Battery operated personal transit pods. Real!

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waynefromnscanada
waynefromnscanada Solar Expert Posts: 3,009 ✭✭✭✭
in Energy Use & Conservation #1
This week, Heathrow Airport introduced a new form of transport that will look familiar to fans of mid-century science fiction: emission-free, battery operated personal transit pods.
www.bbc.com/travel/blog/20110922-the-futurist-heathrows-personal-transit-pods
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  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    #2
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    Re: Battery operated personal transit pods. Real!

    Cute.
    But "emission-free" is debatable since batteries have to be recharged. Did they put up solar panels to provide the charging? Or does the power come from fossil-fuel burning electric plants miles away?
    That's something the electric vehicle advocates forget about when they tout how eco-friendly the designs are. I had a discussion yesterday with "the man in the business" regarding the problems with recharging electric cars. Turns out the amount of pollution put in the air if the power for recharging is coming from a coal-burning plant is several times what it would be if the vehicle itself just burned gasoline in the first place. Lots of power loss from sending it down the wires, for one thing. The Chevy Volt and other hybrid-type electrics would be much better on this. Another problem mention was that some neighbourhoods would suffer black-outs if three Nissan Leafs were plugged in at the same time. This isn't a fault with the cars, but with the dreadful state of the utility grid. He actually said what we need to do is rewire the whole world; it's that bad.

    So build those solar recharging stations now! :D
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  • waynefromnscanada
    waynefromnscanada Solar Expert Posts: 3,009 ✭✭✭✭
    #3
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    Re: Battery operated personal transit pods. Real!
    Cariboocoot wrote: »
    the dreadful state of the utility grid. He actually said what we need to do is rewire the whole world; it's that bad. :D

    No joking, I'm more relieved every day that I have my own electricity supply!
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  • solar_dave
    solar_dave Solar Expert Posts: 2,397 ✭✭✭✭
    #4
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    Re: Battery operated personal transit pods. Real!
    Cariboocoot wrote: »
    Another problem mention was that some neighbourhoods would suffer black-outs if three Nissan Leafs were plugged in at the same time. This isn't a fault with the cars, but with the dreadful state of the utility grid. He actually said what we need to do is rewire the whole world; it's that bad.
    :D

    That is ridiculous and uninformed. A Leaf charger type 2 is only 6.6 Kw and a Volt charger is only 3.3 Kw. If that is the case then if three people started an electric clothes dryer or an electric stove at the same time there would be failures. Plus most EV charging will take place off peak when the grid is at it's lowest utilization.
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  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    #5
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    Re: Battery operated personal transit pods. Real!
    solar_dave wrote: »
    That is ridiculous and uninformed. A Leaf charger type 2 is only 6.6 Kw and a Volt charger is only 3.3 Kw. If that is the case then if three people started an electric clothes dryer or an electric stove at the same time there would be failures. Plus most EV charging will take place off peak when the grid is at it's lowest utilization.

    No it isn't.
    It's not the electric cars per se, but that the grid is that fragile in places that, yes, adding that little more can take it over the edge. People do come home from work and turn on their electric stoves and A/C units at the same time - and sometimes the power drops a bit and sometimes it drops completely. The situation is getting worse every year. Just because your neighbourhood is wired well doesn't mean everyone's is. The grid is not consistent nor is it one homogeneous system. There are three major grid in NA, with innumerable sub grids run by over 500 different companies. It is a mess.
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  • rollandelliott
    rollandelliott Solar Expert Posts: 834 ✭✭
    #6
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    Re: Battery operated personal transit pods. Real!

    http://www.zeromotorcycles.com/

    I'd rather ride this electric motorcycle!:D

    Yeah $10k for an electric motorcycle is too much, but you can find them used for half that price on craigs list and ebay.
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  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    #7
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    Re: Battery operated personal transit pods. Real!
    rollandelliott wrote: »
    http://www.zeromotorcycles.com/

    I'd rather ride this electric motorcycle!:D

    Yeah $10k for an electric motorcycle is too much, but you can find them used for half that price on craigs list and ebay.

    :confused: But where do I put my drywall and plywood and 2x's and ... :p
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  • techntrek
    techntrek Solar Expert Posts: 1,372 ✭✭✭
    #8
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    Re: Battery operated personal transit pods. Real!

    In the side car, your passenger's lap.
    4.5 kw APC UPS powered by a Prius, 12 kw Generac, Honda EU3000is
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  • DarkStar
    DarkStar Registered Users Posts: 12 ✭✭
    #9
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    Re: Battery operated personal transit pods. Real!
    Cariboocoot wrote: »
    Cute.
    But "emission-free" is debatable since batteries have to be recharged. Did they put up solar panels to provide the charging? Or does the power come from fossil-fuel burning electric plants miles away?
    That's something the electric vehicle advocates forget about when they tout how eco-friendly the designs are.
    Here's a cool little fact: During the refinement of oil to create one gallon of gasoline, about 7.4 kWh of electricity is used. That same 7.4 kWh of electricity will propel the Nissan Leaf about 28 miles down the road, without any tailpipe emissions.

    The problem with the "debate" is that most people compare only the direct tailpipe emissions of a gasoline car to the emissions of getting electricity to an electric car. In order to be accurate, you have to consider both emissions entirely from creation through use.

    Also, the charger in the Nissan Leaf is a maximum 3.3 kW unit, not a 6.6 kW unit (rumored to be available with the 2013 MY). This is about the same has one-half an electric dryer, one-third an electric range, or two hairdryers. If my neighborhood had a blackout whenever two hairdryers were in use, I would certainly be calling the public utility commission if the actual utility wasn't responsive.

    The only reason why you hear some utilities complaining is because it's a poor attempt on their part to get free government money to perform basic maintenance that they should have already been doing. Just like you said, this isn't a new problem! ;)
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  • westbranch
    westbranch Solar Expert Posts: 5,183 ✭✭✭✭
    #10
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    Re: Battery operated personal transit pods. Real!
    DarkStar wrote: »
    Here's a cool little fact: During the refinement of oil to create one gallon of gasoline, about 7.4 kWh of electricity is used. That same 7.4 kWh of electricity will propel the Nissan Leaf about 28 miles down the road, without any tailpipe emissions.


    If you think this through, it may be more than 7.4 kWh as the location of generation and of the final use may be hundreds of miles apart, ie the tar sands in Northern Alberta are pretty isolated from most Hydro generation sites..
     
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