Quote:
Originally Posted by photon
Yeah I'm skeptical of the 300km range too, though it does look like a very small and light car.
|
Also means it's a pretty small tank. Unless they're devoting an unusually large amount of space for fuel storage, I'd doubt the 300km range. I'm thinking inside the range of 150km or less.
Quote:
Originally Posted by photon
Fossil Fuel -> Car is going to be more efficient than Fossil Fuel -> Electricity -> Compressor -> Air -> Car
|
Quote:
|
An industrial sized coal power plant is going to be way more efficient than a small car engine. It's entirely possible that the compressed air car could be more efficient through the entire cycle.
|
Probably, not entirely though. I think a car engine is about 30% efficient (and this is where I'm probably wrong...I'm just quoting from what I remember from my Thermo classes...). EurActive.com, for whatever it's worth (I recall some bias in some old reports...will need to find them) claims a coal power plant efficiency of near 31%. That, assuming my 1st number is correct, leaves VERY little room for energy transformation, way beyond what we can do at the moment.
http://www.euractiv.com/energy/analy...article-154672
Quote:
Originally Posted by photon
though using it will cool the air which is great for A/C  |
Ah, but then we must consider the savings of energy from the gained cool air if it's used to replace air conditioners
