Aptera diesel-electric hybrid car gets 300 miles per gallon and will cost $29k.

Discussion in 'General Motoring' started by Joe, Oct 10, 2007.

  1. Joe

    Joe Guest

    Learn more http://Muvy.org
     
    Joe, Oct 10, 2007
    #1
  2. Joe

    Eeyore Guest

    LOL !

    That's not a Car !

    Graham
     
    Eeyore, Oct 10, 2007
    #2
  3. Anything that cuts into oil stocks will be rejected as a hoax just to
    keep the status quo. You can bet anybody who knocks new things has money
    to loose it it works.
     
    Punjab The Sailor Man, Oct 10, 2007
    #3
  4. Joe

    BobG Guest

    Actually looks pretty slippery. .25KWhr per mile perhaps?
     
    BobG, Oct 10, 2007
    #4
  5. Joe

    Eeyore Guest

    In a flat country like Holland maybe ?

    Graham
     
    Eeyore, Oct 10, 2007
    #5
  6. Joe

    T. Keating Guest

    EV1A did wayyw better than that.. (~179Wh/mile)

    http://avt.inel.gov/pdf/fsev/eva/ev1_eva.pdf

    I suspect this design will be significantly more efficient.

    I.E. 3 instead of 4 wheels, reduced weight, my bet is that it
    consumes less than 100 Wh per mile.
     
    T. Keating, Oct 11, 2007
    #6
  7. Joe

    Eeyore Guest

    Talking of which, I saw a Honda Insight in REAL LIFE today !

    It parked behind where I was as I went to the bank. I didn't know any had ever
    been sold in the UK.

    Does anyone know what that does in terms of Wh/mile or whatever ?

    Graham
     
    Eeyore, Oct 11, 2007
    #7
  8. Joe

    Eeyore Guest

    And on a 1 in 3 gradient uphill ?

    Do you have to get out to push ?

    Graham
     
    Eeyore, Oct 11, 2007
    #8
  9. Joe

    EdV Guest

    300 mpg that looks like the dandy lion car from ABCs Pushing Daisies ?
    no way. Id rather have half of the mpg but looks like a *real* car.
     
    EdV, Oct 11, 2007
    #9
  10. Joe

    Eeyore Guest

    The day that EV manufacturers design an EV that looks like and performs like a
    real car (and sells for a price that competes with a real car) is the day that
    they'll start doing serious business.

    Until then we can all laugh loudly at their 'clown cars'.

    Graham
     
    Eeyore, Oct 11, 2007
    #10
  11. Joe

    xnichols Guest

    Well this one will do up to 120 km/hour, is capable of doing 3,000 km
    without refuelling and should be able to bring your fried Plaice
    dinner, with pancake dessert back from the supermarket.

    http://www.avivagroup.com.au/files/sites/default/minisite/solarcar/thecar/techinfo.html
     
    xnichols, Oct 17, 2007
    #11
  12. Joe

    Larry in AZ Guest

    Waiving the right to remain silent, said:
    Another clown car which would be flipped over like a pancake by a 5mph
    cross wind...
     
    Larry in AZ, Oct 17, 2007
    #12
  13. Joe

    EdV Guest

    One of my favorite concept car that is not so clown looking.
    " The Eco Speedster, with its surprisingly diminutive 1.3-liter
    ECOTECH CDTI, tops out at 155 mph and clocked an average fuel economy
    of 113 mpg over a 24-hour road test. A combination of low weight (660
    kg/1,445 lbs), minimal drag, mid-engine design, and a 5-speed
    automatic transmission let the Eco Speedster rip and sip at the same
    time. "

    The Eco Speedster appeared at the Paris Auto Show in 2002 and has been
    featured in the Discovery Channel's FutureCar series
    http://youtube.com/watch?v=mvKYUM5NkWk
     
    EdV, Oct 17, 2007
    #13
  14. Joe

    Eeyore Guest

    Funky but still not a family car.

    Graham
     
    Eeyore, Oct 17, 2007
    #14
  15. Joe

    bsr3997 Guest

    I did a google for "road horsepower" and the first link was for a
    Toyota MR2.

    http://www.mr2.com/MR2TechData.html

    A test by Car & Driver put it at 14.0 hp @ 50 mph. That would be 14*.
    746=10.444 KW, which is what would be needed to cover 50 miles.
    10.444/50 = .20888 KW hr/mi. An efficiency of 85% would not be
    unrealistic and would give .20888/.85 = .246 KWhr/mi. This thing
    looks like it probably has a lower CD than an MR2. BTW that 14.0 hp
    was broken down into

    Friction and tire losses @ 50 mph ..... 5.5 hp
    Aerodynamic drag @ 50 mph ............. 8.5 hp

    Bruce
     
    bsr3997, Oct 22, 2007
    #15
  16. Joe

    Retired VIP Guest

    I think you missed something here. According to your figures, it will
    take just over 200 watts to move the car at 50 mph for one mile.
    That's not the figure given of 14 hp, that's more like 1/4 hp expended
    to move one mile. You have to expend that power at a constant rate of
    14 hp or 10.444 kW. Look at it another way.

    W=ExI

    Where W=watt
    E=voltage
    I=current (in amps)

    To make the math easer, assume you have a 100 volt battery. Then
    solve for current using:

    I=W/E I=10444watts / 100volts I=104.44amps

    We have a constant current draw of 104.44 amps required to propel the
    car at 50 mph. That is the reason why it is really hard to get an
    electric car to have a reasonable range (200 miles) at a reasonable
    speed (50 mph). You would be looking at a total power expenditure of
    over 41.7 kW to drive for 200 miles at 50 mph. That figure assumes no
    head wind and level ground. Add in real life conditions and you might
    be looking at power expenditures of around 45 to 50 kW. Also, you'd
    flat get run over driving around here on the highway at 50 mph. You'd
    better be traveling at least 60 mph which would boost your totals even
    more.

    Even if you had a battery that could deliver that much power, you
    still have the problem of getting all that power back into the
    battery. In order to replace 41.7 kW using your 120 vac outlet, you
    need to draw over 41 amps for 8 hours. That is assuming 100% recharge
    efficiency.

    You can draw your own conclusions regarding the practicality electric
    cars.

    Jack
     
    Retired VIP, Oct 22, 2007
    #16
  17. If true it won't be allowed in the US. They will find or invent a
    problem with it.
     
    Broderick Crawford, Oct 22, 2007
    #17
  18. No, it takes 10.444 kW to move the car at 50 mph.
    It takes just over 200 watt-hours to move the car one mile at 50 mph.
    Why not 300V? 600V? 1000V? Wouldn't higher voltage be easier for the
    electronics than lower voltage?
    It's not the amps, it's the wattage. It's all 10kW no matter how you
    slice it. If this was a 1000V system then it would only be 10.4 amps.
    10 Amps doesn't sound like a problem.
    Those new lithium batteries seem to be able to give 200+ mile range
    to electric cars without any problems (except being expensive). I
    would imagine you would recharge using a 220V appliance outlet like
    they use for electric dryers, electric ovens and air conditioners.
    Besides, who drives 200+ miles a day? If you drive only 30 or 40
    miles then the battery won't be completely flat and it won't take
    as much to recharge.

    Anthony
     
    Anthony Matonak, Oct 22, 2007
    #18
  19. Joe

    bsr3997 Guest

    Read it again. That is 200 watt hours. Yes, a 1/4 hp motor should be
    able to move the car 1 mile in an hour. And a 1 hp motor could move
    it 4 miles in an hour. And a 2 hp motor could move it 8 miles in an
    hour. And a 14 hp motor could move it 50 miles in an hour. A watt is
    energy per unit of time, same as hp. A watt hour is a unit of energy,
    as would be a hp hour. Spread that energy out over a long period of
    time and the power is low, but the amount of work that can be done is
    the same.
    The claim made was 120 miles, not 200, and the car should use less
    than the 14 hp to go 50 mph. That was the power required to keep a
    Toyota MR2 going 50 mph. Even at 14 hp it would only take
    10.444*2.4=25 KW hrs to go 120 miles. It would not be unrealistic to
    expect this smaller car with better arodynamics to do 50 mph using 10
    hp, which would mean about 18 KW hrs to do 120 miles.
    120 volts * 20 amps is 2400 watts. 18 KW hrs / 2400 watts = 7.5 hrs.
    They did say to plug it in at night, and that it would be recharged in
    a few hours. They were probably stretching things a bit, but not all
    that much.

    Bruce
     
    bsr3997, Oct 22, 2007
    #19
  20. Joe

    BobG Guest

    18KWhrs at $.12 would cost me about $2.16 in Florida... Thats about
    what .75 gal costs this week... 120 miles on .75 gal would be 160 mpg
    equivalent.... sounds hi to me... 100mpg equiv I might believe....
     
    BobG, Oct 22, 2007
    #20
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