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Tuesday, 09 January 2007 16:12 |
 | | Carl S. Milsted, Jr. |
Environmentalists around the world are rejoicing as I write this ÇƒÓ General Motors is showing off a new electric concept car, the Chevrolet Volt.
Using still-unaffordable batteries, this car can travel up to 40 miles on a single charge. After that, the car generates its own electricity using a tiny three-cylinder gasoline engine ...
Gasoline engine?! Boooooring!
Come
now. Itës already 2007, and weëre still using four-cycle gasoline
powered internal combustion engines ÇƒÓ in concept cars, no less. How
about something more exotic? How about a turbine, at least? In other
words ...
Whereës my Batmobile! If Batman could have a turbine powered car back in 1966, why canët I have one now in 2007?
Iëm quite
serious. If youëre going to build hybrid electric cars, itës time to
really rethink the engine. The internal combustion engine is noisy,
vibration-prone, dirty, complicated, inefficient and finicky when it
comes to fuel choices.
On the other
hand, such engines start rapidly, and can quickly change power output
settings ÇƒÓ wonderful qualities for engines mechanically connected to
the wheels, but irrelevant for providing electricity alongside
batteries.
So how about
revisiting gas turbines? They have an incredible power to weight ratio,
few moving parts, and accept a wide range of fuels. Who cares if it
takes a while for a turbine to rev up, if you have batteries for the
peak loads?
Or how about Stirling cycle engines? Theyëll run off any heat source, including old newspapers.
Or maybe itës
time for a fresh look at steam power. Run on battery power while you
wait for the boiler to heat up. When you turn off the fire, the
remaining heat in the water can be used to charge the batteries even
after you leave your car.
GM stated that
the Volt is not ready for production because the proper battery
technology is not here yet. Note to GM: use a more efficient engine and
you can shrink the batteries.
Besides, do we
really want to overload our already fragile electric grid in order to
run our cars on environmentally-friendly coal?
Hereës a wild idea: instead of plugging your car into the electric grid, how about plugging your house into your car?
Far-fetched?
Yes, but not as
much as you might think. Second note to GM: develop that quiet,
high-efficiency engine for your hybrid cars, and Iëll show you another
market for it, one with world changing implications. Stay tuned.
ï
Carl S. Milsted Jr., chairman of the Libertarian Party of Buncombe County, may be contacted at cmilsted-at-holisticpolitics.org
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