One Response

1. Any such scheme would be a very special case of an electric
   motor–with the added weight and complexity of an internal
   combustion engine added to it.

   I doubt the type of electric engine you’re suggesting would
   be as efficient as standard electric motors are now, so why
   not just make cars with electric motors in them? Electric cars
   don’t need a different type of electric motor to make them
   practical, they need a really good battery or other means of
   storing electricity. Then our cars could (essentially) run on
   coal, or on the fissioning of uranium nuclei, and whatever
   pollution from them would be confined to the appropriate
   areas in accordance with law.

   It’s a lot easier to monitor compliance with clean air laws at
   several coal-fired power plants (unless you live in a state
   like I do where the public service commission is bought-and-
   paid-for; or else they’re incredibly stupid and think they exist
   for the benefit of the utilities?) or the radioactive spent fuel
   from the reactor can be dealt with in accordance with
   DOE standards.

   What I’d really like to see is mass conversion of regular
   internal combustion powered cars to gaseous fuels. We
   already know how to make an internal combustion powered
   vehicle with good power and driveability. The tooling is
   already there, production methods in-place.

   Gaseous fuels promote longer engine life. Many, if not
   most people, have those types of fuels already piped
   in or brought to their homes regularly in a truck, so
   think of all the energy saved not having to go a few feet
   or miles out of our way to visit fueling stations? Think
   of the reduction in simple wear-and-tear over the life
   of a car not turning them off and on that many more times
   to deal with the fueling.

   Putting tanks in cars for this type of fuel adds about
   $1000/unit in large production runs. It also takes up
   the trunk space, but a small trunk can be added when
   needed on a trailer hitch, or on suction-cups and straps
   on top. Then when not needed it’s taken off again–
   lowering air friction and weight.

   I’ve driven electric lift-trucks and gasoline powered ones.
   I actually preferred the electric ones, but I think most people
   would be more comfortable with the gasoline/propane
   powered ones. There’s a reason why the typical
   automobile is so popular–people like them. They like
   to hear that engine growling and snarling when they
   step on it’s “tail” to make it go. If electric cars did
   become the rule rather than th exception, it wouldn’t
   be long before idiots would be equipping them with
   high-powered sound systems just for the sole purpose
   of making them realistically mimic the sounds of
   internal combustion engine driven cars.

   Communism tried to ignore human nature and it failed
   miserably. I think trying to get people to enjoy driving
   non-internal-combustion-engine vehicles would fail
   miserably and for the same reason.

   I predict that eventually vehicles will be driven by large
   vat-grown masses of muscle tissue connected to
   cranks and under processor control, fueled by a circulating
   fluid containing sugar and oxygen. The systems would be sealed,
   the fuels heat-sterilized and kept sealed, so there would be
   no issues of “infections”. You’d simply change out the nutrient
   fluids and they’d be cleaned of waste, or possibly discarded
   or put through some process similar to sewage treatment before
   discharge, depending on how disruptive to the natural environment
   these things would be.

   Why learn to make alcohol fuel out of things that can simply
   be fed to literal “muscle cars”?

   I wouldn’t doubt this sort of thing could be done right now with
   certain whole organisms, like large octopus. Find a genetic mutation
   in them for ancephaly (why make another creature suffer?) and
   simply circulate “sea water” and provide some form of food
   to them. Modern computer control could probably provide coordinated electric stimulation to perform the muscle contractions
   necessary for coordinated propulsive power.