An Electric Dream

My friend and I built a tesla coil as an 8th grade science project back in 1962. We used an old transformer to convert a/c current to d/c current. We hand wound the coils, used erector set steel through wax seals into a salt water containers for the condenser. It received the blue ribbon and went to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry that year as a finalist. To watch the arc was spectacular and the gas given off was OZONE.

My friend and I built a tesla coil as a science project in 8th grade in 1962. It was a success and went to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry as an entry that year. We used a transformer to convert a/c current to d/c current. We hand wound the coils, used erector set steel through wax seals into salt water for the condensers. The gas given off by the arc was OZONE. It was spectacular to watch when running.

For those fo you who haven't pulled your noses out of the TV in awhile to think, don't knock a $98, 000 car as a bad idea, especially one as advanced, capable, and beautiful as the Tesla. It proves that electric cars are viable. Don't forget, before Henry Ford (no he didn't invent the car as we know it, but an affordable one) the average internal-combustion car cost about tiwce the annual salary of the average middle class consumer, or more. And with Toyota taking a look at an all-electric Prius, how long do you figure it will be before an affordable one is available? Not that electric is the "answer to cancer" either. Think for a minute: what kind of a drain would be put on the power grid if a few million electric cars in each major city were plugged in for the night? Can you spell "brown-out" (especially in the summer)? And where will all that electricity come from - coal, oil, nuclear? Face it: unless we learn to harvest and distrubute lightning next year, electric cars are off a ways yet. However, as with any technology, we'll overcome the hurdles and develope the infrastructure, just as we did with gasoline-powered cars. - T. H. Pine

Yeah it looks and sounds like a great car but honestly what average houseold can afford a $98,000 car. Only the people that are funding it like the google boys, the ebay president and movie stars. If you want to find cars that are just as effective and produce zero fuel emmisions then take a look at the cars that Zap is coming out with at www.zapworld.com. They are coming out with the cars before Telsa. Zap is also a publicly traded company under the ticker symbol ZAAP.

I cant believe that its taking our human race this long to realize, if we feel we aabsolutely have to travel at speeds excessing that of a hoarse, or a wind sail, then we have no alternitve.. .I hope Tesla explodes into the automotive market. what a great project. and the nay sayer.lol its funny, when i turned on my pc this afternoon, it seemed to take at least 5 mins to boot.Well the next time i turned it on this evening i clocked the boot time and it was only 49 secs.So just for kicks I retimed it from full stop to full boot, consistant 49 secs my point is, so what its taking longer to go through the crash inspections and so on. The future is in front of us its not goning anyware. Tesla WILL be huge..... wish i had a piece of the finacial pie as well as an zero emissions car.

http://www.evnut.com/rav_longranger.htm This is another tiny trailer generator for the Toyota EV, a 500cc motorcycle engine is used, housed in a small, aerodynamic package 20kW DC output is sufficient for extended high-speed travel.

It looks like an electric car with a trailer generator has already been done. See pictures at http://www.acpropulsion.com/tzero_pages/tzero_Gallery.htm click on the pictures for a bigger view.

3. The ideal car or SUV would be a plug-in electric with a lithium battery having a 200 miles range. To take a long highway trip attach a small trailer containing a high efficiency gasoline generator and fill up as needed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wankel_engine 100 miles per gallon no problem.

1. Wind turbines have a capital cost of about one dollar per watt or about $4 Million for a 3.5 Mega-Watt generator including the tower, blades and control electronics. That is about 4 times cheaper than solar panels. Wind power supplies more than 20 percent of Germany's electricity and 30 percent of Denmark's. America has many good locations with high wind in the north. (see DOE wind maps)

2. Gasoline engines that run at constant speed near their maximum power point are about 3 times more efficient than ones running at a fraction of their full power such as in a car in a typical situation. see next post

As an owner of two hybrid vehicles I applaud the Tesla work. Competition and options are the backbone of innovation and they are offering choices. I would also suggest that while auto manufacturers continue to look at making individual vehicles more efficient, significantly more investment is needed in mass transportation.

Remember the scale model slot cars kids played with in the 60s and 70s? Power strips need to be installed in our freeways. Not everywhere, but in a special lane and even intermittantly, to reduce the draw on electric cars' batteries or even to help recharge them as they are being driven.

Remember the scale model slot cars we had in the 60s and 70s? We need charged pavement patches to be installed in our freeways, not everywhere, but in a special lane and even only intermittantly to reduce the draw on electric cars' batteries or even to help charge them as they are being driven.

Also, "big, American, SUV" is not even close to the appropriate grammar for the sentence that the pompous, arrogant Ldickens was attempting. Ever heard the glass houses phrase? It goes something like, "PEPLE who, live, inn glasshouses, should nt' throw, STONES," you fool.

Sorry, my previous mail goes to heathesellers driving big, AMERICAN, SUV. Please learn grammar first!

UR an Ahole

Electric cars to reduce greenhouse gases? Where will the electricity come from - coal fired power plants is the answer. Does anyone remember the looming ice age that the "experts" forecast in the 80's? Doing my part for global warming - I drive a big, AMERICAN, SUV! Remember, Al Gore didn't invent the internet - but he did make up global warming.