Idea that may sound insane for a plug in hybrid

Paging Nickolas Tesla, from Wikipedia. Notice the date.
Tesla demonstrated "the transmission of electrical energy without wires" that depends upon electrical conductivity as early as 1891. The Tesla effect (named in honor of Tesla) is a term for an application of this type of electrical conduction (that is, the movement of energy through space and matter; not just the production of voltage across a conductor).

[ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla]Nikola Tesla - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

Some new ideas aren't that new are they? Of course fifty years from now we will understand his genius

 

Right now, I'd be real happy with solar panels that were efficient and affordable to use on my other "hybrid", a solar recharged recumbent trike. Everything just seems to be 'a few years down the road', the only problem is that for us older folks, we'll probably be long dead and buried before then.

Back to recharging PHV's by using the road to transmit electricity -
Oh, and what about use in the snow belt with our heavy plows and salt? Some folks can't seem to handle driving on anything but clear roads. What genius decided it was a good idea to poison our soil and ground water with salt runoff so people didn't have to slow down and drive carefully in the winter? Probably the same genius that thought that texting on a cell phone while driving was a good idea.

 

Almost the same convenience of induction charging (at fixed locations) with none of the inefficiency or non-existent technology:

Have an automatic, standard plug mounted on a flexible rod, with something like a magnet on the cone-shaped end to "dock" with a plug on the front of your car as you pull up to it.

(Think of the hose on refueling planes).

 

No, you are not right in this point. This principle has been very well understood and used for a very long time, ever since its discovery. Every transformer works on this principle. Every radio transmitter/receiver utilizes this effect and I could go on. The problem is with transfer of *high amount of energy* through the air. You can pass great amount of energy through a transformer when you have a common core between the two coils, but it is hard and rather inefficient to do so when there is an air gap between them (magnetic reluctance is the term you should look for). The laws of physics haven't changed since Tesla's times (and yes, he *was* a genius, no doubt about *that*). You would need much deeper understanding of the electromagnetic field theory to see all the issues (with all respect and absolutely no offense).

And if you still need and try to pass great amounts of energy though the air (which is the case with a radar, for example), bad things could happen. *Never* try to stand in front of a fighter aircraft (or *any* aircraft for that matter) with its radar turned on. When I was working in aerospace, a guy once told me that Mig-25's radar was so powerful it could fry a rabbit at a 10 meters (yards) distance. I believe him. This would happen to you if you try to charge your car cordless. Good (or bad, as you take it) news is that the intensity of the beam decreases with the *cube* of the distance, and therefore the radar (or powerful radio transmitter or anything) would not cause you any harm if you keep reasonable distance.

The idea itself is great and it occured to many people a long time ago (my mother talks about it all the time for the last 20+ years I can remember, whenever tackling with the wires of various gizmos in her kitchen ), but it is simply not viable (according the physics as we know it).

 

All I was trying to do is point out it(transmission of electrical energy) had been though of a long time ago, and it didn't work then and probably won't ever work until or unless something fundamentally changes. Did not try to imply the praticalality of (it).
I have seen aircraft radar light up flourscent light tubes from a distance of several hundred yards, and while I was stationed in Kapsovar Hungary flying into Bosnia, they had these large Soviet survelience radars that every time they would sweep around, every thing electronic(like a PC or video camera) would emit a noise and momentarily the display would vibrate. We also had to turn off our AN/APR-39 radar warning receivers or they would be damaged the RF was so great. Made me feel good being in the presence of so much RF
I am aware of the RF a radar can emit.

 

I have to apologize then, as I have misinterpreted your post . Yes, you are correct - it won't be feasible unless our fundamental understanding of physics changes, however tempting the idea seems to be.

Well, if you are a military aviator yourself (as I understand from your post ), you are definitely well aware of all the things I pointed out (not only about radars I guess). Sorry again and hope I did not offend you .

BTW, I used to work as an avionic engineer some time ago and now I am messin' around UAVs, so maybe we are kinda colleagues by a far stretch .

 

Spinako,
We may be closer than you think. I'm retired military aviator, but still aviate. Right now I'm working with Walter Aircraft engines in Prague to use the new GE H-80 in an aircraft we manufacture. Currently I'm flying around with the E-11 in it because the form, fit and function are the same.
And no, you don't offend at all, communication is one of my weak points, I'm bad about not making myself clear.

 

Hey, what a coincidence! I live and work in Prague too, and of course I know the Walter company well. If you like, pay me a visit sometime - I may show you what I am currently working at, it might interest you - its a small unmanned rotorcraft .

I don't want to hijack this thread, so if you like please feel free to contact me trough private messages.

Ondrej