Anyone ever tried a full-scale scalectrix?

[glazbagun]

All this talk of electric cars, heavy batteries and range has me wondering- would it be possible to have an eelctric car with a smaller, lighter battery for pootling around town/low range work, and have high-voltage cables running through the motorways instead of the pylons we currently have.

Then, once on the motorway, the car could use the external current to power itself. Would such a thing be doable, or would the transformer, etc, end up being just as heavy as a decent battery? I guess another problem would be how to charge you for the electricity you've used.

Anyone ever tried such a system? The closest I could find was the old electric trucks:

http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2009/07/trolleytruc...

[rhinochopig]

Yes

[soad]

rhinochopig said:

Yes

Me too - years ago.

They're on about putting these electric trolleybuses into play finally, first time round was a no-go as funds run out.

[redstu]

Inductive charging is the way ahead, should have it some time next century!

[Twincam16]

Sounds great but is in reality a terrifying prospect.

Put it this way - you're on the motorway driving along in a car dependent on getting its power from cables in the road.

You're telling me that the government won't also somehow use this technology to regulate your speed, acceleration, lane changes etc? You'll be in a Scalextric car, but you won't have the control trigger.

[Fartgalen]

Twincam16 said:

Sounds great but is in reality a terrifying prospect.

Put it this way - you're on the motorway driving along in a car dependent on getting its power from cables in the road.

You're telling me that the government won't also somehow use this technology to regulate your speed, acceleration, lane changes etc? You'll be in a Scalextric car, but you won't have the control trigger.

And who's going to put you back on the track when you fall off at a corner ?

[glazbagun]

Twincam16 said:

Sounds great but is in reality a terrifying prospect.

Put it this way - you're on the motorway driving along in a car dependent on getting its power from cables in the road.

You're telling me that the government won't also somehow use this technology to regulate your speed, acceleration, lane changes etc? You'll be in a Scalextric car, but you won't have the control trigger.

True. It's really messed up how we all seem to live in fear and loathing of the government, thought police & misery-enforcing special issue groups, and expect it always to be so, when we theoretically have the tools at our disposal to do something about it. Not much optimism around these past few decades.

[clarksonisawilly]

glazbagun said:

All this talk of electric cars, heavy batteries and range has me wondering- would it be possible to have an eelctric car with a smaller, lighter battery for pootling around town/low range work, and have high-voltage cables running through the motorways instead of the pylons we currently have.

Then, once on the motorway, the car could use the external current to power itself. Would such a thing be doable, or would the transformer, etc, end up being just as heavy as a decent battery? I guess another problem would be how to charge you for the electricity you've used.

Anyone ever tried such a system? The closest I could find was the old electric trucks:

http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2009/07/trolleytruc...

Do you mean like a train?

Edited by clarksonisawilly on Monday 29th March 16:09

[Mr2Mike]

clarksonisawilly said:

Do you mean like a train?

A bit like that, but with the ability to travel in relative privacy, no waiting on platforms with hundreds of other miserable commuters and no need to get an expensive taxi for the final leg of your journey.

[ShadownINja]

The second the network is switched on, everyone with a pacemaker who decided to go for a walk would keel over, wouldn't they? (Thinking of the field around the grid if it is close enough to be reached by cars.)

Hang on... what about different sized cars and... lorries, buses, coaches...

Edited by ShadownINja on Monday 29th March 16:25

[clarksonisawilly]

Mr2Mike said:

clarksonisawilly said:

Do you mean like a train?

A bit like that, but with the ability to travel in relative privacy, no waiting on platforms with hundreds of other miserable commuters and no need to get an expensive taxi for the final leg of your journey.

Sounds horrid!

ShadownINja said:

The second the network is switched on, everyone with a pacemaker who decided to go for a walk would keel over, wouldn't they? (Thinking of the field around the grid if it is close enough to be reached by cars.)

...

Less old people?

[MigX]

like this??

[glazbagun]

MigX said:

like this??

That's the closes thing I've found, but I was thinking more of the third-rail system used on the Tube, for instance (or, indeed, a scalectrix track). You could have your ordinary electric car driving around town, but dual carriageways/motorways, etc, could have an electric rail embedded into the road surface, which a conductor dragged beneath the car could fall into, providing an external energy source for the car to recharge/ignore its batteries.

Thus you could change lane/join/leave the motorway under your own battery power, and use the grid to power your car directly on longer journeys where batteries lack practical energy density. The only negative I really see is that they would could legitimately such a scheme to introduce Pay Per Mile, and then abuse the hell out of it.

Edited by glazbagun on Monday 29th March 18:56

[m4tthew]

Does that mean the next time it rains/snows and the inevitable flooding occurs, the system short circuits?