James May's Cars of the People
Discussion
Fugazi said:
Love the idea of gas turbine cars, Rover did some experiments with cars and small lorries powered by them in the early 60's. I've just acquired this engine, 150SHP drive output shaft along with a 20kW 120V generator. Would make an interesting hybrid project car... 
Erm, I think Mr May may have missed a big point on the matter of gas turbine powerd cars.Edited by Fugazi on Sunday 7th February 21:37
Rover had done a lot of R&D on gas turbines and their MD was over in the US selling Gas turbine technology to the septics (Chrysler corp IIRC) when he found the Buick 3.5 litre that ended up (much developed) in the Rover P5B, P6B and amyriad of other V8 powered cars.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rover-BRM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rover_V8_engine
Max_Torque said:
Dr Doofenshmirtz said:
That Kia is THE answer to our dreams...zero emissions, normal car performance, limitless fuel supply. But of course it won't catch on - the petrochemical giants and governments will make sure of it.
Shame.
Well except for the fact that 99.9% of the hydrogen produced in the world is made by cracking hydrocarbon fuels (supplied by the giant PetroChems.......)Shame.
Not sure if electrolysis from solar or nuclear power is viable though?
Fantastic programme. Loved the Turbine car. Shame they didn't say more about the Tesla - 0-60 in 3seconds and 400km range. I think Tesla is a car of the people for the future - just the damn price is expensive at the moment.
Model S
Euro NCAP 5-Star Safety Rating
Autopilot with Autosteer
Available Electric All-Wheel Drive
Zero to 60 mph in as little as 2.8 seconds
Over 330 miles range
Model S
Euro NCAP 5-Star Safety Rating
Autopilot with Autosteer
Available Electric All-Wheel Drive
Zero to 60 mph in as little as 2.8 seconds
Over 330 miles range
Ideally we (i.e. the world) needs to start covering the equatorial desert areas with solar panels and using them to sequester carbon from the atmosphere, combine it with electrolysed hydrogen and tanker off the liquid hydrocarbons. In the mean time, hydrogen fuel cells are a much better solution than batteries when it comes to range, but I imagine the inefficiencies of making hydrogen are pretty horrible.
Top choice of music tonight; New Gold Dream, Enola Gay, all sorts of stuff.
Top choice of music tonight; New Gold Dream, Enola Gay, all sorts of stuff.
Max_Torque said:
Dr Doofenshmirtz said:
That Kia is THE answer to our dreams...zero emissions, normal car performance, limitless fuel supply. But of course it won't catch on - the petrochemical giants and governments will make sure of it.
Shame.
Well except for the fact that 99.9% of the hydrogen produced in the world is made by cracking hydrocarbon fuels (supplied by the giant PetroChems.......)Shame.
http://world.honda.com/FuelCell/SolarHydrogenStati...
Dr Doofenshmirtz said:
Max_Torque said:
Dr Doofenshmirtz said:
That Kia is THE answer to our dreams...zero emissions, normal car performance, limitless fuel supply. But of course it won't catch on - the petrochemical giants and governments will make sure of it.
Shame.
Well except for the fact that 99.9% of the hydrogen produced in the world is made by cracking hydrocarbon fuels (supplied by the giant PetroChems.......)Shame.
Not sure if electrolysis from solar or nuclear power is viable though?
FourWheelDrift said:
Here's Jay's full review of his car - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2A5ijU3Ivs
Thanks 
jinkster said:
Fantastic programme. Loved the Turbine car. Shame they didn't say more about the Tesla - 0-60 in 3seconds and 400km range. I think Tesla is a car of the people for the future - just the damn price is expensive at the moment.
As James May pointed out, all new technology starts out expensive - but they seem to be getting the technology more user friendly. I think electrics principal achilles heel currently is charge time - Tesla really seem to be getting on top of the remaining tech issues.
williamp said:
Otispunkmeyer said:
Wow that rain cape makes you look a bit special.
Are you saying mid winter is not the best time to launch a vehicle like the C5???They overlooked many things, but launching it in winter (in time for christmas) was a mistake with the press.
He was just 20 years too early and needed at rethink. Look at all the electric mobility scooters about. That would have been an ideal market for it.
98elise said:
Dr Doofenshmirtz said:
Max_Torque said:
Dr Doofenshmirtz said:
That Kia is THE answer to our dreams...zero emissions, normal car performance, limitless fuel supply. But of course it won't catch on - the petrochemical giants and governments will make sure of it.
Shame.
Well except for the fact that 99.9% of the hydrogen produced in the world is made by cracking hydrocarbon fuels (supplied by the giant PetroChems.......)Shame.
Not sure if electrolysis from solar or nuclear power is viable though?
I agree as above, the long term view of experts seems to revolve around renewable energy being used to electrolise water but this industry basically does not exist today in any commercial capacity.
98elise said:
Which ever way you produce it Hydrogen is just a very inefficient way of storing electricity.
Liquid hydrogen is also very difficult to handle and store, generally requiring very low temperatures to remain liquid. Also, unlike LPG, hydrogen atoms are small enough to pass through various common materials such as rubber so you need to use metal pipework everywhere - as NASA found out when developing the first Liquid Hydrogen fuelled rocket in 1958 ( http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4230.pdf )otolith said:
A hydrogen fuel cell powered by hydrogen produced from renewables is an utterly horribly inefficient way of getting electricity from the grid to the wheels with the sole small advantage of a short refuelling time.
It also needs an entirely new infrastructure, and then you need to store it at 300-700 bar in your car. Not something I would be happy with.One thing I thought he could have mentioned about the Jet Turbine car, which was pretty fundamental, was they had absolutely lousy throttle response that meant that they just did not lend themselves to automotive applications at all. Not a problem for aircraft or boats, but a bit of a show-stopper for a car. They were also rather noisy. Instead he made it sound like the only thing that prevented adoption was the lead in the fuel at the time.
I'd have loved to have seen a mention of the Jaguar concept hybrid, although I realise it would have been too much of a departure. It used a pair of tiny jet turbines to power a generator to power the electric motors that drove the car. I have always found that utterly captivating and Sci-Fi.
I'd have loved to have seen a mention of the Jaguar concept hybrid, although I realise it would have been too much of a departure. It used a pair of tiny jet turbines to power a generator to power the electric motors that drove the car. I have always found that utterly captivating and Sci-Fi.
Gassing Station | TV, Film, Video Streaming & Radio | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff