Electric cars...

[Nitro]

IN the past I word at research and testing la the developed gaseous fuel injection so you could run a vehicle on natural gas.

I already own a CNG fueled Ford F-250.
A Ford built product that utilizes the standard multiport injection system from their gasoline counterparts.

 

[Forest Cat]

I already own a CNG fueled Ford F-250.
A Ford built product that utilizes the standard multiport injection system from their gasoline counterparts.

Well, I'm certainly jealous. That's a sweet truck.

 

[Gerontius]

I already own a CNG fueled Ford F-250.
A Ford built product that utilizes the standard multiport injection system from their gasoline counterparts.

I think we both have different ideas on gasoline vehicles and a few other things as well, but if there's an excellent use for CNG, gasoline, and diesel, it's heavy vehicles used for industrial type applications. (You're reconstructing those machine shop exhibits. Pretty sure you can't move a full sized shop lathe in a Prius.)

At Mammoth Cave I remember seeing buses fueled by natural gas. They weren't modern style buses, but were just regular buses with different fuel tanks. I don't know what it did to emissions but they really didn't have a smell, which is pretty cool.

 

[Judge]

I'd just rather see the proliferation of electric vehicles confined to commercial pursuits rather than private automobiles. Seems to me a more controlled approach would collectively benefit society and be less problematic than what we have at the moment.

Would I consider purchasing an electric vehicle ? - No.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

I already own a CNG fueled Ford F-250.
A Ford built product that utilizes the standard multiport injection system from their gasoline counterparts.

I worked at the Ford Ontario Truck PLant years ago. Took care of the treatment systems, prior to painting.

 

[Nitro]

I think we both have different ideas on gasoline vehicles and a few other things as well, but if there's an excellent use for CNG, gasoline, and diesel, it's heavy vehicles used for industrial type applications. (You're reconstructing those machine shop exhibits. Pretty sure you can't move a full sized shop lathe in a Prius.)

At Mammoth Cave I remember seeing buses fueled by natural gas. They weren't modern style buses, but were just regular buses with different fuel tanks. I don't know what it did to emissions but they really didn't have a smell, which is pretty cool.

I can offer this.
The truck is exempt from our standardized exhaust emissions certs, because it runs so clean.
The oil in the crankcase requires less maintenance because even after running it for over 5,000 miles, it still looks like the day it was poured in.
No dirty hydrocarbons to turn it black, only a breakdown in the anti-foaming properties and the detergent.

My home generator (technically an alternator) runs on natural gas supplied by Peoples Gas.
It is regulated with a demand regulator so as soon as the regulator fails to see intake vacuum, it shuts off the fuel source.
Simple, effective and no loss of fuel system parts from corrosion due to the mandated ethanol they taint our fuel with.
My gas grill?
Converted to natural gas as well.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

I'd just rather see the proliferation of electric vehicles confined to commercial pursuits rather than private automobiles. Seems to me a more controlled approach would collectively benefit society and be less problematic than what we have at the moment.

Would I consider purchasing an electric vehicle ? - No.

There is A reason trains use desiel electric.

 

[Nitro]

I have been involved in automotive electrical systems and fuel control systems long enough to both witness and repair their failures.

Substandard wiring materials, environmental breaches that manifest themselves as corrosion, mechanical failures of the wiring looms and electronic parts that released their smoke.
Failed electrolytic capacitors are on the top of the list for my not liking the idea.

I used to repair Ford F series trucks with the 300 inch six in them that would arrive at our shops running on five cylinders.
After the tuneup and the timing was set in PIP timing, the SPOUT connector was re-connected and they would revert to running on five cylinders again.
The culprit was substandard wiring insulation in the primary harness that would allow a signal wire to corrode itself into a resistor.
The repair was chopping the wire in two and replacing it with better wire.
Keep in mind that the factory's main concern is for safety and quality, not production costs.
If you think otherwise, read Unsafe at any speed or go back into Ford's perfect track record with the firecracker they sold as the Pinto.


The next part is where the ride decides to take out a person at the side of the road to avoid a collision with another vehicle, but I guess that is cool because the self driving cars will save more lives in the bigger picture
There are way too many people in the world anyway, so it will actually be beneficial in the end

Then you will be faced with substandard repairs and neglect.

The autonomous vehicle sounds cool on paper but also lacks a direct route to liability which we already have with a meatpuppet in charge of the operation.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

Straight electric is not happening for a while.

 

[Forest Cat]

I posted this one in the Weird and Random thread and was surprised it didn't get any reactions. It's no pipe dream, people started racing in these things last year. It's your electric car taken to a whole new level.

Speeders

Our Speeders will feature LiDAR & RADAR, and are engineered from carbon-fibre composite tech to ensure manoeuvrability, speed and safety.

airspeeder.com

Is that flying cars? If they start selling those at 1pm, we'll have the first crash and fatality at 1:15pm and those things will be banned by the authorities before 4pm I think. Flying cars sounds like accidents waiting to happen.

 

[Nitro]

I was given the truck as an exchange for the repairs and maintainence of a serious compressing station that is owned by a friend that also owns a gas well, so in the end, I basically only trade time for my fuel.

 

[Nitro]

Straight electric is not happening for a while.

The technology has not caught up to the concept yet.

 

[Gerontius]

I can offer this.
The truck is exempt from our standardized exhaust emissions certs, because it runs so clean.
The oil in the crankcase requires less maintenance because even after running it for over 5,000 miles, it still looks like the day it was poured in.
No dirty hydrocarbons to turn it black, only a breakdown in the anti-foaming properties and the detergent.

My home generator (technically an alternator) runs on natural gas suppplied by Peoples Gas.
It is regulated with a demand regulator so as soon as the regulator fails to see intake vacuum, it shuts off the fuel source.
Simple, effective and no loss of fuel system parts from corrosion due to the mandated ethanol they taint our fuel with.
My gas grill?
Converted to natural gas as well.

This is really cool. Like way too cool.

One of my main problems with owning a gasoline car is the maintenance stuff. With even synthetic oil needing changed at 3,000 mile intervals (due to wear on the engine--we're at 273,000 miles total and it is still driven about maybe once a week) that's that.
As for anti-foaming and detergent breakdowns, if an additive could be developed that would go in every so often just to top it off, that could possibly give a CNG-fueled engine 8,000-10,000 miles between oil changes.
My next car will probably be lead-battery electric, still the 11hp home made design I mentioned earlier (because cheap to make, and I don't drive tons and tons of the time). But it'll be interesting to see whether people keep up with CNG fuel as well.

I would like to see someone build one of the new Chevrolet LS engines into something as clean as it is beastly. What an absolutely fascinating engine--lot of customization options available too. There was even an experimental aircraft made out of an old Cessna rebuilt with an LS motor, to try to do away with the hassle of aviation gasoline and its tetraethyl lead problem. They're just awesome motors.

 

[Nitro]

I got to see the Tesla platform at the Detroit North American International Auto Show years ago.
Interesting, but way out of reach for the average consumer in my honest opinion.

 

[Nitro]

This is really cool. Like way too cool.

One of my main problems with owning a gasoline car is the maintenance stuff. With even synthetic oil needing changed at 3,000 mile intervals (due to wear on the engine--we're at 273,000 miles total and it is still driven about maybe once a week) that's that.
As for anti-foaming and detergent breakdowns, if an additive could be developed that would go in every so often just to top it off, that could possibly give a CNG-fueled engine 8,000-10,000 miles between oil changes.
My next car will probably be lead-battery electric, still the 11hp home made design I mentioned earlier (because cheap to make, and I don't drive tons and tons of the time). But it'll be interesting to see whether people keep up with CNG fuel as well.

I would like to see someone build one of the new Chevrolet LS engines into something as clean as it is beastly. What an absolutely fascinating engine--lot of customization options available too. There was even an experimental aircraft made out of an old Cessna rebuilt with an LS motor, to try to do away with the hassle of aviation gasoline and its tetraethyl lead problem. They're just awesome motors.

Somewhere if I can find it, I have a picture I took in Columbus of a NHRA Super Street Chevrolet Chevelle that ran on CNG.

Super Street is a 10.90 seconds @ about 130 mph 1/4 mile class
The electric rail dragsters just broke the 200 MPH barrior, but they still have a long way to go to hit the nitro speeds.

 

[Nitro]

This is really cool. Like way too cool.

One of my main problems with owning a gasoline car is the maintenance stuff. With even synthetic oil needing changed at 3,000 mile intervals (due to wear on the engine--we're at 273,000 miles total and it is still driven about maybe once a week) that's that.
As for anti-foaming and detergent breakdowns, if an additive could be developed that would go in every so often just to top it off, that could possibly give a CNG-fueled engine 8,000-10,000 miles between oil changes.
My next car will probably be lead-battery electric, still the 11hp home made design I mentioned earlier (because cheap to make, and I don't drive tons and tons of the time). But it'll be interesting to see whether people keep up with CNG fuel as well.

I would like to see someone build one of the new Chevrolet LS engines into something as clean as it is beastly. What an absolutely fascinating engine--lot of customization options available too. There was even an experimental aircraft made out of an old Cessna rebuilt with an LS motor, to try to do away with the hassle of aviation gasoline and its tetraethyl lead problem. They're just awesome motors.

I agree, but you have to consider that aviation fuel also has a different vapor pressure level that standard road gasoline.
We now run 100 octane low lead fuel in all of them, but the tetraethyl lead in the fuel is a necessary component of the valve train for stem lubrication in air cooled engines.
The other downside to the LS in an aircraft is the liquid cooling system as well.

Recip aircraft engines are generally slower turning than their land based counterparts.
The reason behind that is to prevent the propellor tips from stalling as the blade goes supersonic.
As the RPM increases, the stall, exactly the same as a wing stall will travel towards the center of the prop.
The counter effect of that is reduced thrust, which an prop plane needs in order to fly.

Anyone that has ever been to a prominent airshow has experienced that as some aircraft pass by with a raspy note to their sound.

The LS engines are very sound in the low end torque department, but would likely benefit from a gear drive that adds more weight to the powerplant which in turn reduces the useful load of the airframe.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

Some places will not over the long term be able to produce enough electricity. I could see this being a bottle neck.
See Germany.

 

[Nitro]

The only part you will wear out on an engine from changing the oil too often is the drain plug

 

[Nitro]

Some places will not over the long term be able to produce enough electricity. I could see this being a bottle neck.
See Germany.

There is way more to it than that.
A lot of the materials needed for electric vehicles have to be globally sourced.
Some of those have to come from our enemies who in turn could shut off our tap.
They in turn won't give a damned about how they carve it out of the ground and will likely deliver it from the mines to the ports on a coal fired steam train where it will get dieseled across the pond to get it here.
The next part is the amount of environmental damage required to ramp up the wiring industry which will still require oil to make the insulation.

Sometimes what appears to be greener isn't really all that green in the bigger picture.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

We have lots of lithium here in Ontario. need to open up new mines. I'll have to ask my sister. a geologist or her husband a mining engineer. China tried buying mining properties.