Somewhat ironic?...the fuel goes into the Geni ......photo of our future?

Goldfinger · Senior Member

Somewhat ironic?...the fuel goes into the Geni ......photo of our future?

Dougwe · Chief one feather

Hi G,

I have a vision of a power supply from the sun charging away as you drive. Solar Power sort of set up.

That sort of set up is probably just around the corner smile

Keep Safe on the roads and out there.

erad · Guru

Sadly, the concept of solar power to drive cars is way off. You only get about 1 kW per square metre radiation, and it is pretty inefficient (20% at best) to turn that into electricity. So if you have the whole upper surface of the car as solar panels, you will only get maybe 8 square metres maximum area, and that is when the sun sines directly onto the panels. 8 kW will get a small car moving, but not far or not for long.

Electric cars are the future - IF YOU LIVE IN THE CITY.Commute to work and eave the car out in the sun to charge up with solar panels, you may get away with this, but try to go any distance, or at night or when it is cloudy, then they really don't work that well. I love the irony of the photo above...

Yuglamron · Guru

I have seen reports that they are trialling Near Field Charging on Roads where induction coils in the road surface charge your car as you drive.

It appears to me to be Pie in the Sky.

They cannot build roads properly yet, Roads that need repair with Potholes that appear sometimes within days of the road being completed.

Dougwe · Chief one feather

I still reckon just maybe with all the technology available now and in the near or a little further in the future Solar might just be possible. A top up over night via a power point if needed.

Tony Bev · Guru

I believe that the electric car evolution has already started

I have read, but do not have the website at my fingertips, that car companies, are putting something like 30 billion, into electric car battery research

I believe it is just a matter of time, before we see a reasonable electric car on the road

dabbler · Guru

Exactly Tony Bev. The vehicles we use today did not appear overnight so why should we expect a different propulsion technology to meet everyone's requirements instantly. If petroleum wasn't cheap and plentiful in the early days of road transport there's every chance electric vehicles would dominate now. Or steam.

dogbox · Guru

Yuglamron wrote:

I have seen reports that they are trialling Near Field Charging on Roads where induction coils in the road surface charge your car as you drive.

It appears to me to be Pie in the Sky.
They cannot build roads properly yet, Roads that need repair with Potholes that appear sometimes within days of the road being completed.

it works on phones they can be charged without a power point so it may be possible in the not to distant future

read somewhere that they where trialing overhead charging for trucks much along the idea of electric trains

landy · Guru

If electric cars were a bit cheaper they could possibly be good to flat tow. No transmission to wear out or cause drag and recharge on your Powered site.
Landy