RE: Ruf Unveils Electric Cayenne
Discussion
Will there be enough exotic metals for the amount of batteries required to replace the cars currently on our roads?
the only sensible replenishable solution is bio fuel... but only when using hemp. Its the fastest growing, least maintenance weed that can grow anywhere.
It can grow 30ft in 3 months and the ground be immediately replanted after harvest.
Henry Ford wanted to run his model T's on it. Theres a lot of bs been pushed on us about hemp for the last 100 years. Time to wake people up. Hemp can save the engine and the world.
the only sensible replenishable solution is bio fuel... but only when using hemp. Its the fastest growing, least maintenance weed that can grow anywhere.
It can grow 30ft in 3 months and the ground be immediately replanted after harvest.
Henry Ford wanted to run his model T's on it. Theres a lot of bs been pushed on us about hemp for the last 100 years. Time to wake people up. Hemp can save the engine and the world.
JacksHereR said:
Will there be enough exotic metals for the amount of batteries required to replace the cars currently on our roads?
Probably not but then there isn't really enough for modern ICE cars either - I don't think there's enough accessible platinum in the world to fit a cat to every car. For the moment, we have no idea what chemicals for batteries the industry will finally stabilise on, so it's hard to say when it will become a problem. I suspect there's not enough cultivatable ground in the world to easily feed everyone and provide enough fuel either. Lets face it, we're not managing to feed everyone even now, when we aren't trying to grow fuel on a significant scale.
Edited by kambites on Friday 11th December 10:06
Same here. Or drive about with a bag on my head. 'we're not managing to feed everyone even now' I think thats a political problem rather than a land problem. Its a weed, It doesnt require cultivated farming land used currently for food.
The governments in the world spend billions trying to stop hemp growing which otherwise would grown naturally, they fly around spraying the planet with chemicals to prevent the weed growing.
The governments in the world spend billions trying to stop hemp growing which otherwise would grown naturally, they fly around spraying the planet with chemicals to prevent the weed growing.
JacksHereR said:
'we're not managing to feed everyone even now' I think thats a political problem rather than a land problem. Its a weed, It doesnt require cultivated farming land used currently for food.
The governments in the world spend billions trying to stop hemp growing which otherwise would grown naturally, they fly around spraying the planet with chemicals to prevent the weed growing.
True, so I'm sure it could be produced in reasonable quantities without issue. But enough to power the growing needs of the world's motoring public on its own? I'm not convinced. The governments in the world spend billions trying to stop hemp growing which otherwise would grown naturally, they fly around spraying the planet with chemicals to prevent the weed growing.
Wikipedia claims that hemp produces 242 litres/hectare/year. The US uses 160,000,000 tonnes of oil a year (that's for everything, not just motoring), which is roughly 200,000,000,000 litres. So to use hemp to produce enough oil for the US alone, you'd need roughly a billion hectares of land, or ten million square km. Interestingly enough, that's almost exactly the area of the US.
So to generate enough biodiesel to meet US fuel oil fuel demand, you'd have to grow hemp on every square inch of land in the US, which would leave you nowhere to put the roads.
Edited by kambites on Friday 11th December 11:10
Electric cars are no good, and most owners should be shot at dawn. The issue is that it still runs on a fossil fuel. My grandad has been saying for decades that the only viable way of producing a truly energy efficient car is through hydrogen!
Then again he was also one of the senior chemical engineers at BNFL and even helped and advised the Japanese with building their first nuclear power plant.
Then again he was also one of the senior chemical engineers at BNFL and even helped and advised the Japanese with building their first nuclear power plant.
As someone said earlier, the technology is still in its infancy (has been since the 1800s). I'm sure we'll be seeing better performance from battery powered EVs in the not so distant future, the technology is almost there. Think about how far we've come since the GM EV-1 from the late '90s. That was still using lead-acid batteries I think. Now we have the Tesla that'll out-accelerate a Gallardo and (hopefully soon) the Lightning EV with 700hp! The hardest parts now are getting charging systems up to snuff, cutting battery weight,and increasing range. However, the main hurdle EVs have to overcome is not a problem inherent with EV design, but rather a political/infrastructure one. Unless the power stations used to charge the cars use clean energy, all the potential "environmental benefits" of EVs are for naught. The problem is as much geo-political as environmental. Fact is, the two most polluting countries, China and the United States, have huge coal reserves and are not about to invest billions in nuclear power when all that coal is just sitting there, essentially free. The other problem, the only relatively clean, sustainable, energy is nuclear (wind, water, and geothermal energy cannot in themselves power large nations), but most Western countries are not going to push this, as it would put us in a political predicament with nations (such as Iran) that want to develop nuclear power but are currently discouraged from this by the U.N.
Anyway, as far as using the least obvious choice for basing an electric car on, it seems Ruf is utilizing the "because we can" ethos. It makes absolutely no sense to build an EV SUV; too much weight+more weight-power=inefficiency. Sorry for the long post!
Anyway, as far as using the least obvious choice for basing an electric car on, it seems Ruf is utilizing the "because we can" ethos. It makes absolutely no sense to build an EV SUV; too much weight+more weight-power=inefficiency. Sorry for the long post!
kambites said:
Yes but (1) power stations can burn the fossil fuels much more efficiently than cars and (2) there are other ways of generating electricity that don't require fossil fuels.
Maybe we should invest in safer micro nuclear reactors 
When you are at home you power your house from the reactor in your car...charge your heating/electric in the house then leave house to fend for itself with critical systems with mains and battery power)Mobile power wherever you are..
Snoop Bagg said:
Electric cars are no good, and most owners should be shot at dawn. The issue is that it still runs on a fossil fuel. My grandad has been saying for decades that the only viable way of producing a truly energy efficient car is through hydrogen!
Then again he was also one of the senior chemical engineers at BNFL and even helped and advised the Japanese with building their first nuclear power plant.
Hes a chemical engineer then not a mechanical engineer yet has no concept of makking hydrogen in large volumes?Then again he was also one of the senior chemical engineers at BNFL and even helped and advised the Japanese with building their first nuclear power plant.
Hydrogen has more merits at the moment with people using then due to range, but cost and efficiency electric car that run solely on batteries win. You dont need to develop a hydrogen distribution infrastructure either.
Just so you know hydrogen fuel cell cars need a battery aswell as they are electric cars.
What would his thoughts be on an electric car running on nuclear power? Or one running on solar power? Surely that is the ultimate in a truly energy efficient car?
Edited by JonnyVTEC on Friday 11th December 17:49
The Joint Venture between RUF and Seimens understand that the race is on to test their new technologies and crack the battery storage challenges we now face, even if these early cars are not the best lookers and are very overweight.
Whoever cracks this technology to the point where it can compete with the internal combustion engine on range and recharge times will control the future of the Automotive industry.
Even here in Abu Dhabi in the Middle East, where we export US$300 million per day of petroleum products to the Western world is quietly investing Billions of dollars into battery power storage technology for the auto industry. We also now own Tesla.
We have been making the Arabs rich beyond their wildest dreams with our dependence on oil over the last 50 years.
Things must change and change fast!!! The German Gov't backing the RUF, Seimens JV research understand this all to well and we all know the Germans are pretty good at making cars.
Whoever cracks this technology to the point where it can compete with the internal combustion engine on range and recharge times will control the future of the Automotive industry.
Even here in Abu Dhabi in the Middle East, where we export US$300 million per day of petroleum products to the Western world is quietly investing Billions of dollars into battery power storage technology for the auto industry. We also now own Tesla.
We have been making the Arabs rich beyond their wildest dreams with our dependence on oil over the last 50 years.
Things must change and change fast!!! The German Gov't backing the RUF, Seimens JV research understand this all to well and we all know the Germans are pretty good at making cars.
Edited by PGTRS on Saturday 12th December 12:40
Putting aside the fact that the car isnt my cup of tea, I found the reporting to be great.
Telling us about weight, power, and performance stats, along with recharge information, is great.
I'm looking at the advances in EV, and really looking forward to the day when I can buy one. I've seen articles on the web of people who convert petrol cars to EV, for £300, so they cant be expensive, what with only 1 moving part, they should also be reliable.
And if they're designed from scratch with electric in mind, I'm really interested to see what the future brings.
Telling us about weight, power, and performance stats, along with recharge information, is great.
I'm looking at the advances in EV, and really looking forward to the day when I can buy one. I've seen articles on the web of people who convert petrol cars to EV, for £300, so they cant be expensive, what with only 1 moving part, they should also be reliable.
And if they're designed from scratch with electric in mind, I'm really interested to see what the future brings.
bigburd said:
kambites said:
Yes but (1) power stations can burn the fossil fuels much more efficiently than cars and (2) there are other ways of generating electricity that don't require fossil fuels.
Maybe we should invest in safer micro nuclear reactors When you are at home you power your house from the reactor in your car...charge your heating/electric in the house then leave house to fend for itself with critical systems with mains and battery power)Mobile power wherever you are..
^^ Have a look at "nuclear batteries", and see what you think. Apparently they are beng used for military purposes now, and will be commercially available in 3-5 years.
Also, have a look into EEStor. Ceramic batteries that hold 10* the power of current batteries, and do so in 1/10th the space. Investors like Lockheed Martin.
If either of these are for real, then the electric car will have come a long way in competng with the ICE.
Also, have a look into EEStor. Ceramic batteries that hold 10* the power of current batteries, and do so in 1/10th the space. Investors like Lockheed Martin.
If either of these are for real, then the electric car will have come a long way in competng with the ICE.
What an utter pile of w@nk! This is the absolute antithesis of how to build an electric vehicle. If you want a decent EV you have to design it and build it from scratch. All of the factors have to be taken into account and the batteries and weight thereof have to be a major consideration in that process. i used to be a massive EV fan but a couple of years of research proved to me that the components needed to make a successful EV don't exist for the home builder. Sure you can get motors, controllers and batteries but none of them are optimised for vehicle use. Converting a petrol/diesel engined AWD fatwagon is probably the worst course of action that one could take. In fact any conversion from internal combustion power to electric will be a failure simply because the vehicle layout is not optimal for electric propulsion. EV's will only be practical when major manufacturers decide to start building them in large volumes. This will reduce costs and place these vehicles in the market at a point where average people can afford to buy them. The final piece of the puzzle has yet to be solved though and it's always the problem, batteries. For people to be able to use an EV the same way they use an IC vehicle, the batteries must be high capacity, fast charging, high discharge and affordable. No such battery exists at the present time and those that come close have chemistries that rely on rare metals which represent a finite resource within themselves.
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