you think they get their electric from? It's either Hydroelectric (the cleanest source) Nuclear (which has it's own hazards not to mention horrible waste byproducts), or most likely a coal burning power plant which aint exactly clean or there is a slight chance it's electric comes from a wind driven generator. I just think that if I was a big oil dilbert I'd be spending some of my Billions of dollers in profits to develop the next best power source so I could then build whatever is needed to produce, store or distribute this new source of power so in the end you would still be paying me for your power but we would be hurting the environment less because in the end while I'm no tree hugger I see no need in destroying something if it doesnt have to be destroyed. | ||
| Blake |
Stay focused. You were asserting that the oil companies were putting the kybosh on advanced tech for more fuel efficient engines. They aren't. They haven't. They won't. That's all I was addressing. Okay? | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
We've got about 35,000 miles on our Prius and it averages 50mpg every tank. Didn't see other Prius hybrids when we bought a couple of years ago but now see them all the time in Omaha. As for comparing the Prius hybrid to a Prius gas only, can't be done since they don't make one without it being a hybrid. Payed 500 under sticker new when we bought. Great car. The thing that non-hybrid car drivers fail to compare is that when a Prius goes down the road there is very little emissions coming out the tailpipe. I can't even smell the exhaust when the motor happens to start up in the garage. And Blake, what makes you think that oil companies are loving hybrid and battery powered cars? All businesses have the goal of making money and alternative energy vehicles cut into the oil companies bottom line, pure and simple. Quit fooling yourself. I see you are from Texas as is George Shrub. Never forget that he is a carpetbagger from the Northeast U.S. that went to Yale. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
http://www.statesman.com/business/content/shared/money/stories/2006/08/ELECTRIC_ CARS_0831_COX.html | ||
| Court |
I always get a kick out of the Prius (which I, by the way, think is a neat idea, and am reminded when Buell did the "Voluntary Prodcut Upgrade" to the wheel bearings and all the folks cried "foul". At the same time, Toyota was getting away with this:
Funny world huh? | ||
| Ka5ysy |
Interesting thing about hybrid cars owners is that the're are going to be a lot of really shocked (no pun intended) when the battery has to be replaced. All batteries have a finite design life of charge/discharge cycles, so they are gonna crash. These high voltage/high current packs are expensive ! Besides, I have not seen any reputable consumer organizations dispute the problem with the high price premiums on the cars. It takes a long time to make the break-even point on those. I will keep my diesel engines, thankyouverymuch!  | ||
| Ka5ysy |
Here is the newest snake oil in engines! http://www.steorn.net/frontpage/default.aspx "We have developed a technology that produces free, clean and constant energy. This means never having to recharge your phone, never having to refuel your car. A world with an infinite supply of clean energy for all. Our technology has been independently validated by engineers and scientists - always off the record, always proven to work." Sounds like a new version of the perpetual motion machines. This one specifically claims to violate the law of conservation of energy too ! Wow.. Uly's with unlimited range and no gas tanks to worry with! Notice that the "scientists" always remain anonymous and "off the record". This is usually the red flag that this is quackery or worse. I bet they are not into peer review in recognized journals either. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
The Prius battery pack has a 8yr/100,000 warranty. It is made up of many small batteries. They can be replaced individually. I understand that the entire battery pack failing is a very remote possibility. I've read of a Prius cab in Seattle, Washington that has over 250,000 miles on it and the battery pack had lost very little peak power compared with new spec. Fact is, the Prius hybrid drive computer never lets the Prius battery get under a 50% charge without the gas motor kicking in a charge to keep it charged up. Most folks know nothing about hybrids except from reading false notions about the batteries from other people that know nothing about hybrids. I have a Prius, a friend has an Insight and he's looking to buy a Prius for his wife, and another friend has a Civic Hybrid and I don't know what his take on that car is. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Ka5ysy, I saw that Steorn thing on Gizmag.com a couple of weeks ago. Usually these thing are in some remote part of the world that no one can check up on them and they are set up to take licensing fees and the like. These guys are in Ireland(I believe) and are asking for scientist to verify their claims. I always keep an open mind, but most of these guys make huge claims and then you never hear about them again. Some Australian was claiming the same sort of net-Free energy a year or so ago and I've never heard anything more about that. | ||
| Blake |
"And Blake, what makes you think that oil companies are loving hybrid and battery powered cars?" You no read good. I like our President, as a matter of fact, I like him a lot. Though not by birth, he's a Texan from way back. Yale is a darn good school as is Harvard where he obtained his masters degree. WTF does that have to do with goofy huckster engine marketing? | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Like to get my digs in on brainchild monkey boy shrub every chance I get. I see that he was trying to bask in Harley's glow a couple of weeks ago. Why not General Motors' fading light??? | ||
| Pwnzor |
brainchild monkey boy Obviously very well thought out. You should run for office, since you're obviously better educated than the President. Blake, didn't you read the other thread where it was determined that both Yale and Harvard were bought off by the Bush family so GW could pass? And, how it is dishonorable to serve in the Texas Air National Guard? Come on everyone, try to keep up. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
That puke didn't even serve out his enlistment. I sure wish I could of just left the Marines when I felt like it but then I wasn't part of the aristocracy like the alcoholic monkey boy. As it was I fulfilled my 4 year hitch with 4 years. For your information, I have a masters degree from Purdue University in Industrial Engineering. (Message edited by electraglider_1997 on September 01, 2006) | ||
| Sanchez |
I saw a company on television that modified a Prius so you could plug it into a wall outlet to charge. The effect: a 30 mile range before the gas engine had to kick on at all. For people like me who commute less than 30 miles per day, that would be an awesome solution if it was in any way affordable. So why can't you plug your current hybrid into the wall? Manufacturers deliberately avoided the feature because their marketing departments found that consumers associated a charging cord with fully electric cars and wouldn't understand the distinction. I think once people get used to the idea of a gas/electric hybrid, you'll see an AC cord touted as a new feature. | ||
| Bigdaddy |
Excellent topic! Lot's of smoke and mirrors, but there's some real dev work taking place. I enjoy the 'what-if' stages of development: http://tinyurl.com/r66lk http://tinyurl.com/zt7s6 http://tinyurl.com/p2vej I don't believe anyone would argue that Bruce Crower's a huckster or a sham artist. G2 | ||
| Brucelee |
"Stay focused. You were asserting that the oil companies were putting the kybosh on advanced tech for more fuel efficient engines. They aren't. They haven't. They won't. That's all I was addressing. Okay" Indeed. The auto companies would listen to the oil companies for about, say 1 second if they tried to get in the way of selling one additional car. I just read an entire article on BMW's tech advances on improving MPG while increasing performance. It was amazing what these guys are doing and will be doing. Get it, if it sells, the car companies will sell it. If MPG is selling, man, get out of the way!!!!!!!!!!!! PS- why is it that the guys who never went to an IVY league school just have to figure out how GWB bought his way through these schools. These same genius' don't point out that Ted Kennedy was thrown out of Harvard for cheating (public record) but somehow got his law degree. How DID he do that? | ||
| Bigdaddy |
Bruce, Careful please,,,,we're about to agree on something  I tried to get in to law school one time. G2 | ||
| Brucelee |
"Bruce, Careful please,,,,we're about to agree on something I tried to get in to law school one time. G2" Glad to hear it! | ||
| Blake |
Electraglider, That kind of nonsensical bile is not welcome on BadWeB. Go visit one of your favorite Bush-haters discussion boards if you feel the need to post that kind of garbage. Capice? | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Blake, wouldn't you be better off just ignoring nonsensical bile and just letting it die instead of being just like me and getting the last word in? Take the bait. | ||
| Blake |
If I weren't responsible for helping to maintain the integrity of the discussion board and its policies, I'd agree. But I am, so I'm compelled to ask that everyone please avoid posting that kind of miserableness here. |
