Posted by chinamobile
Do you think solar car will be popular one day? Its very environmental friendly, but obviously, the biggest problem is how can the car operate at night time
Posted by Muhammad-Oli
Lol. The biggest problem is getting enough power through a solar panel to be able to travel at higher speeds, on a car that weighs around 2 tonnes due to all the safety, entertainment, comfort and other equipment.
There is not too much of a problem with driving at night, because they can easily store energy during the day so the car can still run through the night. They can easily put in a back-up battery anyway.
I think we are more likely to see a Hydrogen powered car. They are in the late stages of development right now. A Hydrogen powered car will only have water emissions and no others. This is what most car manufacturers are focusing on, and BP petrol stations are about ready to supply Hydrogen from the pump in some places in Europe.
Posted by belialwafu
ahm...what i want to suggest is a Battery powered car..it's already here but...u can use SOLAR ENERGY to charge the battery..so you can drive even w/o sun..right?!?! haha
Posted by paul101
errr a... hows it gonna work in Scotland
Posted by Krubach
People should abandon de "Solar Car" concept.
It's not gonna work. Period.
Too much money is spent on researches for a huge slow ugly car for 1 person only, i mean... come on...
Posted by blackspot
Basically solar powered cars are just electric cars with solar panels to charge the batteries. When there is ample sunlight the batteries will charge and when there is not enough light the batteries take over. It will work but not practical for actual usage. Motors used for electric cars are just not powerful enough to drive the car to an acceptable speed otherwise if you really want to push it, it won't last long enough to even get out of your village.
That's why electric cars are mostly just used for Milk delivery trucks, golf carts, etc.
Posted by *Jojo*
On 2007-12-05 06:46:28, chinamobile wrote:
, the biggest problem is how can the car operate at night time
That's the TIME for the concept-car-inventors to make a BLUE-print for the: LUNAR-car !
Posted by Muhammad-Oli
Yeah, but theres cars like the Toyota Prius that run on electricity.I believe they can reach city speeds on their electric motor. After that, they have a back-up petrol engine which takes over. So I think the completely electric car is possible, but it'd be heavy, expensive, and because of the large batteries, it wouldn't be very spacious. So this is why car manufacturers are pursuing other alternatives, like the hydrogen car, as I said before.
Posted by arien617
Naa, even the though the Prius is "Clarkson bashed" a lot here, it's not actually that bad in my opinion...
In London they're CC exempt so no £8 daily charge and the leccy motor is good for summat like 35mph and the petrol will get you up to the region of about 100mph... slower than a lot of cars but you're never gonna do more than 80-90mph anyway in Britain.
But I reckon hydrogen combustion will be better than the fuel cell... think of the power increase in cars and to keep with todays standards you'd need smaller engines meaning more room etc.
But a hydrogen powered Bugatti Veyron... that I would love to see! Hydrogen W16? Yes Please!
Posted by blackspot
I think the hybrids like the Prius are already a step forward. It's a good way to create a smooth transition toward alternative fuels. If you come to think of it more than 60% of the energy produced by Internal combustion engines are wasted to heat and less than 40% are actually used by the vehicle itself. Perhaps one thing researchers have to consider also is making more efficient car engines.
Posted by benjijk
Interesting thread, maybe you won't like what I have to say.
Now alternative fuels are great technologies. Like someone else said, I think the solar concept is out for now until someone can create super high efficiency solar panels. What's really interested me is how someone in France developed a car that simply runs on compressed air. It just doesn't get better than that. Easy to recharge, all you need is a power point, and the built in compressor fills up the 3-4 cylinders with compressed air. The car is very light, 0 emissions, easy to manufacture and can do decent speeds and upto 300+ miles (or kms, not sure which.)
Here's the problem. How do we get governments to put these in the market? The hydrogen fuel cell has already been developed and is being used in different industries, and has been designed to work in cars as well for a few years now. But how do you get a government to abandon the concept of making money from oil? It won't happen. Wars were started just for oil. Governments milk money off the people with oil, funny thing is how some countries just don't protest and take it quietly in the a**. I remember the news article in early 2007, 1st quarter profits for Exxon Mobile exceed 900 mil. And then what with people like Dick Cheney and others owning oil fields? Would they ever want to run at a loss? Nope. The war's basically a front, and everytime they need to hike oil prices to maintain stability of their economy (like the falling $ value), they claim difficulties in Iraq and Iran as excuses.
Bottom line, despite what the presses and newspapers state: the oil industry is huge, and large enough reason to maintain wars, etc. and governments will milk it for what its worth. And they're not about to let this huge money making machine just disappear.
Now who wouldn't want a car that they could maintain without paying the $1000s in gas every year?
Posted by belialwafu
www.veggiecar.com hehe
Posted by Muhammad-Oli
@benjijk:
Very true. But governments are slowly starting to realise they have to stop being selfish. Cars like the Prius, in some countries, are discounted to the public by the government. And governments have been giving car manufacturers money to develop new fuels and new technology for years now.
I think the Hydrogen route is one where the governments can still make money, because Hydrogen will still have to be sold at the pump, so it can be taxed.
Posted by arien617
Oh if they tax hydrogen...
Posted by benjijk
On 2007-12-06 16:00:04, Muhummad-Oli wrote:
@benjijk:
Very true. But governments are slowly starting to realise they have to stop being selfish. Cars like the Prius, in some countries, are discounted to the public by the government. And governments have been giving car manufacturers money to develop new fuels and new technology for years now.
I think the Hydrogen route is one where the governments can still make money, because Hydrogen will still have to be sold at the pump, so it can be taxed.
You've got a point there Muhammad, but what I was saying is that they will not let the consumer get to the point of independence. The Prius still needs gas, and many others like it. And I'm sure the govt will have some sort of deal worked out. The same with hydrogen fuel. You're still dependent on them. There are technologies out there by which you can run independently like the example with the car running on compressed air. But these will hardly or maybe never see the light of day. I'm sure some countries will definitely put these on the streets, but there are power and money hungry countries like the US that won't let it happen, not for a long time. Or maybe until oil runs dry. Well in that case we'll see another one. I wonder what will happen when Saudi and Kuwait declare a shortage of oil. More wars?