Electric Car Buying Guide » internal combustion engine

Would you consider purchasing a Chevy Volt when it becomes available in the 2011 model year?

Joe — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 14:49:40 +0000

This is an all-electric car with a range of 40 miles-per-charge, and for longer trips, a small internal combustion engine recharges the batteries as you drive.

What is the point of hydrogen cars when the hydrogen is produced by electric?

Joe — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 08:35:15 +0000

and the electric (electrolysis) produced by coal/oil/nuclear/etc why not just have electric cars with a nice clean electric motor.
Batteries could be swapped at petrol stations so no need to wait.
Electricity also comes from solar.
I think industry is tooled up for the internal combustion engine petrol or hydrogen and are unwilling to change

If everybody starts driving electric cars, will alot of auto mechanicanics be put out of work?

Joe — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 15:47:00 +0000

We usually need these guys when the internal combustion engine in our cars need to be fixed. I have a fan that has an electric motor, it has been in use for 60 years and that motor has never needed a repair ( its my Grandma’s) Could the cars powered by electric motors become this reliable?

Why not a turbine powered hybrid car similar to an aircraft APU?

Joe — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 20:45:21 +0000

Ok so with all of the inefficiencies of the reciprocating internal combustion engine why don’t they make a hybrid car powered by a small centrifugal turbine that would work like an aircraft APU. The car would have an all electric drive system and the turbine would produce electricity for the electric motor. The FADEC computer would control fuel flow to the turbine as more power was needed. Trains have been doing this for decades so why not cars? A plus would be that you could use any liquid or flammable gas for fuel.
Ok you missed the piont it is an electric car not driven directly by the turbine but buy the electricity produced by a generator connected to the turbine
A single stage centrifugal flow turbine could be machined from a single piece of metal using computerized tools so it would be less complicated to manufacture than an internal combustion engine
I would not consider using and actual aircraft APU I was thinking of something about the size of a turbocharger or maybe a little larger but similar in function to an APU
Get the car moving using battery power then use ram air to help spin up the turbine