Idea that may sound insane for a plug in hybrid

What if all cars where thy way and that was built into the roads?

 

I'm guessing that these are induction chargers. I had a razor that charged like this and it was about 50% efficient. i.e. half the energy being consumed was lost. Not a real big deal when you are consuming 2-3 watts...and maybe a total of a few watt-hrs per day. A really big deal when you are consuming ~1000 watts and 5 or 10 kw-hrs per night.

I wouldn't find it too difficult to have to actually plug my car in each night.

Considering making roads like this...it should probably be obvious this isn't going to happen. Look at how electric buses and light rail work -- they have overhead wires because a direct connection is most efficient.

3PriusMike

 

there's already patents being established for solar roadways. there was a post on here last week. they are connected, can store electricity, heat if needed for cold areas, anti skid glass like top (not sure what material they are using) .. they can wash themselves and so forth.. crazy concept till you add in a bunch of cars that can charge wireless from it.

 

Alas, induction chargers are rather inefficient (the more so the bigger the air gap is between the charger and the charged device, and growing rather fast with increasing distance - with the cube of it if I am not mistaken) and cannot transfer great amounts of energy trough the air, or they would make you toast. If you really had such a charging device in your garage which would have sufficient power to charge your car overnight, you would be turned into a well-done steak as soon as you open the door.

BTW, you already have such a device in your Prius, although a rather small one... Your key fob. It works on very similar principle as those cordless chargers.

 

The convience of induction runs smack dab into the inefficiency problem. A better approach might be an automatic plug-in, something that uses relatively safe voltages, 50 V. Perhaps a split bus-bar under the front fender might be a better solution with a smart curb. Automating the plug makes a lot of sense especially for non-technical owners.

FYI, here is the key fob opened up:


The large block might be an inductive pickup / antenna used when the battery has failed. Before taking this one apart, I'd rather disassemble a non-operational fob.

Bob Wilson

 

Yes, looks likely. I think I read somewhere in my user's guide that the battery is not required for SKS operation, it is only used for remote locking/unlocking. That makes sense (SKS would work like RFID), so it would be powered inductively.

 

Man.. I feel like we are on the cusp of some really great energy efficiency technologies here.

Imagine if solar panels were a whole lot cheaper and a whole lot more efficient. Have a nice solar panel array on your roof, your car than can do 50-100 miles on a single charge without using any gas is plugged in, powered by the sun (and your solar roof on the car helped trickle charge it too), etc.

 

Am I the only one old enough to remember slot cars?

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Anyone have a Roomba? I often thought the best way to charge a plug in style car would be similar to the way Roombas charge. They drive over a platform that has contacts and then the Roomba charges directly. You could have the platform anchored to a garage floor and then just drive up and have 2 ball contacts on the bottom of the car lock into the charger.

 

Sadly, no.

 

I think I still have a few. AS a kid I used to build them. I think the hot motor at the time was the HGM-12.

 

In my opinion it doesn't matter that the specifics of the concept aren't efficient or don't really work TODAY. It's the idea itself that is important.

Ease and convience of recharging as well as widespread access will become a factor in the evolution of alternative automobiles as they go from "alternative" to mainstream.

So it's the ideas that are important. Obviously, I think the first evolution is going to be what we are charging-Lithium Ion vs. Nickel Hydride, as opposed to how we are charging. But evolution on all fronts will advance.

No idea is really insane, the realities of how it might work, or where it needs improvement might need to be overcome and adressed but I'm sure about 20 years ago the idea of a mass produced automobile with low emissions that ran on both a gasoline engine and electric motors was viewed as "crazy".

Aside from Prius Chat and The Prius itself, it's entertaining to watch as The Leaf, The Volt and eventually the Plug in Prius advance. It's really a place where you can watch change come out of the gate.

 

While all ideas are worth some consideration, those that involve a complete rewrite of physics should be considered a long shot at best. It's important to keep an open mind and even dream a bit, but it's equally important to avoid banking on a long shot.

Tom

 

I would imagine that an induction charger of that size would generate one heck of a magnetic field around it. An entire parking lot full of them could generate quite a large amount of interference. I wonder if the FCC would need to get involved. Quite honestly, until further testing can be done on the effects of large magnetic radiation on the human body, I would stay away from them, but the effects are debatable.

cellphonesnotsafe.com/studies

 

Do the same crazies who think cell phones hurt you also think that magnets can heal all your problems?

There's a sucker born every minute.

 

It is also a good idea to not put any money on loser ideas. Solar powered cars is one of them. Peak solar output is about 1 kw per square meter. No matter how efficient and cheap you make a solar panel you will never get this much energy unless the solar panel is directly facing the sun. And, of course, tilting the panels while driving increases drag. Typical solar cells are 15-20% efficiency, while ones on satellites are around 40%.

A Prius-sized car requires at least 200 w-hrs to go one mile. So, traveling at a modest 30 mph requires 6 kw of power. So, at 100% efficiency you'd need 6 sq meters directly facing the sun. 12 m^2 with the amazing breakthrough of 50% efficiency. (Of course a car this large would require more than 200 w-hrs per mile). You can fiddle with the math all day long and the only thing that makes sense is to permanently mount solar cells where they are fully utilized rather than put them on things that drive around only partially in the sun and at the wrong angle most of the time.

Sure, if solar cells were free, you could paint them on a car and get a 3 or 4 % increase in electrical efficiency. And if you sat in the sun at noon for an hour and charged your battery you could drive for a mile or two.

If you've seen some of the college design contests with solar powered cars you may have noticed that they are not even close to street legal, use bicycle wheels, are only a couple of feet off the ground, only go ~10-15 mph, etc.

It is not being pessimistic to say that a mass-produced solar-powered car will never happen. It is being realistic (at least for this planet and this sun). However, we can say that the entire vehicle fleet on Mars is solar powered.

3PriusMike