Gigafactory

There are wireless chargers for phones and tablets. Well, really more inductive than wireless - the devices basically need to touch. We had a toothbrush that charged like this, and I think I recall a charging "paddle" for the electric car that had no exposed contacts.

What I think would be neat is wireless/inductive power transmission through the roads.

Like the third rail of a subway (conductive), but without having an exposed rail that you have to physically touch.

You wouldn't need to carry around as large a battery if the highways and major roads were electrified in this way.

Quote: Dalex64

There are wireless chargers for phones and tablets. Well, really more inductive than wireless - the devices basically need to touch. We had a toothbrush that charged like this, and I think I recall a charging "paddle" for the electric car that had no exposed contacts.

Tesla, the man not the company, proposed some kinds of wireless conductivity. We still can't quite get it to work. We might, but assuming we figured it out tomorrow I am afraid it would take 20 years to get the bugs out and for Nervous Nancy to accept it will not fry her when she pulls the car on top of it.

Quote:

What I think would be neat is wireless/inductive power transmission through the roads.

Like the third rail of a subway (conductive), but without having an exposed rail that you have to physically touch.

Neat, yes. Feasable? Not in our lifetime. In SF they have busses picking up current from overhead trolley lines, closest I have seen to this idea. Those things look really weird first time you see them. Then again, SF feels half like entering a different dimension.




You wouldn't need to carry around as large a battery if the highways and major roads were electrified in this way.

Quote: AZDuffman

Neat, yes. Feasable? Not in our lifetime. In SF they have busses picking up current from overhead trolley lines, closest I have seen to this idea. Those things look really weird first time you see them. Then again, SF feels half like entering a different dimension.

Seattle, too. Vancouver, also. Athens, Belgrade, Budapest, Moscow, Milan. Those electric busses have been around since the 1920s, not exactly new technology.

Here's a clever idea.

Quote: reno

Seattle, too. Vancouver, also. Athens, Belgrade, Budapest, Moscow, Milan. Those electric busses have been around since the 1920s, not exactly new technology.

They are just a modification of the old St Louis Body street car. Just that I never saw nor heard of them before. I assume they have a diesel for when you leave the grid or else you need to have a very dense service area.

Quote: AZDuffman

They are just a modification of the old St Louis Body street car. Just that I never saw nor heard of them before. I assume they have a diesel for when you leave the grid or else you need to have a very dense service area.

I have never heard of a dual powered trolley bus but they could exist. The overhead lines started when they were truely trolleys and ran on tracks so lines above were not a problem. Electrified rails on city streets were not an option. Vancouver is still ordering new trolley buses as the need arises but I don't think they extend the overhead infrastructure to new areas. There is some pressure to build more overhead infrastructure though as it is viewed as a green technology One of the major problems with them is freezing rain which can build up on the lines causing the contacts that roll along the lines to come off. The transit company will often raise the voltage on the line before the trolleys start running to melt the ice.

Quote: kenarman

I have never heard of a dual powered trolley bus but they could exist. The overhead lines started when they were truely trolleys and ran on tracks so lines above were not a problem. Electrified rails on city streets were not an option. Vancouver is still ordering new trolley buses as the need arises but I don't think they extend the overhead infrastructure to new areas. There is some pressure to build more overhead infrastructure though as it is viewed as a green technology One of the major problems with them is freezing rain which can build up on the lines causing the contacts that roll along the lines to come off. The transit company will often raise the voltage on the line before the trolleys start running to melt the ice.

I supposed they also have a battery so that they can be moved around the bus garage and parking lot then now that I think about it. Though I still say it would work best for a small, centralized system and as you sprawl out it makes progressively less and less sense.

Quote: AZDuffman

I supposed they also have a battery so that they can be moved around the bus garage and parking lot then now that I think about it. Though I still say it would work best for a small, centralized system and as you sprawl out it makes progressively less and less sense.

The newer buses have some form of back-up, the older buses had nothing. If a bus broke down another bus would push it back to the yare. The bus yards/repair shops are laid out just like train yards with rows of overhead power lines and Y's to get from one row to the next. If the power lines go down the older buses were dead in the water.

Trolley Bus

Quote: kenarman

The newer buses have some form of back-up, the older buses had nothing. If a bus broke down another bus would push it back to the yare. The bus yards/repair shops are laid out just like train yards with rows of overhead power lines and Y's to get from one row to the next. If the power lines go down the older buses were dead in the water.

Old trolleys used to push, I assume new ones as well. Just for a bus yard, seems like a lot of flexibility to lose. Maybe not. I will still hold to that it only is good for a fairly compact system where nothing changes. For example, an accident on the road and the bus needs to change lanes or such.

They can move 1 lane over without coming off the cable but not 2.

Quote: AZDuffman

In SF they have busses picking up current from overhead trolley lines, closest I have seen to this idea. Those things look really weird first time you see them. Then again, SF feels half like entering a different dimension.

By the way, the reason San Francisco has electric busses is because of their performance on the hills. Instant torque, less rollback. Diesel busses just don't do well on those hills. I was surprised when MickeyCrimm told a story about how the Toyota Prius battery is ill-equiped for steep mountain roads in Montana. San Francisco is overflowing with Priuses, and a huge number of them are taxi cabs.

The Steepest Streets in the City, Purportedly
1. (tie) Filbert between Leavenworth and Hyde (31.5% grade)
1. (tie) 22nd between Church and Vicksburg (31.5% grade)
3. Jones between Union and Filbert (29% grade)
4. Duboce between Buena Vista and Alpine (27.9% grade)
5. Jones between Green and Union (26% grade)
6. Webster between Vallejo and Broadway (26% grade)
7. Duboce between Alpine and Divisadero (25% grade)
8. Jones between Pine and California (24.8 grade)
9. Fillmore between Vallejo and Broadway (24% grade)
(Source: San Francisco Bureau Of Engineering.)