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Posted by: FrankHummel 7 months, 3 weeks ago
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FrankHummel7 months, 3 weeks ago
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I don't doubt the conclusions of the Carnegie-Mellon study with respect to the overall outlines of the VOLT as presently constituted. The point of the VOLT is as a PROTOTYPE of a CONCEPT. (It probably bears the same relationship to the cars of the future as did the Ford Models A and T back in THEIR era.)
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There are things FUNDAMENTALLY deficient about the rather PRIMITIVE design of the VOLT as it presently stands. But one has to START SOMEWHERE! Waggoner and Lutz are to be commended for having finally (if woefully belatedly) had the INITIATIVE to actually TRY. (Of course, they could probably see the train wreck coming, and probably knew they had to attemp SOMETHING --- and too bad it was not possible to actually start a more effective alternative much SOONER --- but AUTOMOBILE BUYERS DID NOT WANT to hear the truth about really fundamental changes being needed as a consequence of the EXHAUSTION of “OUR” OWN petroleum reserves. People seemed to imagine that they could just endlessly “BUY” UP --- or if needs be “AGGRESSIVELY EXPROPRIATE” --- the reserves of OTHERS ELSEWHERE in the world.) Anyway, what needs to happen now is that a much LARGER, more CAPABLE effort now needs to be BUILT UP ON THE PIONEERING ALTERNATIVE ENERGY EFFORTS OF THE FOLKS AT GM!
One truly fundamental reality is that there is not enough LITHIUM in the world to use lithium-ion battery technology for truly MASS high-power applications. We need to fall back to heavier, lower-power-density hydrogen-ion battery technology based on the much more PLENTIFUL element NICKEL. Moreover, we will need to “layer in” REGENERATIVE BRAKING technology (a la that pioneered in the basically-GASOLINE-powered Toyota PRIUS system --- THAT concept is NOT somehow specific to the internal combustion engine!) to ABOUT DOUBLE the range of WHATEVER battery technology is used --- we can thereby probably achieve about the same range using nickel as could be achieved using lithium (if enough of that stuff actually existed)!
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