Semantics

[principled]

Just read this article. Although, as someone who cut his teeth in the auto industry, I applaud Jaguar for its progress in pushing the envelope of battery powered cars, how does using a gas turbine to charge a battery to drive electric motors which drive the wheels in any way reduce CO2?
www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/8033781/Jaguar-creates-electric-supercar-with-jet-engine.html

why not just use?
www.rover.org.nz/pages/jet/jet5.htm

Also, from the article, it would seem that if one uses an ICE to charge the batteries that provide current to the electric motors at the wheels, the car is still considered electric. I can see an opening for some savvy business man flogging "petrol electric" car on the horizon complete with a welcome £5k government subsidy!
P

[StuartG]

I remember the original appearing in the 'Meccano Magazine' and elsewhere..
news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/8/newsid_2516000/2516271.stm
Petrol/electric is really not worth the effort. It is a compromise, and highlights the main problem, an electric motor would make a good prime mover, easily adjustable torque and speed, silent, safe [er] than ic's. It then comes down to what supplies the EMF, batteries? yes but the technology is not 'there' at the moment. Charging takes time, and when it is charged, how far will the vehicle go? Improve the EMF source, easily said...
needs something to supply 200 amps at say 48 v over a running period of 8 hrs. recharge as immediate as possible.
Stuart

[enquirer]

I believe that the use of the gas turbine in this vehicle is what is being called a range extender. Most of the time, for journeys of less than 40 miles, the car will run on batteries alone. It's only on longer journeys that the range extender is used to, as it implies, extend the range of the vehicle.

I think the point is that this is a smaller and lighter system which is auxiliary use only.

However, I agree that it doesn't solve the battery charging from the grid problem of when, how, how much, etc.

[rsmith7]

Has anyone managed to get more than a few months out of their mobile/laptop batteries?

Nuff said