Starts to look better, when not in driver's home.
I still have problem with 1.2 MW! Car's system is very unlikely to be
over 480 volts at the battery, which implies 2,500 amps capability in
the battery hardware. Wow. The station's current requirement could
only be less if the car has a (completely unnecessary otherwise) 400 lb
step-down "box". Bigger than a pole pig and much more expensive.
Okay, "400 lb" is a WAG, but I bet not too far off.
An engineering nightmare. The PR flack who dreamed this up... Geez, he
could work for big bucks in free energy.
Ol' Bab
On 3/7/2013 4:21 PM, mix...@bigpond.com wrote:
In reply to David L Babcock's message of Thu, 07 Mar 2013 15:35:14 -0500:
Hi,
I get the impression from their web site that there would be refueling stations
dotted around the country, analogous to the way gas stations are now. The range
of the vehicle is projected to be 1000 km (it weighs 2 tonne, which implies lots
of batteries), so they don't need to be *too* common.
Note also that the vehicle has two charging modes, one for a quick charge (at
suitable station), and also a home charging mode that takes longer (i.e.
overnight).
I guess that the intended purpose of the quick charge mode in combination with
the long range, is to make long trips feasible.
BTW just a thought of my own:- An adaptation of
http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_memoranda/RM2522.html might provide a means by
which charging stations could rapidly convert stored chemical energy into
electrical power for rapid recharges. (No idea how (in)efficient this would be).
[snip]
Regards,
Robin van Spaandonk
http://rvanspaa.freehostia.com/project.html
