I am glad to see hybrid and totally electric cars in this country. I have seen that in Japan they have electric vans as well. I wonder how do I get one, when will these be imported. I am interested in alternative energy to fossil fuel, or bio diesel. I am not in position to buy a new van at this point, and have wondered if anyone has managed to put an electric or hybrid van together with available parts from other sources, like junked vehicles.
Electric powered van
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wagoneer
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Even in countries as close as Mexico and Canada some vehicles are not allowed for sale in the USA.
Van-Tramp
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I'm sure it is possible to do (and probably has been done by hobbyists) but the there are still too many issues with that concept, mainly the cost. It is still not cheap to be hybrid or electric. What money is saved on gasoline is just spent up front on the costs of all those batteries and such. Doing it just to be green isn't really a valid argument either, as the waste created to produce those batteries is pretty significant as well. And then, how does one charge that van? A simple 120 volt outlet wont do the trick, and it would consume a lot of electricity each day (the power grid in the USA cant handle even 10% of our population plugging in electric vehicles each night). There are super charger stations, but not enough (yet). Solar can not charge up a vehicle's battery system in a timely fashion, or reliably.
Still, I hope to be alive when the time comes that a person can have a vehicle 100% off-grid. No need for gas station or electrical outlets. We are so close already, but not all the way there. It wont take long, but once we get there the vans will cost too much for us common-folk for another decade or so. A fun day-dreaming subject nonetheless.
Still, I hope to be alive when the time comes that a person can have a vehicle 100% off-grid. No need for gas station or electrical outlets. We are so close already, but not all the way there. It wont take long, but once we get there the vans will cost too much for us common-folk for another decade or so. A fun day-dreaming subject nonetheless.
Headache
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I hope I spell this right but look up Jehu Garcia on YouTube. He's built an electric Combi van among other electronic things, like a homemade PowerWall.
autumnt said:
Electric vehicles (recharging from the grid) still burn mostly fossil fuels, albeit remotely. Electricity from the power grid in the USA is approximately 65% natural gas and coal powered, and about 20% nuclear powered.
I am thinking that solar panels on the roof can charge the batteries. Perhaps someone will improve capacitors so that they will replace batteries. Batteries discharge at a linear rate, while capacitors are more analog. Still the knowledge is there to make it happen. I have seen solar panels that are flexible. I will look up the youtube guy..
Spaceman Spiff
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autumnt said:
A 100W solar panel will give 500WH on a good day.
A Tesla gets ~ 3 miles per 1000WH.
Yes you can charge an electric car battery on solar but it will take you a lot of solar panels or a long time to get anywhere.
autumnt said:
They can, IF those panels are on the roof of your house (apartment, office, etc) and you have a LOT of them.
It has been over 20 yrs now when on TV a guy demonstrated his perpetual motion powered car.. It was a live telecast from a stage where he drove his car for an hour in a circle. The big three bought his patent, and nothing was heard of it again. I saw that in the 90's on TV. It had magnets that powered it. Ok, you probably think I am off my rocker if you did not see it. Part of his agreement with the big three was that he do the TV show on the network, to show the world it is possible. I had not seen anything after the show to say that it was a hoax. I think the perpetual motion powered the cars electric motor. Seems like it was a convered VW bug. I know there is information that says it is not possible, but I am only reporting what I have seen on TV. Yes, I know 99% of the media is Bull Sh##.. I hope someone else saw what I saw.
highdesertranger
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" I know there is information that says it is not possible"
information ha, there are laws of physics that says it is not possible.
no conversion of energy is 100% efficient. which pretty much makes a perpetual motion machine of any type impossible. what ever you saw on TV was a hoax if they tried to play it off as a perpetual motion machine.
highdesertranger
information ha, there are laws of physics that says it is not possible.
no conversion of energy is 100% efficient. which pretty much makes a perpetual motion machine of any type impossible. what ever you saw on TV was a hoax if they tried to play it off as a perpetual motion machine.
highdesertranger
Driving a car in a circle for an hour proves nothing. I can do that with my gas-guzzling truck and none of the live TV cameras will see me put fuel into it within that hour.
Besides, energy is lost with the rolling resistance of tires and air drag, so anyone claiming perpetual energy that can move a vehicle must actually somehow 'invent' a way to produce surplus energy to overcome those losses, and run heaters, air conditioning, lights, etc.
And, if the 'big three' agreed to buy out a patent then why not build this magical car? They would surely be successful beyond imagination.
Why stop with a perpetual motion car? Boeing and Airbus would LOVE to produce a perpetual motion airliner....imagine the savings on fuel.
NASA could sure use a perpetual motion rocket....imagine: almost free space travel!
All I'm really saying is: Be skeptical. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.
(BTW, I know where perpetual energy can actually be found....5 year old kids!)
Besides, energy is lost with the rolling resistance of tires and air drag, so anyone claiming perpetual energy that can move a vehicle must actually somehow 'invent' a way to produce surplus energy to overcome those losses, and run heaters, air conditioning, lights, etc.
And, if the 'big three' agreed to buy out a patent then why not build this magical car? They would surely be successful beyond imagination.
Why stop with a perpetual motion car? Boeing and Airbus would LOVE to produce a perpetual motion airliner....imagine the savings on fuel.
NASA could sure use a perpetual motion rocket....imagine: almost free space travel!
All I'm really saying is: Be skeptical. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.
(BTW, I know where perpetual energy can actually be found....5 year old kids!)
Spaceman Spiff
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autumnt said:
If a patent was issued you should be able to easily find it as ALL issued patents are in the public domain. Meaning all patents are available to anyone who what to look at them and see how it is done (a patent is a teaching document).
Perpetual motion machines violate the first and second laws of thermodynamics. According to the patent office "the patent examiner would promptly reject it [perpetual motion machine] under 35 USC 101, 35 USC 112(a)."
Well, the oil industry does not want an alternative to oil energy. They are extremely powerful. I do not want to into any more than that. Either you realize thier power and influence or you don't.. But, I do understand everyones comments. Driving a car for an hour without a battery, or a fossil fuel motor is worth mentioning, don't you think? I do.
BTW, the majority of the autos in Sweden are electric or hybrid..
BTW, the majority of the autos in Sweden are electric or hybrid..
B and C
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Solar powered cars are already here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_car
Not practical for anything yet as the electric motors are less than 5 horsepower and they are made extremely light.
Not practical for anything yet as the electric motors are less than 5 horsepower and they are made extremely light.
autumnt said:
Actually, they DO.
But it's because they want to control (and profit from) the alternatives, but also, there is a huge financial treasure trove of carbon-offset credits for powering refineries with wind and solar power, ironic as it sounds.
In fact the oil and gas industry is investing heavily in wind and solar power. Probably batteries too.
highdesertranger
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Spiff tried to explain this. there is no big conspiracy with people/companies buying up patents and then sitting on them. that is impossible, but it's a favorite talking point of people pushing this nonsense. a patent is a open public record, any body can look at it. plus patents don't last forever they run out and then anybody can copy them. it's not like that really matters anyway because people/companies steal patents all the time if there is a buck to be made. so saying xyz company bought a patent to hide it is total BS. highdesertranger
Dan 1
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Hide it? A "Public Record"? Maybe not. Probably not. But wouldn't the idea be to buy the patent, in order to prevent its development into competitive product...and have the opportunity to develop it before the patent life span runs out?
B and C
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Does China respect patents? If it has been patented, it is open record. Patents have to be open records so you can search to see if your idea has been patented before. Common sense folks. https://www.uspto.gov/patents-application-process/search-patents
MrNoodly
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Amazon placed an order for 100,000 electric vans over the next five years.
https://jalopnik.com/amazon-orders-100-000-vans-from-electric-startup-rivian-1838250731
https://jalopnik.com/amazon-orders-100-000-vans-from-electric-startup-rivian-1838250731
ZoNiE
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I have an electric Rav4 as my daily driver.
Plenty of room to sleep in that.
A blast to drive.
Top speed 105.
0-60 in about 6.2 sec.
Not enough range, however...
[img=400x250]https://cnet3.cbsistatic.com/img/ke...520-cdcefdabf16f/toyota-rav4-ev-001.jpg[/img]
This is a Tesla powered vehicle built as a JV between Toyota and Tesla.
It takes about 3 hrs to recharge it daily (About 40 miles) on 240V@40A.
Solar will NOT charge this car. Not enough room on the roof.
The battery is a tray that mounts under the car.
People are taking the guts from wrecked model S sedans and hacking them into other vehicles.
A model S weighs as much as my 2009 Ford Explorer Sport Trac.
It wouldn't be a stretch to put Model S guts into an older square body Dodge Caravan or similar.
Plenty of room to sleep in that.
A blast to drive.
Top speed 105.
0-60 in about 6.2 sec.
Not enough range, however...
[img=400x250]https://cnet3.cbsistatic.com/img/ke...520-cdcefdabf16f/toyota-rav4-ev-001.jpg[/img]
This is a Tesla powered vehicle built as a JV between Toyota and Tesla.
It takes about 3 hrs to recharge it daily (About 40 miles) on 240V@40A.
Solar will NOT charge this car. Not enough room on the roof.
The battery is a tray that mounts under the car.
People are taking the guts from wrecked model S sedans and hacking them into other vehicles.
A model S weighs as much as my 2009 Ford Explorer Sport Trac.
It wouldn't be a stretch to put Model S guts into an older square body Dodge Caravan or similar.
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