Quote:
Originally Posted by Bring_Back_Shantz
The efficiencey thing isn't necessarily true.
People have said the same thing about electric cars for quite some time, and it just isn't true.
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.
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Good point about more efficient power plants (especially if you are trying to power your car with coal.
). I was thinking of gasoline.
But if we go with the industrial coal power plant:
Coal -> Electricity -> Compressor -> Air -> Car
I don't think is going to be more efficient than
Coal -> Electricity -> Battery -> Car
Just because of the amount of heat that'll be generated when you compress the air in the first place.
Efficiency isn't the only factor to consider, energy density per unit weight and per unit volume is important too to get a usable range in a vehicle of usable size, and compressed air might be better in those.
I'm still on the side of developing battery technology.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bring_Back_Shantz
Just look at the cost. If the power is being produced by some fossil fuel, would it be feasible to charge $2.00 to fill the tank with compressed air?
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Hm, not sure. I googled air compressors and ones capable of 300 bar seem to to use 4kw, assuming a 4 hour charging period that's less than a dollar. Even if you double the time to compress to 8 hours or add in losses due to heat or whatever, $2 to fill a tank seems reasonable.
At least now, if you converted most of the cars on the road to compressed air, I think the price of electricity would probably change lol.