Help please: electric auto + turbine question...

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Mark...

Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 4:58 am

Guest

Hello!
My name is Mark, I am looking for some feedback on my idea relating to
a zero emission electric & solar combination vehicle.

• Instead of relying on a large battery pack for all the power, I was
thinking about using a smaller battery and using the rotating wheel to
generate power.
• Specifically, 1 large or 2 small turbines will be installed, to
harness the power from the tires
• Excess power generated could be transferred back to the small
battery

What would I need to convert the turbine power into usable energy for
the electric motor (which would be running partly from battery and
partly from the turbine)?

Thanks for any help!

Damon Hill...

Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 12:46 pm

Guest

Mark <helicopter04 at (no spam) gmail.com> wrote in news:49462539-d114-4e59-b1dd-
41be09abfac0 at (no spam) 34g2000hsf.googlegroups.com:

Quote:

You definitely need help. Your concepts are confusing.

Exactly what is a "turbine" in this context? How do the tires
generate power?

--Damon

Bill Ghrist...

Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 1:33 pm

Guest

Mark wrote:

Quote:

That is called regenerative braking, and it is used on hybrids like the
Prius. You don't need a turbine to generate the power, the electric
motor itself acts as a generator when it is slowing down the car instead
of accelerating it. If you would use the motion of the wheels to
generate power in a separate generator while you are not braking (or
going down hill), all you would be doing is using the motor to drive the
generator. That is doing nothing but wasting energy, because you will
not get more energy out of the generator than you are putting out with
the motor. Using regenerative braking (in other words running the drive
motor as a generator to slow down the car) does not give you any new
energy that did not come from the motor in the first place, what it does
is convert some of the kinetic and/or potential energy of the car back
into electrical energy.

Putting it another way: Starting with a motionless car, energy is drawn
out of the battery to run the motor. This makes the car speed up
(increasing its kinetic energy) or go uphill (increasing its potential
energy). When you "brake" to slow down (for stopping or going
downhill), the motor is reversed to act as a generator. The motor
converts the kinetic energy of the car's motion back into electricity,
which recharges the battery. Of course, you don't get all of the energy
back, because some of it was lost to friction, heat, etc.

...

Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 3:52 pm

Guest

On May 14, 10:58 am, Mark <helicopte... at (no spam) gmail.com> wrote:

Quote:

Mark,
1. When you take power from the wheels, its called braking.
Great for stopping, lousy for efficiency.
2. I think you mean 'generator' not 'turbine'.
3. Turbines are not 'zero emission`.

Bill Ghrist...

Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 10:12 pm

Guest

MadDogR75 at (no spam) yahoo.com wrote:

Quote:

On May 14, 10:58 am, Mark <helicopte... at (no spam) gmail.com> wrote:
Hello!
My name is Mark, I am looking for some feedback on my idea relating to
a zero emission electric & solar combination vehicle.

• Instead of relying on a large battery pack for all the power, I was
thinking about using a smaller battery and using the rotating wheel to
generate power.
• Specifically, 1 large or 2 small turbines will be installed, to
harness the power from the tires
• Excess power generated could be transferred back to the small
battery

What would I need to convert the turbine power into usable energy for
the electric motor (which would be running partly from battery and
partly from the turbine)?

Thanks for any help!

Mark,
1. When you take power from the wheels, its called braking.
Great for stopping, lousy for efficiency.

Actually, when your intention is to stop it is great for efficiency,
because it allows you to get back some of the energy that you expended
to accelerate. That is one of the main reasons why hybrids such as the
Prius get better mileage in city driving than on the highway, in
contrast to conventional autos that get better mileage in highway driving.

Quote:

2. I think you mean 'generator' not 'turbine'.

I made that assumption also in my previous reply. It might be easy for
someone not very familiar with electrical generation to confuse the two
terms, since turbines and generators often come in pairs. Most of our
electrical power is produced by generators that are driven by turbines
of various sorts (steam, water, gas combustion, air). A turbine, of
course, is basically just a fan, where the fluid pushes on the fan and
makes it turn rather than the reverse. Of course a turbine makes no
sense in Mark's proposal, but a generator does. What he didn't seem to
realize is that the electric motor that propels the wheels for
acceleration can itself function as the electrical generator for
braking--you don't need a separate generator for that.

Quote:

3. Turbines are not 'zero emission`.

Well wind turbines and hydro turbines are essentially zero emission (if
you don't count their manufacture and construction), but that has no
relevance to the present discussion.

Mishagam...

Posted: Sat May 17, 2008 1:33 pm

Guest

Mark wrote:

Quote:

can be used to save energy from braking and use it later. It is not a
new idea, look flywheel on Wikipedia.
Turbine is not zero emission - it consumes fuel and outputs CO2 + ... as
any engine.

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