tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27377801985869175062024-03-13T11:53:20.921-07:00Neil Blanchard DesignsNeil Blanchardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12984405294365982958noreply@blogger.comBlogger62125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2737780198586917506.post-80491948981986581272019-06-14T01:37:00.000-07:002019-06-14T05:46:50.191-07:00Changing the World - By Changing How We Think<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="_5pbx userContent _3ds9 _3576" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-testid="post_message" id="js_ju">
Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) and Edward Markey have proposed the Green New Deal to
address our <b>CLIMATE CRISIS</b> - and also a broad number of other
problems; all of which are interrelated and interdependent.<br />
<br />
IF we do not react to the FACTS WE KNOW - and continue to keep coasting along on burning fossil fuels - then we are FUCT.<br />
<br />
<div data-contents="true">
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="81b6a" data-offset-key="2l350-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2l350-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="2l350-0-0"><span data-text="true">Of course the world isn't going to end because of catastrophic climate change, but life as we know it very well could end, because of climate changes and all the OTHER damaging things we are doing. Already we are seeing a massive number of extinctions. </span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="81b6a" data-offset-key="247is-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="247is-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="247is-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="81b6a" data-offset-key="9mies-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="9mies-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="9mies-0-0"><span data-text="true">We need to do what Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) and Sen Edward Markey propose in the Green New Deal as soon as possible, to address our climate crisis. </span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="81b6a" data-offset-key="2n0ma-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2n0ma-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="2n0ma-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="81b6a" data-offset-key="9ice-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="9ice-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="9ice-0-0"><span data-text="true">List of OTHER things we are doing that is causing massive damage: </span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="81b6a" data-offset-key="6hfvp-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6hfvp-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="6hfvp-0-0"><span data-text="true">* Killing life in the soil with artificial fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides - the soil is the basis of most life on the planet, and we are totally dependent on it </span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="81b6a" data-offset-key="faaro-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="faaro-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="faaro-0-0"><span data-text="true">* Causing massive soil erosion by laying the soil bare and using chemicals (see above) </span></span>- this harms its ability to absorb and clean water</div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="81b6a" data-offset-key="c41jd-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="c41jd-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="c41jd-0-0"><span data-text="true">* Overusing water and depleting aquifers </span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="81b6a" data-offset-key="djuik-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="djuik-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="djuik-0-0"><span data-text="true">* chemical pollution including mercury, dioxins, lead, MBTE </span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="81b6a" data-offset-key="fa98a-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="fa98a-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="fa98a-0-0"><span data-text="true">* over-fishing </span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="81b6a" data-offset-key="8ae61-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="8ae61-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="8ae61-0-0"><span data-text="true">* factory farming - in addition to soil damage and water overuse, and poisons, and adding GHG - this causes huge health problems, because of processed foods, overuse of sweeteners, loss of many nutrients due to poor soil health. Case in point: tomatoes are grown so they don't get crushed at the bottom of a dump truck - NOT for their flavor and nutrients from fully ripening </span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="81b6a" data-offset-key="84imd-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="84imd-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="84imd-0-0"><span data-text="true">* plastic pollution </span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="81b6a" data-offset-key="6c4sm-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6c4sm-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="6c4sm-0-0"><span data-text="true">* clear cutting forests </span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="81b6a" data-offset-key="8458l-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="8458l-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="8458l-0-0"><span data-text="true">* plowing under grasslands </span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="81b6a" data-offset-key="9bq0i-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="9bq0i-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="9bq0i-0-0"><span data-text="true">* creating super weeds and having chemical-dependent crops </span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="81b6a" data-offset-key="el2u3-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="el2u3-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="el2u3-0-0"><span data-text="true">* creating vast monocultures - agriculture, lawns </span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="81b6a" data-offset-key="1c917-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1c917-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="1c917-0-0"><span data-text="true">* indiscriminate use of insecticides - there is at least a 70% drop in flying insects </span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="81b6a" data-offset-key="86sce-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="86sce-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="86sce-0-0"><span data-text="true">* injecting poisons into the ground with fracking </span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="81b6a" data-offset-key="92lf5-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="92lf5-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="92lf5-0-0"><span data-text="true">* paving over vast areas of land and buildings - reduces the land available for the water cycle, and kills life in that soil </span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="81b6a" data-offset-key="cdc6t-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="cdc6t-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="cdc6t-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="81b6a" data-offset-key="1g7ph-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1g7ph-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="1g7ph-0-0"><span data-text="true">Our use of artificial nitrogen fertilizer (made from natural gas) is not only killing the soil, and poisoning the water, and causing dead zones in the ocean - it ends up as nitrous oxide, which is about 8X stronger a greenhouse gas as methane. </span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="81b6a" data-offset-key="cu2hs-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="cu2hs-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="cu2hs-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="81b6a" data-offset-key="335da-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="335da-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="335da-0-0"><span data-text="true">The tundra is melting - at a quicker rate than we thought. This is releasing carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. </span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="81b6a" data-offset-key="5go2k-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="5go2k-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="5go2k-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="81b6a" data-offset-key="a8tu-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="a8tu-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="a8tu-0-0"><span data-text="true">The ocean is warming, so it will start to release the gases it has been absorbing - so most of our carbon dioxide emissions will be released in a very short period of time. It will also release oxygen. It could become a source of hydrogen sulfide. </span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="81b6a" data-offset-key="7d9os-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7d9os-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="7d9os-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="81b6a" data-offset-key="b5esd-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="b5esd-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="b5esd-0-0"><span data-text="true">Methane clathrates that are frozen on the Arctic ocean floor will melt at some point.</span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="b5esd-0-0">
</div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="b5esd-0-0">
<b><span data-offset-key="b5esd-0-0"><span data-text="true">We must act to change how we are doing things - by changing HOW WE THINK.</span></span></b></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Neil Blanchardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12984405294365982958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2737780198586917506.post-45596598733039527242018-12-10T13:59:00.000-08:002018-12-10T13:59:53.403-08:00Autonomous Cars - Are They Realistic?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div data-contents="true">
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="8lk75-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="et1tm-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="et1tm-0-0"><span data-text="true">We are getting waaaay out in front of our skis. There is a LOT to discuss about autonomous cars:</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="ahb0t-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ahb0t-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="ahb0t-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="4ba7d-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="4ba7d-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="4ba7d-0-0"><span data-text="true"><b>First point</b> is that by far the best autonomous cars are ELECTRIC. So, if we see a lot of autonomous cars - most of the cars on the road will be electric.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="52vjo-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="52vjo-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="52vjo-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="bjdoh-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bjdoh-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="bjdoh-0-0"><span data-text="true"><b>Second point</b> is that before we see Level 5 (FULL autonomous) cars, we will see MOST cars with Level 2, or Level 3 STANDARD.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="cuith-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="cuith-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="cuith-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="f28ke-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="f28ke-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="f28ke-0-0"><span data-text="true"><b>Third point</b>: autonomous cars need to be "learning" - and therefore they have to A) "talk" to each other, and B) they need to share ONE DATABASE.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="854s1-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="854s1-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="854s1-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="6dpbg-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6dpbg-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="6dpbg-0-0"><span data-text="true"><b>Fourth point</b>: we can barely get this to work on LIMITED ACCESS highways, that have bright painted lines. Making the jump to full autonomy on ALL KINDS of roads / highways, in ALL conditions - is a QUANTUM increase in complexity.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="6hn41-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6hn41-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="6hn41-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="btkgt-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="btkgt-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="btkgt-0-0"><span data-text="true">To illustrate this fourth point: take a gaming computer - these are right at the cutting edge of performance - and ALL it has to do is render a PRE-MADE 3D MODEL. An autonomous car has to take the inputs from 8-12+ different sensors - and it has to "build" a moving 3D model, AND it has to do all the vectors of their motion - a FOURTH DIMENSION - in the blink of an eye.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="7g40n-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7g40n-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="7g40n-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="3kspi-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="3kspi-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="3kspi-0-0"><span data-text="true">AND it has to PRIORITIZE ALL THE MOVING OBJECTS that it "sees". </span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="en6fd-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="en6fd-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="en6fd-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="6ovor-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6ovor-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="6ovor-0-0"><span data-text="true">AND it has to "decide" the best route, AND the second best route, AND MAYBE even the third best option - CONSTANTLY.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="drhqi-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="drhqi-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="drhqi-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="t2mp-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="t2mp-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="t2mp-0-0"><span data-text="true"><b>Fifth point</b> - it probably needs to have a FULLY REDUNDANT set of backup hardware - AND / OR it needs a really robust "algorithm".</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="d9u27-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="d9u27-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="d9u27-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="a85ee-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="a85ee-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="a85ee-0-0"><span data-text="true"><b>Sixth point</b>: WHO IS LIABLE FOR WHAT THE CAR DOES?</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="avatt-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="avatt-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="avatt-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="4j2f5-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="4j2f5-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="4j2f5-0-0"><span data-text="true"><b>Seventh point</b>: in what world will our government have a consistent and effect set of regulations? The insurance companies have to be onboard, too.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="9is3a-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="9is3a-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="9is3a-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="doihu-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="doihu-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="doihu-0-0"><span data-text="true">****************</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="34roq-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="34roq-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="34roq-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="9ddpi-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="9ddpi-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="9ddpi-0-0"><span data-text="true">To sum up - we first will have to have a majority of cars on the road to be electric, and we will have to have a majority of cars / vehicles to have automatic safety function, that backup the driver - as STANDARD equipment.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="arp7n-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="arp7n-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="arp7n-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="19igh-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="19igh-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="19igh-0-0"><span data-text="true">Then, and only then - we will need a shared open source database of all / most cars, so that each vehicle gets as much advantage as possible - of driving in any / all conditions as close to perfect as possible.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="4fbg8-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="4fbg8-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="4fbg8-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="1smda-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1smda-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="1smda-0-0"><span data-text="true">The goal is - obviously - much better vehicle safety. Lets be realistic about how / when this can happen.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="dck6k-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="dck6k-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="dck6k-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="f6v72-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="f6v72-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="f6v72-0-0"><span data-text="true">Predetermined routes is an important step. And the driver's role is wholly transformed - they go from being 100% responsible, to being a passenger.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="1vcpc-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1vcpc-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="1vcpc-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="bg0um-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bg0um-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="bg0um-0-0"><span data-text="true">And how do we enter the desired route? Have you gotten 100% accurate GPS routes, all the time?</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="edl5f-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="edl5f-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="edl5f-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="el26u-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="el26u-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="el26u-0-0"><span data-text="true">People WILL do these things - and more - in their moving cars:</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="3lk0t-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="3lk0t-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="3lk0t-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="3alch-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="3alch-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="3alch-0-0"><span data-text="true">Eat</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="4ueth-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="4ueth-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="4ueth-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="4sop9-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="4sop9-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="4sop9-0-0"><span data-text="true">Sleep</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="1td5a-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1td5a-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="1td5a-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="7920f-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7920f-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="7920f-0-0"><span data-text="true">Have sex</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="e9idi-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e9idi-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="e9idi-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="9gmvm-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="9gmvm-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="9gmvm-0-0"><span data-text="true">Watch a movie</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="et7sn-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="et7sn-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="et7sn-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="a1amu" data-offset-key="23kl1-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="23kl1-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="23kl1-0-0"><span data-text="true">Do work</span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Neil Blanchardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12984405294365982958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2737780198586917506.post-70863167980830104132016-01-23T07:56:00.001-08:002016-01-23T07:56:24.491-08:00We NEED an Open Primary<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
An OPEN PRIMARY would go a long way toward fixing our democracy!<br /><br />Here's how it could work:<br /><br />Everybody votes for Everybody who is running - RANK them all from 1 to umpteen.<br /><br />The person with the most #1 votes and the person with the most #2 votes then run against each other in the election; no matter which party they are in.<br /><br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>This would stop the primaries being only for the "base" of the parties. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>It would allow independents or smaller parties to get votes from anybody not in their party. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Any questions of who is "electable" are allayed and it encourages ALL candidates to try to appeal to ALL voters.</li>
</ul>
</div>
Neil Blanchardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12984405294365982958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2737780198586917506.post-43894051240402480992015-10-22T15:11:00.001-07:002015-10-22T15:11:14.616-07:00Living Within the Cycle of Life<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Recycling plastic is quite problematic. We really need to eliminate
all disposable plastic - because plastic is almost permanent. Recycling
plastic is difficult and energy intensive with very little value.
Styrofoam in particular is nasty.<br />
<br />
Plastic is entering the food chain. Which is terrifying.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Disposable plastic is an oxymoron.</div>
<br />
We need to make junk mail a rare thing. Literally, we are cutting down
forests - only to mail it to people who immediately throw it out. Junk
mail is at least 90% of the mass of what gets delivered to my house -
and it is a chore to stick it into the recycling. What an utter waste of
trees, and water to make the paper, and energy all through the process -
only to bulk up the mass of recycled paper stream.<br />
<br />
We need to
use refillable containers for as many thing as possible. I buy most of
my beer in growlers - half gallon glass jugs that get returned and
reused. The beer is keg beer and it lasts 3-5 days typically. We need to use refillable containers for everything - like shampoo, ketchup, juice, milk - you name it!<br />
<br />
Aluminum is a perfect thing to recycle. Glass is also fine.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
We have to think about the full life cycle - the entire system - of
<b>everything</b> we do. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
We cannot throw anything "away" - because there is no
"away".</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Reduce. Reuse. Compost. Recycle.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I.E. <b>No waste at all</b>.</div>
</div>
Neil Blanchardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12984405294365982958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2737780198586917506.post-1805378804408208632015-07-09T16:59:00.000-07:002015-07-09T17:24:42.338-07:00VW e-Golf Compared to Nissan Leaf & Other EV's<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We own both an e-Golf and a Leaf, and I have a little experience with the i3, as well, as my brother owns one.<br />
<br />
In a nutshell: the e-Golf is a better car than the Leaf in most respects, and the coasting and regen steps are the best. But the Leaf has better EV aspects; like the location of the charging port, and CHAdeMO is available, while CCS is not (where I am in Massachusetts, anyway).<br />
<br />
My family of four is tall, and we are much more comfortable in the e-Golf. The downside is it sits lower and the getting in and out is a bit more effort. The rear legroom in the e-Golf in particular is better, because the foot wells are deeper than the Leaf, which has some battery cells below the rear floor.<br />
<br />
The two features that the e-Golf have that is better than any EV on the market are the free wheel coasting, and the 4 levels of regen available by "shifting" - and the direct heating windshield defroster. The former is what every EV should have, in my opinion. The latter is a great concept, but as implemented in the e-Golf is a bit anemic for ice and freezing rain, and is only good for moisture in a cold rain. The idea is that direct heating is MUCH more efficient, but the e-Golf's version needs more oomph.<br />
<br />
The Leaf has the best location for the charging port, and it has a light on the inside to see it in the dark. It has an optional lock to keep anyone from disconnecting you until it is charged. The e-Golf stays locked all the time, and only when you unlock the car, can you release it - so it is NOT easy to use on public EVSE's unless you stay with it. The Leaf also has the three blue lights in the center of the dash at the base of the windshield so that the state of charging can be seen from a distance.<br />
<br />
Being able to use the CHAdeMO quick charging is great - we have not used it a lot, yet, but we can use it. The total lack of CCS stations is a major lack, for both the e-Golf and the i3.<br />
<br />
Driving the e-Golf is far better than the Leaf - handling and steering is great. The e-Golf chassis is more solid feeling and the fit and finish is better. The Leaf has stronger acceleration, even though the motor is slightly less powerful - it must have lower gearing. The Leaf brakes are strong, but the body rolls a bit more, and occasionally the stability control kicks in by dragging a rear wheel brake - this is a bit too heavy handed, in my opinion. The e-Golf has a tilt and telescope steering wheel, while the Leaf only tilts.<br />
<br />
The Leaf S we have came with 16" Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 and these are excellent low rolling resistance tires, and so far I have been able to get lower energy consumption in the Leaf. My best average for a charge is just under 205Wh/mile (measuring the charge at the wall and using a corrected odometer reading). I "shift" into neutral and the Leaf simply flies along on the gentlest down slopes.<br />
<br />
The e-Golf has a better claimed Cd, and I tend to concur, but this advantage is undone by the unremarkable stock Continental tires. My best consumption in the e-Golf is 212Wh/mile. I hope to be able to try some low rolling resistance tires at some point, to see what the e-Golf is capable of.<br />
<br />
I have driven the e-Golf five times above 100 miles on one charge (best at 110 miles), and I have driven the Leaf three times farther than 100 miles (best 111 miles). My 90 day average (not every charge) on the e-Golf is 138.8MPGe, and for the Leaf it is 139.8MPGe.<br />
<br />
The stereo in the e-Golf is much better, though that is top-of-the-line vs base model. On the other hand, the Leaf has a USB input that works with any MP3 player, and the e-Golf requires a proprietary cable. (In theory it comes with two style iPod cables, but ours only came with the older 30 pin version.) The e-Golf has an SD slot so you can put your MP3's on a big SD card, and use that; but it requires 400x400 JPG's for the cover art.<br />
<br />
A couple of niggles with the e-Golf: the HVAC always resets to 72F; no matter where you left it. Grrrr ... This is annoying. It only has the two front seats heated. When you unlock the car to release the charging cord, it resets the charger's display that showed the kWh for the previous charge. Having to unlock the car to be able to pull the connector is quite annoying, and makes proper etiquette at public stations very difficult.<br />
<br />
The Leaf has all five seats heated, and the steering wheel is heated - my spouse is a HUGE fan of the heated steering wheel. Our Leaf S has a resistance heater, which sucks some serious wattage in the winter. Our worst total range was ~60 miles last winter; which was cold and very snowy.<br />
<br />
The e-Golf has adaptive creep. If you stop, and then release the brake - nothing happens. If you accelerate very lightly after coming to a stop, it continues forward after you release the accelerator pedal. I like this feature. The Leaf has "normal" creep, which is sometimes annoying. Both have a certain amount of hill hold, which is great - no drifting backward on hill starts.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />***</div>
<br />
I have only driven my brother's i3 REx briefly, and it's strong regen on the accelerator is totally counter to how I have learned to ecodrive, over the last 7+ years. My brother is a bit over 6'-6" and he has a 38" inseam - and the i3 has more front legroom than any other vehicle he has ever driven. He has put a light-duty hitch on it, to carry a bicycle rack, and he carries lots of carpentry tools; though the largest (a portable wet saw) won't fit in through the hatch, and has to be angled in through the passenger side doors. He has driven it ~89.5 miles on a single charge, and then he got ~40MPG on the REx, on a ~140 mile trip.<br />
<br />
We have ~9,200 miles on our 2015 Leaf S, and we have had it since October '14. We have ~5,400 miles on our 2015 e-Golf and we have had it since February '15.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
***</div>
<br />
There are two i MiEV's in our family, and I just got to drive my Mom's for pretty good drive. It also has great legroom and headroom in the front (though not as cavernous as the i3) and the backseat is also pretty good. My son (6'-6"+) sat along side me in the front, and my Mom (who is ~6' tall) sat in the backseat.<br />
<br />
It is a much more basic car than the Leaf and the e-Golf, and it is the smallest motor at 49kW. Still pretty peppy from a stop, and the steering is very nimble. With a great big hatch, and the rear seats folded flat, it is a workhorse. The dash is anything but modern, and it needs a dedicated range remaining gauge.<br />
<br />
Nothing fancy on the shifter, but it works like the Leaf - easy to "shift" into neutral and into B mode for more regen. The front tires were "low" at ~36PSI and ~38PSI, so I didn't get to see how it really could coast. I pumped them up to 45PSI, and my Mom likes how it rolls.<br />
<br />
The Eco mode is only when you're desperate - it knocks the power down to ~17kW (if I recall correctly) so it is a snail, and only useful in stop and go traffic when you need to stretch your range. The front seats are heated, but that's it for winter amenities. The heater is resistance, and apparently gets a big help if you insulate it.<br />
<br />
The i MiEV has unusual tire sizes (narrow on the front, and normal on the back. There are 2 or 3 brands / models to choose from for all seasons, and 1 brand / model for winter tires, that are sold in the US, anyway.<br />
<br />
It is a basic electric car - seats four, and is easy to drive, and is very practical. If you are very tall, and you want an electric car, and cannot quite step up to the i3's price, then give the i MiEV a look.</div>
Neil Blanchardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12984405294365982958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2737780198586917506.post-15466320134261511052014-11-13T18:07:00.003-08:002016-02-11T07:13:50.416-08:00Coal - How is This Still a Thing?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: large;">Coal - How is This Still a Thing?</span><br />
<br />
We blow up mountains. Which poisons the water.<br />
We pay other human beings to go down deep underground to dig it out of the ground. We rent their lungs and their backs.<br />
We ship it. Which spreads dust all over.<br />
We "wash" it. Which requires chemicals. Which poisons the water. Ooops - we spilled it!<br />
We burn it. Which changes the climate. Which produces mercury pollution. Which produces deadly pollutants, and acid rain. Which produces fly ash. Which has spilled. Which poisons the water.<br />
<br />
Coal ruins the land. <br />
Coal ruins the air.<br />
Coal ruins the water.<br />
Coal causes climate change.<br />
Coal kills miners.<br />
<br />
Coal kills.</div>
Neil Blanchardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12984405294365982958noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2737780198586917506.post-80857485950920393962014-06-18T05:27:00.000-07:002014-06-18T18:28:31.404-07:00Other Effects of Climate Change<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The sun will be around for approximately another 5 Billion years; at which point it will expand outward to about where Jupiter is. Until then, we can predict the general trend. It is a fusion reactor, all fueled up and pumping out the energy, transmitting it for free - and it is the single largest source of energy - that already supports all life everywhere, all the time.<br />
<br />
The moon orbiting the earth is the other major source of energy, and eventually, the ocean tides will dampen the earth's oscillation (equal and opposite to the moon orbiting) - until the moon moves away from the earth too much to stay in orbit, and it flings away ...<br />
<br />
The earth's tectonic plates will be affected by the melting ice caps and the warming oceans, too. This is because the mass of the ice caps presses the earth down under them, by a fair bit. Antarctica is being pressed down by almost 1/2 mile. Warmer water is less dense, and it will be spread out more (covering more land) so it will exert slightly less pressure on the earth under it, and this cannot help from changing the forces on the tectonic plates.<br />
<br />
Also, the mass of the ice caps, and large mountain ranges, affect the gravitational pull of those areas of the earth - and they raise the ocean level around them. This is why the oblate spheroid the spinning earth forms is "sagging" toward the southern hemisphere - Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador is actually closer to space/farther from the center of the earth than Mount Everest, because of the "extra" gravitational pull of the ice on Antarctica.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9428163" target="_blank">The 'Highest' Spot on Earth?</a><br />
<br />
Guess what? Once Antarctica's ice melts (and it sure looks like it will - if we humans don't use our big brains and stop burning fossil fuels!) - then not only will climate change raise the ocean level by hundreds of feet, it will change the shape of the earth, which will change the pressures on the tectonic plates - it will also affect spin of the earth and the orbit of the moon, too.</div>
Neil Blanchardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12984405294365982958noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2737780198586917506.post-14157569881484007362013-12-16T17:10:00.000-08:002014-04-30T13:48:21.002-07:00Rumination on Electric Drivetrain for CarBEN EV5<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v724/NeilBlanchard/CarBEN%20EV%20Concept/CarBENPlanSection_zpsde3b2d43.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v724/NeilBlanchard/CarBEN%20EV%20Concept/CarBENPlanSection_zpsde3b2d43.jpg" height="344" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
The background on this is I was able to be at the X-Prize Knockout Round as a guest member of the Edison2 team, and while I was there I meet and talked to many of the people, and to see what they had built, and all the effort and passion that went into it. <a href="https://twitter.com/jfagone" target="_blank">Jason Fagone</a> has written a enthralling and detailed book about the X-Prize, called 'Ingenious' and he and Kevin Smith of Illuminati Motor Works are touring with the IMW 'Seven' electric car.<br />
<br />
Seeing the IMW Seven and talking to Kevin Smith and to some of the folks at the MIT Electric Vehicle Team has got me thinking more about the main electric drivetrain for <a href="http://neilblanchard.blogspot.com/2013/04/carben-ev5-construction.html" target="_blank">CarBEN EV5</a> - which is a 5 seat electric car that I am currently building. I've been concentrating on the design and how to construct it, so this is a first take on the drivetrain components:<br />
<br />
I like the looks of the <span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.metricmind.com/products/brusa-ssm1-6-17-12/" target="_blank">BRUSA SSM1-6.17.12</a> </span>along with the <a href="http://www.metricmind.com/products/gx629-ev-transaxle-assembly/" target="_blank">Getrag GX629 6.4:1 EV Transaxle assembly</a>. That puts the ~ 5,500 RPM which is the peak efficiency of the motor right about 55-60 mph (depending on the tire diameter you use).<br />
<br />
No rare earths used and lower cost (though certainly not inexpensive), and a compact package (roughly 11" x 20"?) with no 90º turns - we may have a winah!<br />
<br />
The batteries used in Seven are the <a href="http://www.electriccarpartscompany.com/100Ah-32V-03-2C-br-Model-CA100FI-br-CALB-Lithium-Prismatic-Battery-br-EV-LiFePO4-Prismatic-Cell-br-3-5-Day-Shipping-from-US-Stock-br-56L-26W-86H-in-br-142-67-219-mm-br-75-lbs-34-kg_p_38.htm" target="_blank">Thundersky (now CALB) 100Ah cells</a>.<br />
<br />
I can fit 106 of these in CarBEN EV5 (Seven has 99) and Kevin Smith swears by them and their ruggedness. That would be ~ 35.3 kWh and cost roughly $16,000. They use no BMS and do a "bottom balance" and have stopped seeing stress that occasionally caused the cells to swell.<br />
<br />
I had used the <a href="http://www.futurevehicletechnologies.com/products/eig-cells.html" target="_blank">EiG 20Ah pouch/prismatic cells</a> in my planning and I could probably fit about 50 kWh into the compartments in the floor. FVT has an innovative BMS system that shunts the excess from one cell to another cell that is still charging; rather than to ground - as I understand it. This should be more efficient than ordinary BMS.<br />
<br />
I looked briefly at the A123 cells, and these are wider than would easily fit in the battery compartment I have in CarBEN. And they are very hard to find, if not impossible.<br />
<br />
A choice for charger is still vague. Seven has a Manzanita, and it works well. They disconnect it on the inside, so that regen doesn't blow it out.<br />
<br />
One of the MIT EVT people has put me in touch with their Porsche guy, and I have asked about getting the rear suspension from a 914. He is a busy person (post grad?) and I will wait and see if he can help me. Up until now, I've been thinking of using the front suspension of a Saab 900. But I'm also going to look at the Neon front suspension that Seven uses (in the front and back), though I don't think it could fit in the back of CarBEN, and I don't need the Prelude rear wheel steering; as the wheelbase of CarBEN is significantly shorter.<br />
<br />
It looks like all this hardware will cost $35-40K, which is actually about what I was expecting.<br />
<br />
The Illuminati Seven sets a high standard for efficiency: it uses just 129Wh/mile at ~60mph, and it has a 220+ mile range at 60-70mph. The EPA rating (tested by Chrysler at their proving grounds in Chelsea MI) for 7 is 207MPGe.<br />
<br />
Which is something to strive for.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v724/NeilBlanchard/Illuminati%20Motor%20Works%20Seven/DSC_4060_DxO_zps5169c693.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v724/NeilBlanchard/Illuminati%20Motor%20Works%20Seven/DSC_4060_DxO_zps5169c693.jpg" height="320" width="214" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v724/NeilBlanchard/Illuminati%20Motor%20Works%20Seven/DSC_4044_DxO_zps27735fe0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v724/NeilBlanchard/Illuminati%20Motor%20Works%20Seven/DSC_4044_DxO_zps27735fe0.jpg" height="133" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v724/NeilBlanchard/Illuminati%20Motor%20Works%20Seven/DSC_4056_DxO_zps15ac55ca.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v724/NeilBlanchard/Illuminati%20Motor%20Works%20Seven/DSC_4056_DxO_zps15ac55ca.jpg" height="133" width="200" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Here's the entire build in pictures, so far: <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/user/NeilBlanchard/media/CarBEN%20EV%20Concept/DSC_3121_zps85082336.jpg.html?sort=3&o=1" target="_blank">http://smg.photobucket.com/user/NeilBlanchard/media/CarBEN%20EV%20Concept/DSC_3121_zps85082336.jpg.html?sort=3&o=1</a><br />
<br />
Here's my blog post of the construction process so far, with links to the previous posts on the design process: <a href="http://neilblanchard.blogspot.com/2013/04/carben-ev5-construction.html" target="_blank">http://neilblanchard.blogspot.com/2013/04/carben-ev5-construction.html </a><br />
<br />
And pictures of the first public showing, at Earth Day Fair in Framingham MA: <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/user/NeilBlanchard/media/CarBEN%20EV%20Concept/CarBEN%20EV5%20at%20Framingham%20Earth%20Day%20Festival/DSC_5657_zps6506d4b8.jpg.html?sort=3&o=1" target="_blank">http://smg.photobucket.com/user/NeilBlanchard/media/CarBEN%20EV%20Concept/CarBEN%20EV5%20at%20Framingham%20Earth%20Day%20Festival/DSC_5657_zps6506d4b8.jpg.html?sort=3&o=1</a><br />
<br />
And my YouTube channel: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3d64d3_S-g&feature=c4-overview&list=UUL0K171ZJzmMEZaHg_-BttA" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3d64d3_S-g&feature=c4-overview&list=UUL0K171ZJzmMEZaHg_-BttA</a><b></b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v724/NeilBlanchard/CarBEN%20EV%20Concept/CarBEN%20EV5%20at%20Framingham%20Earth%20Day%20Festival/DSC_5640_zps26c5a990.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v724/NeilBlanchard/CarBEN%20EV%20Concept/CarBEN%20EV5%20at%20Framingham%20Earth%20Day%20Festival/DSC_5640_zps26c5a990.jpg" height="436" width="640" /></a></div>
<b><br /></b></div>
Neil Blanchardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12984405294365982958noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2737780198586917506.post-90943146888782466792013-04-22T07:16:00.002-07:002013-12-14T19:12:20.030-08:00CarBEN EV5 Construction<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiswNPYBH2YCd1y5w18WaqLg1OT5kXYNrEIqvBEqiYeKhB2maBnkVZYY6uFoDNRRLqgauhqmx4kuRBX7RUAVKRl1vzrerebFpQq-C-fJ04ZLFvDJZ2Kn3H9uEs8wEzHd0ZPdnTgrHZRDu0/s1600/CarBEN+EV5.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiswNPYBH2YCd1y5w18WaqLg1OT5kXYNrEIqvBEqiYeKhB2maBnkVZYY6uFoDNRRLqgauhqmx4kuRBX7RUAVKRl1vzrerebFpQq-C-fJ04ZLFvDJZ2Kn3H9uEs8wEzHd0ZPdnTgrHZRDu0/s400/CarBEN+EV5.png" width="400" /></a></div>
This is the final version of the SketchUp model of CarBen EV5, which was used to generate 2D CAD drawings. Those drawings were then used to generate the G-Code files for the CNC machine that cut the XPS foam sheets.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZbLQ0WesFrGRAhhMf4ZyuTGYDXL9Ly4k_VmAknzyCK8TEZzKiv3kXBbwnmdXMdC50gb_TbdyBMylrbVpwZY97JClyWf7423wRfGXOLm6gitDC4N-ZCZm0Ku4oq2M5nwyuJLfznfyl0rI/s1600/Screen+shot+2013-04-16+at+4.55.43+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZbLQ0WesFrGRAhhMf4ZyuTGYDXL9Ly4k_VmAknzyCK8TEZzKiv3kXBbwnmdXMdC50gb_TbdyBMylrbVpwZY97JClyWf7423wRfGXOLm6gitDC4N-ZCZm0Ku4oq2M5nwyuJLfznfyl0rI/s320/Screen+shot+2013-04-16+at+4.55.43+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMJJ8dh7e1vFYAo3scp2j7okzLIC4Un6wqHMqXX4mzeCNyud0wt6VTFFc0aPQ2g0205jAuEAlor6Dn_yC-7kS_VKsasgiK1kIFgdx3sdwgeFF9bngkKPKMyx26AhXVzE-BJE8RBWXkT5o/s1600/Screen+shot+2013-04-16+at+5.10.57+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMJJ8dh7e1vFYAo3scp2j7okzLIC4Un6wqHMqXX4mzeCNyud0wt6VTFFc0aPQ2g0205jAuEAlor6Dn_yC-7kS_VKsasgiK1kIFgdx3sdwgeFF9bngkKPKMyx26AhXVzE-BJE8RBWXkT5o/s320/Screen+shot+2013-04-16+at+5.10.57+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
View from above showing the driver in the center<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9_Ujq77z5AQzG9BdxJzKs9AUrWdq7BH_UIKRTRVlq9_Hp3Zy7DTt8ELWIEpw4VvmLIliH9ZlrNNUgEi8ZoeqIriMVJhwKZfo5ndZYF5kLBn7CGZZTWvg5pXeiPiKc4NwKilmWEIrBOyc/s1600/Screen+shot+2013-04-16+at+5.06.42+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9_Ujq77z5AQzG9BdxJzKs9AUrWdq7BH_UIKRTRVlq9_Hp3Zy7DTt8ELWIEpw4VvmLIliH9ZlrNNUgEi8ZoeqIriMVJhwKZfo5ndZYF5kLBn7CGZZTWvg5pXeiPiKc4NwKilmWEIrBOyc/s320/Screen+shot+2013-04-16+at+5.06.42+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDl8mIv_-y1Z_Mmd2bL9O9uNNOKu5-aO9xZy8MBg2vda022vv4Oaz6G5rV3t1yVz4UD4G7ic3KOUcQ8XpIWJYlOQeSzhQbGqBkt0eY_keB34hunm5KxMLjT3cJNQtwRFGJrbvkfvjseH4/s1600/Screen+shot+2013-04-16+at+5.11.51+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDl8mIv_-y1Z_Mmd2bL9O9uNNOKu5-aO9xZy8MBg2vda022vv4Oaz6G5rV3t1yVz4UD4G7ic3KOUcQ8XpIWJYlOQeSzhQbGqBkt0eY_keB34hunm5KxMLjT3cJNQtwRFGJrbvkfvjseH4/s320/Screen+shot+2013-04-16+at+5.11.51+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
Views of the computer 3D SketchUp model<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDZorgAK6s05K9897I2ElQxQXtpFTASYeP8TyoKsblgXY5xXzNONZqhxHk8NosQwwceQw-ZgaU7VJHtEmhvFnbOUgJpfaqcUujO7HC-eqOysgk4WsiGCM11k5IJ2x7WuJ808MteRoL9JM/s1600/Screen+shot+2013-04-16+at+5.05.06+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDZorgAK6s05K9897I2ElQxQXtpFTASYeP8TyoKsblgXY5xXzNONZqhxHk8NosQwwceQw-ZgaU7VJHtEmhvFnbOUgJpfaqcUujO7HC-eqOysgk4WsiGCM11k5IJ2x7WuJ808MteRoL9JM/s320/Screen+shot+2013-04-16+at+5.05.06+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzOWM_S4G8TjfN9I8Dkk2Tn2we0kbuBx2ZTDnChT5r5vkb4hAbqJOsPnupjjGYbLWI9R6IVneL_zUeJ8DpP1kGSlIV1VJEkxfG2a6g7ztTb8VfUp792QWKcwVnzFlLZZDc2WPH9OU_44k/s1600/Screen+shot+2010-09-29+at+2.25.36+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzOWM_S4G8TjfN9I8Dkk2Tn2we0kbuBx2ZTDnChT5r5vkb4hAbqJOsPnupjjGYbLWI9R6IVneL_zUeJ8DpP1kGSlIV1VJEkxfG2a6g7ztTb8VfUp792QWKcwVnzFlLZZDc2WPH9OU_44k/s320/Screen+shot+2010-09-29+at+2.25.36+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
Vertical Cutaway front to back showing battery cells in floor four of the passengers<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb-pkCbCqerQbTyh6NUliDyJJt-AX7WA_U8bdvnbSvW8-cNFMkj_Sj8weqYBN0rHuMqNWmLAVZYnMHawTLab6nSPqAKDHwmu2rFdDzLJPeHDOGgU9TmQ8mYYycjioKo3USFShMDrCU5PY/s1600/Screen+shot+2010-09-29+at+2.34.18+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb-pkCbCqerQbTyh6NUliDyJJt-AX7WA_U8bdvnbSvW8-cNFMkj_Sj8weqYBN0rHuMqNWmLAVZYnMHawTLab6nSPqAKDHwmu2rFdDzLJPeHDOGgU9TmQ8mYYycjioKo3USFShMDrCU5PY/s320/Screen+shot+2010-09-29+at+2.34.18+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
Plan Cutaway through the roof showing the five seating positions and the aisle way<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
These are all the profile sections cut through the model, and all of the layouts of the 2' x 8' x 1" thick foam sheets. For most of the sheets, I cut two copies to make a 2" thick layer.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIFqTdkhQuqqTkGrLJX-cx5ScieRkRqCtTrwO47K08VDmCsh04vUGUXRUGla4Mi9X2v4u6FMNC7C5wzRspR0e74mImM569tLTHxI00DLqJuUTGCQDB0ziUAO9MG9I8LYwbfo9NtdD_eTE/s1600/Screen+shot+2013-04-18+at+9.57.48+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIFqTdkhQuqqTkGrLJX-cx5ScieRkRqCtTrwO47K08VDmCsh04vUGUXRUGla4Mi9X2v4u6FMNC7C5wzRspR0e74mImM569tLTHxI00DLqJuUTGCQDB0ziUAO9MG9I8LYwbfo9NtdD_eTE/s640/Screen+shot+2013-04-18+at+9.57.48+PM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ74qQt216WvRxJ-np-7-FuyvhfPONGhmUMqEEKxenj4va0bSXVN-fgmWTWxdm8OK72X64_gNBr-FbWxv1X4e5uUx1WyUDAfd2t6RU5RYZeh0xPaZ17eLQ2rj_Ss7Z7y72ggC5k14saYo/s1600/DSC_9247.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ74qQt216WvRxJ-np-7-FuyvhfPONGhmUMqEEKxenj4va0bSXVN-fgmWTWxdm8OK72X64_gNBr-FbWxv1X4e5uUx1WyUDAfd2t6RU5RYZeh0xPaZ17eLQ2rj_Ss7Z7y72ggC5k14saYo/s320/DSC_9247.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
This is the <a href="http://www.phlatboyz.com/Phlatprinter-3-Kit_p_9.html" target="_blank">PhlatPrinter 3</a> which is a 3-axis CNC machine I put together from a kit that I used to cut the 1" x 2' x 8' sheets of XPS foam.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGyzFkBZD87i_nwTpd54H50t3vc8tPUIV6y7eVqUEUjvVse1IrLyi70y0WdGFb2RONURZglKVz_I_uLoLLJCglbJJYro4BZHVVDlYHryPpL5ONKvaQRXP_Xg2HeYJEDm62Cn5wzCaa2s4/s1600/DSC_9251.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGyzFkBZD87i_nwTpd54H50t3vc8tPUIV6y7eVqUEUjvVse1IrLyi70y0WdGFb2RONURZglKVz_I_uLoLLJCglbJJYro4BZHVVDlYHryPpL5ONKvaQRXP_Xg2HeYJEDm62Cn5wzCaa2s4/s320/DSC_9251.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
I cut about 95 sheets of XPS foam - on a good day, I finished 10-12 sheets. The pieces use jigsaw joints and I glued them together and then stacked the layers, forming a "stair-stepped" core of the chassis.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRPNGWH0QaWS-C2OWjtMNeedwk4UOVbBvCGlaNFcpe4pZVj_yvm16raj0qJrr8rZJr8cajK4GZHaX1-pP-JiVdAFWPJBJ-CehXUht0zRmsQra28hY6PE5YeLNsd6I9GPYXohvSyQUJgC8/s1600/DSC_9260.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRPNGWH0QaWS-C2OWjtMNeedwk4UOVbBvCGlaNFcpe4pZVj_yvm16raj0qJrr8rZJr8cajK4GZHaX1-pP-JiVdAFWPJBJ-CehXUht0zRmsQra28hY6PE5YeLNsd6I9GPYXohvSyQUJgC8/s200/DSC_9260.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvLHmqVqQNWotZa06uQ-HzT0_MvXS2zBCd2TNsQj5C2NGj01DTu_gUlpNEFnEewgGoCZfC8S0XCyqd__GFnNybtbG3NSyso3w8Gv7zg5qhxZAZJ_FYG4dZ-nBk4W5njqNpcwCJFFyFGW8/s1600/DSC_9262.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvLHmqVqQNWotZa06uQ-HzT0_MvXS2zBCd2TNsQj5C2NGj01DTu_gUlpNEFnEewgGoCZfC8S0XCyqd__GFnNybtbG3NSyso3w8Gv7zg5qhxZAZJ_FYG4dZ-nBk4W5njqNpcwCJFFyFGW8/s400/DSC_9262.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
These are the first pieces ready to have the jigsaw joints glued together<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ODEIsEWq-7zJWu5XqDf3FagCV8f3FpQ3luBXw7nXWAv6nqNeT3JhgG2lpaxzMYxpyOXmuIqsyYzg9YjXwExnwjb5K15RGoUYQDef9cqzQXTjUrBzENUvnwe4xl5cyl8Q9NXfefCKS1s/s1600/DSC_9263.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ODEIsEWq-7zJWu5XqDf3FagCV8f3FpQ3luBXw7nXWAv6nqNeT3JhgG2lpaxzMYxpyOXmuIqsyYzg9YjXwExnwjb5K15RGoUYQDef9cqzQXTjUrBzENUvnwe4xl5cyl8Q9NXfefCKS1s/s320/DSC_9263.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR2EvXaml0_awD_AUsryW236zWwXOoja6tZ_X3blr2b35PW1g7X_FMH4N7wxqzzZd4nkIWVh8n7MJJmwphXQFQscgVa0Asl8rGyRNlLI5q0jKK4wRZDjUO8Ue-PG2QRN3iP2xa1mjtFsU/s1600/DSC_9264.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR2EvXaml0_awD_AUsryW236zWwXOoja6tZ_X3blr2b35PW1g7X_FMH4N7wxqzzZd4nkIWVh8n7MJJmwphXQFQscgVa0Asl8rGyRNlLI5q0jKK4wRZDjUO8Ue-PG2QRN3iP2xa1mjtFsU/s320/DSC_9264.JPG" width="214" /></a></div>
I used 1/2" wooden dowels to align the layers as the glue dries.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Building up the front of the car, layer by layer<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHoQ669wM2BzneAJhw7u2d6Xpocpqx8XsoHkVXt7GGRYH-Zt0RCvK-lLeQ3qrLa3MBpvqUaAe0J87rTGLNxilb_cC7wzwOFHOoaSTvP7wSu-MANqUBOlABs7FPk8ss9duASZsGkpNSzFw/s1600/DSC_9265.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHoQ669wM2BzneAJhw7u2d6Xpocpqx8XsoHkVXt7GGRYH-Zt0RCvK-lLeQ3qrLa3MBpvqUaAe0J87rTGLNxilb_cC7wzwOFHOoaSTvP7wSu-MANqUBOlABs7FPk8ss9duASZsGkpNSzFw/s320/DSC_9265.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq4Fl-ghs1wqtVV1r6INTh5x2RWCM6Evw_LODA2fDgBnzIhT-X0EqGbOaFuvWZUJykxNNHtVuJtjlPWP1oNdDxK1wzmT4mOOTTUPCCXRK8L3mt_gi6O6dfpdqTGB7aKUN9PmzqjyI4Cwg/s1600/DSC_9269.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq4Fl-ghs1wqtVV1r6INTh5x2RWCM6Evw_LODA2fDgBnzIhT-X0EqGbOaFuvWZUJykxNNHtVuJtjlPWP1oNdDxK1wzmT4mOOTTUPCCXRK8L3mt_gi6O6dfpdqTGB7aKUN9PmzqjyI4Cwg/s320/DSC_9269.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghySmQ0BCftZTZdi2ULd9n-OgKafDTPFJMFHwq_SKnf7ReTFh4rBXZCpZ9VRNkGMhMVrvhCszryqe9fITp-9qp8wzaMN0Cb0UES7pbq0BhjyHoBEN37hlpysMczRKT3D0s4ENg745K6TY/s1600/DSC_9280.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghySmQ0BCftZTZdi2ULd9n-OgKafDTPFJMFHwq_SKnf7ReTFh4rBXZCpZ9VRNkGMhMVrvhCszryqe9fITp-9qp8wzaMN0Cb0UES7pbq0BhjyHoBEN37hlpysMczRKT3D0s4ENg745K6TY/s320/DSC_9280.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7yIile0KXwxBc9R3wJEnLgLw1f2oG5p3HjZQxy3c86l-CWbB7Q7BkT0KKc8oyGZonnA7XDrg-cSDqSV9WnmYBsENC6gr0XPrYDH0tPjYioKocmsDjMiGz2aqo957li3bfSwqmMuY5pQY/s1600/DSC_9282.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7yIile0KXwxBc9R3wJEnLgLw1f2oG5p3HjZQxy3c86l-CWbB7Q7BkT0KKc8oyGZonnA7XDrg-cSDqSV9WnmYBsENC6gr0XPrYDH0tPjYioKocmsDjMiGz2aqo957li3bfSwqmMuY5pQY/s320/DSC_9282.JPG" width="214" /></a></div>
Bricks used to press glue surfaces together while the glue dries<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP2iobtkfjGJ1S2yMOGx_so6d1iz2MgusOaWUTnHrbOAJ4KkzAc9SYWUd2gUhSQCtQkRFTAb3uPCwELKLvEVnCfVM7VjXKilx3HMtq5iBHxR_s602H0rWT0COKl4tF__wwvhBK-5NDBcc/s1600/DSC_9288.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP2iobtkfjGJ1S2yMOGx_so6d1iz2MgusOaWUTnHrbOAJ4KkzAc9SYWUd2gUhSQCtQkRFTAb3uPCwELKLvEVnCfVM7VjXKilx3HMtq5iBHxR_s602H0rWT0COKl4tF__wwvhBK-5NDBcc/s320/DSC_9288.JPG" width="214" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Beginning the shaping process, using Stanley SurForm rasps<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQsDH0VxQf9wbWXalBIoq7bvNJ4jRh44q0W0DjvULoRNq98XyKbpZvonEBDqckS23SSQmHBVwMiQfnoIinX-xV7tuThL_AKFkzln9-INw3rkt0MnVFUqVuZxMwsKWz0GpC2YYEU6W6Unw/s1600/DSC_9302.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQsDH0VxQf9wbWXalBIoq7bvNJ4jRh44q0W0DjvULoRNq98XyKbpZvonEBDqckS23SSQmHBVwMiQfnoIinX-xV7tuThL_AKFkzln9-INw3rkt0MnVFUqVuZxMwsKWz0GpC2YYEU6W6Unw/s320/DSC_9302.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif1LvgXlGjXSR-OP1WAuGNp5P58npCAUZEtFltkG6FzOsogzx9h5tAk1fuGJxieXy6OGB4NFYbJouC67fSWGILjO0PR_vY4NqFgF4elXYT1W1THzSZBKaDjyQY-12ygyNTpGMKA_M4-Tc/s1600/DSC_9314.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif1LvgXlGjXSR-OP1WAuGNp5P58npCAUZEtFltkG6FzOsogzx9h5tAk1fuGJxieXy6OGB4NFYbJouC67fSWGILjO0PR_vY4NqFgF4elXYT1W1THzSZBKaDjyQY-12ygyNTpGMKA_M4-Tc/s320/DSC_9314.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The rough shaping continues...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXWHrSYMgcUrlfeHBPs1gUcn4F153BeWMc-PfOh9Lmr0TnFMWdqF17o1izcK-BgG52IG2TANkySi3YNAoVK3-9clKMlP7Z90yzaxtOVuNLqf25aUJytSxDSIzJypHpQYdBZUbCfLkuiH0/s1600/DSC_9318.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXWHrSYMgcUrlfeHBPs1gUcn4F153BeWMc-PfOh9Lmr0TnFMWdqF17o1izcK-BgG52IG2TANkySi3YNAoVK3-9clKMlP7Z90yzaxtOVuNLqf25aUJytSxDSIzJypHpQYdBZUbCfLkuiH0/s320/DSC_9318.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlg1wBzitzqLbbogbQ10eLj5e9hnY8owIWuIwbCI86UqTV-DE3B9achmjDZsepyZ9uoJIA_MN0o7zy0A1bfsYRSfviT_vvtqyBhk3b_A79HNzHckvy_TCEThs8XDO5k4-P09iM_mD8spk/s1600/DSC_9384.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlg1wBzitzqLbbogbQ10eLj5e9hnY8owIWuIwbCI86UqTV-DE3B9achmjDZsepyZ9uoJIA_MN0o7zy0A1bfsYRSfviT_vvtqyBhk3b_A79HNzHckvy_TCEThs8XDO5k4-P09iM_mD8spk/s320/DSC_9384.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDHJJCygy7Jky5PZx3ekARls6_nDFScBxuhf1j5bUAI0oqTJ5tcY4VCSKICXC5oRQz_OjPVG9ibSrC7D6zhCcPfgFCaGTwCucnEjuEVk9JFlJSoZU64fmXPxdol1ZxUhPHct17183lnRs/s1600/DSC_9392.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDHJJCygy7Jky5PZx3ekARls6_nDFScBxuhf1j5bUAI0oqTJ5tcY4VCSKICXC5oRQz_OjPVG9ibSrC7D6zhCcPfgFCaGTwCucnEjuEVk9JFlJSoZU64fmXPxdol1ZxUhPHct17183lnRs/s320/DSC_9392.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Nose of the car in approximate position<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Adding more layers - the dashboard and the front of the battery bays and the placeholder front wheels<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9-GrmMNeiL1_JgWJcF8XpuhbXvi7Pedc57xmArRzA1CFNd89p1iuvs0GinMDYMerpPGnZ9QLK94Wlp4iO23tDy8nRiyEgOl7dvnpPBdWx2WMqsmuxmM2h1cRha6VeLgydu4-SLUIa-Sc/s1600/DSC_9779.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9-GrmMNeiL1_JgWJcF8XpuhbXvi7Pedc57xmArRzA1CFNd89p1iuvs0GinMDYMerpPGnZ9QLK94Wlp4iO23tDy8nRiyEgOl7dvnpPBdWx2WMqsmuxmM2h1cRha6VeLgydu4-SLUIa-Sc/s320/DSC_9779.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSg12VT6SDYVvQ9wzIfc1ZJ-rQq_BsPNxkx66xr_KKFknK8WcxahrHzmtMR6FseRigkjO2JCVuXOpHfOsL9co_YRx3r1hJJqu6wc4tpEcitEd-b_pMAVtCk6kQDKBsygHEWlxD7v0nmWM/s1600/DSC_9784.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSg12VT6SDYVvQ9wzIfc1ZJ-rQq_BsPNxkx66xr_KKFknK8WcxahrHzmtMR6FseRigkjO2JCVuXOpHfOsL9co_YRx3r1hJJqu6wc4tpEcitEd-b_pMAVtCk6kQDKBsygHEWlxD7v0nmWM/s320/DSC_9784.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
The base of the windshield place holder<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj14RAs66s3ZGwN4RE2pthqGoxOaX4U4AZzxY9Q8v2wlWP62gnoqznI6auKMZZVwdu8FJrraPoozWfKSq4TcRxcrEEb-qttxCz6LzYx1E1Ml8hHKltOGIDRgAFjehyzjTCYRmEeVixQOWY/s1600/DSC_9795.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj14RAs66s3ZGwN4RE2pthqGoxOaX4U4AZzxY9Q8v2wlWP62gnoqznI6auKMZZVwdu8FJrraPoozWfKSq4TcRxcrEEb-qttxCz6LzYx1E1Ml8hHKltOGIDRgAFjehyzjTCYRmEeVixQOWY/s320/DSC_9795.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
CarBEN EV5 Ranch?<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgof-JSxLRsM89HnZFefvylw5K8Qh7vGjtx8Njm1_QBHu7YVsPUS11njRFUshyphenhyphenOTFcokuOrnkw7-mPmWRMwxbd9_Ie98lQz41ARfpSgyxadkkNhHil10NO0-8Vg4auLlE_c6czb5z9NbPg/s1600/DSC_9806.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgof-JSxLRsM89HnZFefvylw5K8Qh7vGjtx8Njm1_QBHu7YVsPUS11njRFUshyphenhyphenOTFcokuOrnkw7-mPmWRMwxbd9_Ie98lQz41ARfpSgyxadkkNhHil10NO0-8Vg4auLlE_c6czb5z9NbPg/s320/DSC_9806.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
The first four feet of the front <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU9RnKyjY_Z__COvooqc8kVvXeFOz8YsivIhBhH-11vzmU-mYc5HzEjC035UPeZ5UTZDv182xa1omZ6WdxGoIopSHqAAGX_jxh9wKkkT1rwIKijHkag0OfV4cJBAf7oaVzkqod_aP5V5M/s1600/DSC_9821.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU9RnKyjY_Z__COvooqc8kVvXeFOz8YsivIhBhH-11vzmU-mYc5HzEjC035UPeZ5UTZDv182xa1omZ6WdxGoIopSHqAAGX_jxh9wKkkT1rwIKijHkag0OfV4cJBAf7oaVzkqod_aP5V5M/s200/DSC_9821.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
Next section building up layer by layer<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYLYlYu8MVfvzV8kYDUSJ99lPUc0-AhcRGY4-2P0fQPU3Re7Hy6jPmfVsBOL1mfqd78F_Lq8_FTMidYfxQCQfQC-wY_X6TMeLP2kXViVZ5jrI86oYXwozs5Y97pxV01KLYEmyX3El81mc/s1600/DSC_9828.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYLYlYu8MVfvzV8kYDUSJ99lPUc0-AhcRGY4-2P0fQPU3Re7Hy6jPmfVsBOL1mfqd78F_Lq8_FTMidYfxQCQfQC-wY_X6TMeLP2kXViVZ5jrI86oYXwozs5Y97pxV01KLYEmyX3El81mc/s400/DSC_9828.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
The first six feet of the CarBEN EV5 ready to be joined up - clamping with a ratchet strap and lots of weight required as the glue dries.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS_HFRPL48IJzg_bnuo7xSZtsekZjBBglnLvx9aOIplVz9HuYRemJJp5L1uEBF5Ule0xlhkWDxiXW2MbwPQXYP4qGEH3ICNN9SMIwLarpe5Q0nDSXZnw2jxEvxLWOS04vYDtpjc_Ur64o/s1600/DSC_9835.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS_HFRPL48IJzg_bnuo7xSZtsekZjBBglnLvx9aOIplVz9HuYRemJJp5L1uEBF5Ule0xlhkWDxiXW2MbwPQXYP4qGEH3ICNN9SMIwLarpe5Q0nDSXZnw2jxEvxLWOS04vYDtpjc_Ur64o/s320/DSC_9835.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZqPAWiYNhAVmpt4OhGORcwK2PwshYlSD3Z9JR4Tjp-ojgkUI0vvTS_cJEFBT2kvbtj2jcaThA3CSEGMWBPMb1K3buIBfql45Xt2URTD0Ip8BehDiMQfT6XMGd4g4qjTmel5_CfAxkfw/s1600/DSC_9845.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZqPAWiYNhAVmpt4OhGORcwK2PwshYlSD3Z9JR4Tjp-ojgkUI0vvTS_cJEFBT2kvbtj2jcaThA3CSEGMWBPMb1K3buIBfql45Xt2URTD0Ip8BehDiMQfT6XMGd4g4qjTmel5_CfAxkfw/s320/DSC_9845.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
I built a level platform to add the rest of the chassis one layer at a time<br />
<br />
<br />
The beginning of the main hatch door opening<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKK88S3EBuTRxkjJNVIoUMhgfYyJ33owHz0nwtC-tOkmOgGK7lK8Q4bC8pUhweA_Pd5IGgEW7dgW_oU7LIce245n8Nqk0vylO9_ZBKwgnOXi_9PXEYVk_mRyXFru4fwOi_1NP322TqbOo/s1600/DSC_9855.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKK88S3EBuTRxkjJNVIoUMhgfYyJ33owHz0nwtC-tOkmOgGK7lK8Q4bC8pUhweA_Pd5IGgEW7dgW_oU7LIce245n8Nqk0vylO9_ZBKwgnOXi_9PXEYVk_mRyXFru4fwOi_1NP322TqbOo/s400/DSC_9855.JPG" width="267" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX54oi2Xm9Ps5iZAYdxqRVB3DspNYDyCRz6bIMap3VtqeXVnViRXTw7g_ejXO2QnCzibShpM0SeaRLRoWpM6nCzCj_YH9eWxTTvM79-DR3DR18TMc0Lt4JN6VUWnqEi5pgnddXVhrlxHA/s1600/DSC_9895.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX54oi2Xm9Ps5iZAYdxqRVB3DspNYDyCRz6bIMap3VtqeXVnViRXTw7g_ejXO2QnCzibShpM0SeaRLRoWpM6nCzCj_YH9eWxTTvM79-DR3DR18TMc0Lt4JN6VUWnqEi5pgnddXVhrlxHA/s640/DSC_9895.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXtmU9skTIQ3U_TE_a3tjVRC7tO98SYMAj1A-ZOsd0MwJrI70Zp1TwgeOHhyphenhyphenMc91JB61lOSkPdVoMy5vmNuy57hSi3xbzLA42YHbFCQ3LnVb-iAcIzNUJ0InrUevRbZMBx8LxzPasHxLM/s1600/DSC_9896.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXtmU9skTIQ3U_TE_a3tjVRC7tO98SYMAj1A-ZOsd0MwJrI70Zp1TwgeOHhyphenhyphenMc91JB61lOSkPdVoMy5vmNuy57hSi3xbzLA42YHbFCQ3LnVb-iAcIzNUJ0InrUevRbZMBx8LxzPasHxLM/s320/DSC_9896.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
The front half of the CarBEN EV5 chassis sitting in it's proper position. You can see the battery bays getting larger<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHy5-jtDGbaJ1giAC4K6vA295hJE09FkT_fpDFPlXVG7UWlPVIC0y9xLPp9XHOINxtVilLJm56F_gdzpWgB78YE3gOlcnnnA9IfFDMCbFi3nL7kCOZJOII59ljUMLXWH0Grwi20HeTCDI/s1600/DSC_9904.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHy5-jtDGbaJ1giAC4K6vA295hJE09FkT_fpDFPlXVG7UWlPVIC0y9xLPp9XHOINxtVilLJm56F_gdzpWgB78YE3gOlcnnnA9IfFDMCbFi3nL7kCOZJOII59ljUMLXWH0Grwi20HeTCDI/s200/DSC_9904.JPG" width="133" /></a></div>
Sitting back on the platform getting 6"-8" glued on a typical day<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6ztal2mA_v2E2xGP4esUJuG50i4en_PZ8i6ECMI7gZHZBiBYs24babGThqP7w_pvLOmZ1-6tUs2oHcpRykAQm5o_sIqQBXfsmN4pFb2pD_UrWTGV_hvlrTC0J5jKmLzapjOWaxvLwPRQ/s1600/DSC_9918.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6ztal2mA_v2E2xGP4esUJuG50i4en_PZ8i6ECMI7gZHZBiBYs24babGThqP7w_pvLOmZ1-6tUs2oHcpRykAQm5o_sIqQBXfsmN4pFb2pD_UrWTGV_hvlrTC0J5jKmLzapjOWaxvLwPRQ/s320/DSC_9918.JPG" width="214" /></a></div>
8' ladders now required to get to the gluing level<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzNFFUq-VhHTdZVrwML0OhfdTe3iC4IPVWAgGv31b6F0wMqZJyIHUJRyuLjYFY1STpOV29tZgcoFer9mqkEhD2__XSUma1XdL93mZRKl7xfexUFuNZmuLxwqFBatOD7UnNgPWGrwl3UQg/s1600/DSC_9933.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzNFFUq-VhHTdZVrwML0OhfdTe3iC4IPVWAgGv31b6F0wMqZJyIHUJRyuLjYFY1STpOV29tZgcoFer9mqkEhD2__XSUma1XdL93mZRKl7xfexUFuNZmuLxwqFBatOD7UnNgPWGrwl3UQg/s400/DSC_9933.JPG" width="267" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbnpjtLsAJwpDSQYg-OMZvrQsCA-TE22D0_rQZHnpWS3gq0O7AdSxuP3n5XGrV6GO6MW_gx4hJDRp19T8bNugxolWM_fc7wMxtUWRVA5wX7boGONHrLda2FNM9Cg1SPy8ZADihR4QSjQM/s1600/DSC_9947.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbnpjtLsAJwpDSQYg-OMZvrQsCA-TE22D0_rQZHnpWS3gq0O7AdSxuP3n5XGrV6GO6MW_gx4hJDRp19T8bNugxolWM_fc7wMxtUWRVA5wX7boGONHrLda2FNM9Cg1SPy8ZADihR4QSjQM/s320/DSC_9947.JPG" width="214" /></a></div>
I constructed a temporary shelter that is high enough for what will end up as a 12' high stack of foam layers! The front 2' of the nose will be glued on after I don't need access to the front.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEh0bntSnwbEqOpnpCAQNR8rf6zZCMVCIdFWAS7VTYgy3jR10WmoWTQ5PEzNuzDnTGSfXmHyKOvDHOaYWBw-NK0T_rUP43N_K7iQF7IHj0CEh1Vyfw14-cWjSXHDtScaIvyu91lPA6Y5I/s1600/DSC_9958.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEh0bntSnwbEqOpnpCAQNR8rf6zZCMVCIdFWAS7VTYgy3jR10WmoWTQ5PEzNuzDnTGSfXmHyKOvDHOaYWBw-NK0T_rUP43N_K7iQF7IHj0CEh1Vyfw14-cWjSXHDtScaIvyu91lPA6Y5I/s320/DSC_9958.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Last couple of layers of the very back/top of the chassis<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaFktC_URGRk53trIbPoXWkWo1uI_qKABvacYSMiUhbXyRMHrbwF8ibB8Ns2U-1ULhYNILbU5t76s29DgdYNu4uMmN8gjKjwJo-aTXBgFInT7UR1kMJNWBBA5TKkSO5636xT6_9CNDjak/s1600/DSC_9962.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaFktC_URGRk53trIbPoXWkWo1uI_qKABvacYSMiUhbXyRMHrbwF8ibB8Ns2U-1ULhYNILbU5t76s29DgdYNu4uMmN8gjKjwJo-aTXBgFInT7UR1kMJNWBBA5TKkSO5636xT6_9CNDjak/s320/DSC_9962.JPG" width="214" /></a></div>
Last layers of the rear bumper glued in place and drying! I worked from a scaffolding platform on 8' step ladders, and some 12' high step ladders, as well.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxaGmjWKwICyAxbSaEkXRzR4-GaFtDJRvHj2kzLorP3wYffYnDac8IC0A3zUlYlBwo7zOodU2p4rhJWviaH39y9m6LtCRsMgd6d6j8l9Le5UBW2hg3jYYnp1FQvM_dhEPuRIF6dYxFp3w/s1600/DSC_9967.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxaGmjWKwICyAxbSaEkXRzR4-GaFtDJRvHj2kzLorP3wYffYnDac8IC0A3zUlYlBwo7zOodU2p4rhJWviaH39y9m6LtCRsMgd6d6j8l9Le5UBW2hg3jYYnp1FQvM_dhEPuRIF6dYxFp3w/s640/DSC_9967.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
All the major gluing is done - the hatch door and wheel skirt panels, etc. left to do.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd9Rro_7ZR048RHlfwWCdte-4otydwfOM-zuTle98WixXaqW0UJqfQJ-1Kjc7CQIgWrl_1CECcTbrjzT4eaRn8-wmYUuNsZjl4MljY8AvqFNCGqT3qtGQXYNptY1lDpSDICaPOqoSy_Ys/s1600/DSC_9974.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd9Rro_7ZR048RHlfwWCdte-4otydwfOM-zuTle98WixXaqW0UJqfQJ-1Kjc7CQIgWrl_1CECcTbrjzT4eaRn8-wmYUuNsZjl4MljY8AvqFNCGqT3qtGQXYNptY1lDpSDICaPOqoSy_Ys/s400/DSC_9974.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidiaoPfCvXX-UCjSjBHupp7UOd5qGoc5W5h8yDvVdDsA1-s74xGb-dawZOJErUuQnWhUcDYqXpkkc44ETk7hV1hDHqfTbtYSOKkBbkbKqEoBiUempsy2mxafFRLKyEKML7_Jq-JPi17Cg/s1600/DSC_1254.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="126" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidiaoPfCvXX-UCjSjBHupp7UOd5qGoc5W5h8yDvVdDsA1-s74xGb-dawZOJErUuQnWhUcDYqXpkkc44ETk7hV1hDHqfTbtYSOKkBbkbKqEoBiUempsy2mxafFRLKyEKML7_Jq-JPi17Cg/s640/DSC_1254.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">CarBEN EV5 Open Source Project Goals</span></div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Open Source means shared ideas and shared improvements – anybody can
build one. Creative Commons (instead of Patents) gives attribution but
lets ideas get used as much as possible.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Build working Prototype to test efficiency and improve construction methods</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Practical and safe and highest efficiency possible using renewable energy</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>300-400 Miles Range on Single Charge using ~55kWh lithium battery, <150Wh/m, >224MPGe</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Coefficient of Drag (Cd) <0.15 with 25.1 sq. ft. frontal area = CdA <3.77 sq. ft. (better than GM EV1) </li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Design Innovations & Key Features of CarBEN EV5</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Tapered Shape required for low drag w/ narrowed rear wheel track,
covered wheels, smooth underside, crisp trailing edges aka Kamm back,
wheel strakes, passive air flow through cabin</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Thermal insulation
integral to chassis and dual layer windows, heated vests for passengers,
slim ergonomic seats allow for air flow saving space and weight</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Center
Position for driver for increased crash protection and better use of
interior space, three ~6'-4”+ people, one ~5'-8” person, one ~5'-0”
person</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>All LED lighting, ideal ecodriving design, battery pack in floor for low Cg and better handling</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Side Video Mirrors for reduced frontal area and lowered Cd </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Electric Car Advantages</span></div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Energy Independence – No Oil from Foreign Countries & No Military Required & money stays in Local Economy</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Cleaner and cleaner energy over time as we transition to Renewable Energy & lower cost over time </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>No gas, no idling, no oil changes, no tuneups, no exhaust system, no multi-gear transmission, no clutch or shifting, lower brake wear because of regenerative braking, virtually no regular maintenance</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Very low energy costs – 2-3¢ per mile vs ~15¢ per mile for average 23MPG car saving ~$12,000 per 100K miles @ $3.50/gal gasoline + ~$3,400 savings on regular maintenance per 100K miles = over $15,000 savings</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Very quiet, very smooth, quick acceleration, smooth torque, great for typical daily driving</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Electric Cars & Plugin Hybrids you can buy today</span></div>
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Nissan Leaf – 116MPGe, seats five, ~80 mile range, as low as ~$22,000 after tax credit</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Mitsubishi i MiEV – 112MPGe, seats four, ~65 mile range, as low as $21,625 ATC</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Tesla Model S – 89-95MPGe, seats five (+ two optional), ~208-265 miles range, ~$60,000 for 60kWh model and $70,000 for 85kWh model, both ATC</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Ford Focus Electric – 110MPGe, seats five, ~76 mile range, ~$31,700 ATC</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Toyota Prius Plugin – 95MPGe/50MPG, seats five, ~11 miles in EV mode + hybrid, ~$29,500 ATC</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Chevrolet Volt – 98MPGe/37MPG, seats four, ~38 miles in EV mod + hybrid, ~$31,645 ATC</li>
</ul>
Coming Soon: VW e-Golf, Smart ForTwo Electric Drive, Mitsubishi Outlander plugin hybrid, Fiat 500e, BMW i3 & i8, Ford Fusion Energi & C-Max Energi, Subaru Crosstrek Plugin Hybrid, Chevy Spark, Cadillac ELR, Tesla Model X, Honda Fit EV & Accord Plugin Hybrid, Toyota RAV4 EV, Infiniti LE, Volvo V70 & V60 & C30, and more...<br />
<br />
I brought my CarBEN EV5 prototype to the <a href="http://www.framinghamearthday.org/" target="_blank">Framingham Earth Day Festival</a> this past Saturday (April 27th) on the <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Framingham+MA+Center+Common&hl=en&ll=42.302686,-71.434758&spn=0.002127,0.004823&sll=42.036922,-71.683501&sspn=2.186769,4.938354&hq=Center+Common&hnear=Framingham,+Middlesex,+Massachusetts&t=m&fll=42.302686,-71.434758&fspn=0.002127,0.004823&z=18" target="_blank">Framingham Center Common</a>, and it was every bit as good as I could have hoped for.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/ckUMwbfROyU?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe> </div>
<br />
<b>Previous blog post on CarBEN EV5 design: <a href="http://neilblanchard.blogspot.com/2011/03/carben-ev-open-source-project-part-4.html" target="_blank">http://neilblanchard.blogspot.com/2011/03/carben-ev-open-source-project-part-4.html</a></b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Build thread: <a href="http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/carben-ev5-full-sized-prototype-construction-5-seat-22529.html" target="_blank">http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/carben-ev5-full-sized-prototype-construction-5-seat-22529.html</a></b><br />
<br />
Here's a longer, more detailed walkaround video:<b> </b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/A49N2onsN64?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
I tried the stabilization in the camera, but it still needs the YouTube processing...<br />
<br />
It's got it first dirty bird, and there are glue drops and runs, and rough edges... My son will be helping me move it back into the shelter soon, so I can continue smoothing. The left side in particular needs a fair bit of work. They all show up much more readily in the full light of day!<br />
<br />
This is how I am using the longboard sanding tool I bought from Jamestown Distributors. It is a tool normally used on boat hulls, and it is nearly perfect for this, too. The swirling motion and figure 8 motion tend to avoid any gouges or divots.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/K3d64d3_S-g/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/K3d64d3_S-g?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/K3d64d3_S-g?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
<br />
I was able to even up the surface so that the several low areas are largely gone.<br />
<br />
I wish that my video camera had a wide angle lens - I had to position it quite far away, and I hope things so up clearly enough.<br />
<br />
My latest purchase is the windshield and wiper system from a Smart Fortwo:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v724/NeilBlanchard/CarBEN%20EV%20Concept/DSC_3121_zps85082336.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v724/NeilBlanchard/CarBEN%20EV%20Concept/DSC_3121_zps85082336.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
</div>
Neil Blanchardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12984405294365982958noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2737780198586917506.post-68464505471421549052013-03-30T04:41:00.000-07:002013-05-27T18:27:30.929-07:00A Meteor the Size of Mount Everest<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
What does Brian Cox say about anthropogenic climate change?<br />
<br />
What does David Attenborough say about anthropogenic climate change?<br />
<br />
What does Neil DeGrasse Tyson say about anthropogenic climate change?<br />
<br />
What does Bill Nye say about anthropogenic climate change?<br />
<br />
What does Jane Goodall say about anthropogenic climate change?<br />
<br />
What does Michio Kaku say about anthropogenic climate change?<br />
<br />
What did Carl Sagan say about anthropogenic climate change?<br />
<br />
What does Richard Dawkins say about anthropogenic climate change?<br />
<br />
What does Vandana Shiva say about anthropogenic climate change?<br />
<br />
What does Steven Hawking say about anthropogenic climate change?<br />
<br />
What does Craig Venter say about anthropogenic climate change?<br />
<br />
***********<br />
<br />
Climate change is the equivalent of a meteor the size of Mount Everest hurtling at 40,000 MPH about to hit the earth. You know - like the size of the one that wiped out the dinosaurs.<br />
<br />
We know that we humans are largely causing it - why would we choose to ignore it? We need to choose to do as much as we can to get it to be a glancing blow. We need to be responsible stewards of the only planet we share with all other known life.</div>
Neil Blanchardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12984405294365982958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2737780198586917506.post-43288461719440983972012-12-22T14:49:00.000-08:002012-12-22T14:50:16.849-08:00Nearly Haiku...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">No time like the present</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">We acknowledge our fragility</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Live with gusto</span></div>
</div>
Neil Blanchardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12984405294365982958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2737780198586917506.post-4355171882063659572012-09-09T05:49:00.001-07:002012-11-07T08:39:46.765-08:00Real Climate Change Issues<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Food production is key to getting our economy going again, and to the survival of our culture. Climate
change directly affects our fragile fossil fuel dependent food
production system. It is not really farming, but rather it is soil and
water mining.<br /><br />If we switched back to real farming - using our knowledge to significantly improve on what we had
been doing for about 10,000 years before we "discovered" nitrogen
fertilizer and the internal combustion engine, then here are all the
deadly problems we would solve, by putting ourselves back into step with
the cycle of life:<br /><br />* We would stop eating oil and gas, which as you and I know are finite.<br /><br />*
We would let the soil come alive again -- it decomposes the stuff of
life and makes it available for growing new life, building and improving
the soil making it better and deeper and sequestering carbon rather
than mining it, eroding it, and poisoning our waterways.<br /><br />* We
would cut about 25% of our greenhouse gas output from the
crappy-water-soluble-nitrogen-to-nitrous-oxide-nightmare, that also
includes dead rivers and dead fishing zones along the way.<br /><br />*
Local food production not only means far less oil burned transporting
food around the world (the average food item travels 1,500 miles to your
mouth!), but it also means far more nutritious, much better tasting
food that makes us all much healthier -- we probably would see cancer
rates go down, too!<br /><br />* We would totally solve both our immigration
problems and our unemployment problems at the same time. And we would
make big dents into our drug problem, our prison problem, our hunger
problems, and our decaying civil society would be renewing its way back
to health.<br /><br />Wes Jackson proposes that we move to 80% perennial agriculture within the next 50 years. We need to listen to the wisdom among us if we want to solve our major problems.<br /><br />We have a sustainable abundance of renewable energy --
up to 16X more energy than the needs of the entire world. Everybody
can have as much electricity as they need -- and all that economic activity supports all our local economies.<br /><br />Since
renewable energy is available everywhere, to any and all people -- then
the need for a military largely goes away. Since living soils store
water much more readily than dead soil, we stop needing to use up our
fossil water supply.<br /><br />We simply must do as nature does -- we must
have zero waste. Waste means that we are not doing it right: no
disposable plastic, no disposable people, no disposable land, no
disposable species.</div>
Neil Blanchardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12984405294365982958noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2737780198586917506.post-61705131422610834842012-05-21T14:04:00.002-07:002012-06-09T09:59:09.942-07:00Ecodriving aka Hypermiling<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<style type="text/css">
<!--
@page { margin: 0.79in }
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in }
-->
</style>
<br />
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 0.4in; margin-bottom: 0.22in;">
<span style="font-family: Apple LiSung;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><u><b><span style="color: black;">What
is EcoDriving?</span></b></u></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.22in;">
<span style="font-family: Apple LiSung;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">In
a nutshell, </span></span><span style="color: black;"><b>ecodriving</b></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
is driving in the most economical way possible; and is also known as
“hypermiling.” It starts with brisk acceleration (trying to use
the peak torque of the engine) so you get to "cruising"
speed fairly quickly, and then trying to use a minimum of throttle to
maintain the speed. Obviously, uphills are your biggest challenge,
where it takes throttle just to maintain speed -- if you can, it
helps if you let yourself lose a little speed up hills.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.22in;">
<span style="font-family: Apple LiSung;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">There
are three possible modes of driving:<br /><br />1) Accelerating 2)
Coasting 3) Decelerating<br /><br />Accelerating uses energy,
depending on the weight of the car, the steepness of the grade, and
the rate of acceleration.<br /><br />Coasting uses no added energy, and
it uses the accumulated momentum / kinetic energy gained by the
acceleration. It only loses energy to aerodynamic and rolling
drag.<br /><br />Decelerating loses energy to energy to aerodynamic and
rolling drag </span></span><span style="color: black;"><b>and</b></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
converting kinetic energy to heat in the brakes. Whenever possible,
you should downshift to use the engine to brake, as this shuts off
the fuel completely.<br /><br />To be the most efficient, we need to
minimize the energy it takes to accelerate and the energy lost
through braking, and we need the car to lose a minimum amount of
kinetic energy by being as low aerodynamic and rolling drag as
possible.<br /><br />To cover the most distance with the least energy, we
need to accelerate up to a speed that will then allow the car to
coast as close to the end as possible, and then use the engine to
brake to make use of the remaining kinetic energy. The brakes
needs to stay as cool as possible.<br /><br />Of course, cruising longer
distances and/or up hills requires some additional acceleration;
either to maintain a constant speed, or to climb a hill / slope.
You can do pulse and glide instead of constant acceleration (using
the terrain as possible) and climbing hills well requires what I call
"swooping". This involves accelerating ahead of the
uphill slope (when gaining speed takes less energy) and then use this
to help carry speed up the hill. Think how a bicyclist would
climb a hill, and you'll understand.<br /><br />Coasting downhill is a
“no-brainer”-- someone dubbed downhills “road candy”!
If you go too fast, then use the engine to slow down, which shuts off
the fuel. And prepare to "swoop" if there is an
uphill.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.22in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Apple LiSung;"><span style="font-size: small;">Then
use the downhills to ease way off the throttle, or if you need to
carry speed, put it in neutral and coast (with the engine idling) --
at 60mph at idle in my xA, I can get well over 300mpg while coasting.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.22in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Apple LiSung;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
other common situation is when you can coast, but you need to slow
down, or will soon come to a stop -- then you should downshift into a
lower gear. When the engine is being pushed by the wheels, in almost
all modern fuel injected cars -- will completely shut off the fuel to
the engine; yielding "infinite" mileage for the duration of
this kind of coasting. I try to only use my brakes at the very end of
the coast right before you stop.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.22in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Apple LiSung;"><span style="font-size: small;">So,
if you only use just enough throttle to get you where you need to go,
and do not waste energy as heat in the brakes; but instead use it to
shut off fuel to the engine, and coast to carry speed whenever you
can, carrying momentum as far as you can -- then you are most of the
way to good ecodriving technique.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.22in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Apple LiSung;"><span style="font-size: small;">There
are other things to try, like pulse and glide (when on flat-ish
terrain), and minimizing your use of A/C -- and of course if you want
to try some simple and reversible mods: like pumping up your tires a
bit above the recommended pressure -- but below the maximum listed on
the sidewall, or some of the aerodynamic mods on the grill, etc.,
then all the better.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.22in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Apple LiSung;"><span style="font-size: small;">Let's
try this: how far above the EPA combined mileage rating can you
average on a tankful?</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.22in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Apple LiSung;"><span style="font-size: small;">My
Scion xA is rated 27 City/30 Combined/34 Highway by the EPA, so this
past summer I was nearly 75% above the Combined, and last winter I
was ~43% above – 42mpg was the worst tank average all winter!
Here's a (long) thread that I have written about all the aerodynamic
modifications I have made on my car:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/scion-xa-aero-mods-2969.html</span></span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Apple LiSung;"><span style="font-size: small;">To
sum up the aerodynamic changes I've made: the front grill blocks and
fog light covers added ~10-12% to my fuel economy, and the smooth
wheel covers added ~6%, and yes the rear wheel skirts are ~3 to maybe
4%. The video mirrors and partial Kamm back also help somewhat. The
rest is gained from ecodriving technique. I use a ScanGauge II to
help me see how I am driving, and to help me practice and improve my
ecodriving.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Apple LiSung;"><span style="font-size: small;">Not
only should you try to combine several trips into one, it helps to
drive to the farthest place first, and then drive to the rest of the
places on the return. This lets the engine warm up fully as quickly
as possible, and so it helps the engine be more efficient overall.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<ul>
<li><div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Apple LiSung;"><b>Keep
track of your fillups and fuel economy, and make use of fuel logs
like on Ecomodder.com</b></span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Apple LiSung;">Get
a Scan Guage II (save $ through EcoModder.com, or get an Ultra Gauge
for feedback</span></span></b></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Apple LiSung;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Learn
to take advantage of your regular routes, traffic patterns, reduce
stress – and save <span style="font-size: small;">mo</span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Apple LiSung;"><span style="font-size: small;">ney</span>!</span></span></b></span></div>
</li>
</ul>
</div>Neil Blanchardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12984405294365982958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2737780198586917506.post-55424565528961209982012-04-07T09:47:00.003-07:002012-04-07T09:47:52.614-07:00Integrity Distilled<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: center;">
Everything matters.<br /><br />Results of accidental habit, or intentional choice, or non-action, or random occurrence -- are all important.<br /><br />Nothing is meaningless.</div>
</div>Neil Blanchardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12984405294365982958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2737780198586917506.post-31370250304771095112012-02-14T06:00:00.000-08:002015-01-09T02:27:17.256-08:00You know what I hate about wind turbines?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
You know what I <b><i>hate</i></b> about wind turbines?<br />
<br />
The smokestacks.<br />
The smoke.<br />
The smog.<br />
The mercury pollution.<br />
The cooling towers. <br />
The explosions.<br />
The spills.<br />
The limited fuel supply.<br />
The other countries that control the wind.<br />
The military cost to defend the wind.<br />
The radiation.<br />
The death of miners.<br />
The fly ash.<br />
The tailing ponds. <br />
The methane gas releases.<br />
The huge carbon footprint.<br />
The increasing cost over time.<br />
The inefficiency.<br />
The fracking.<br />The train derailments.<br />The refineries.<br />The supertankers. <br />
The pipelines.<br />
The contaminated water.<br />
The damage to our lungs and overall health done by wind turbines is horrendous.<br />
The acid rain is nasty.<br />
The mountaintop removal.<br />
The carbon dioxide released. <br />
The waste.<br />
<br />
I
also hate the fact that they look like graceful wind sculptures, that
let us see the wind. I hate the fact that they are much quieter than a
highway. The ranchers and farmers with wind turbines hate the "mailbox money".<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
+++</div>
<br />
Not really...<br />
<br />
PUT THEM IN MY BACK YARD -- PLEASE!</div>
Neil Blanchardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12984405294365982958noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2737780198586917506.post-51009220376919335252012-01-29T13:15:00.000-08:002012-01-29T13:15:51.101-08:00What Do We Do Now? -- Continued<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Electricity is the nexus of many renewable energy resources. Renewable energy sources are all over the place, and no one can monopolize them. These are quite democratizing -- energy is available virtually anywhere and everywhere.<br /><br />Sure geothermal on the surface is only in a few places (Iceland, parts of the USA, New Zealand, etc.) but wind is in many places, including the corridor from Texas up to the Dakotas, and basically all around the midwest, California, and offshore from our coasts. Wind scales up well, getting more efficient as the turbines get bigger. We now have direct drive turbines that eliminate the weakest piece of the previous generation -- the transmission, and so they generate more power, break less often, cost less to build and maintain, and they save about 17 tons of weight, to boot. <br /><br />Solar can be virtually anywhere -- Germany even! Germany is about as sunny as Washington state, which is the least sunny place in the lower 49 states. Solar is great for the highest load which is for air conditioning -- and there are no grid losses when it is right in the same building. Solar scales down nicely.<br /><br />Combining solar and wind along with a few gas turbines (methane from sewage or farm wastes) for peak load, and a hydro power station with an elevated reservoir works very well. Here's how this works in Germany:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR8gEMpzos4">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR8gEMpzos4</a><br /><br />Here's a Scientific American article on powering the USA with renewable energy 100% by 2030:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=a-path-to-sustainable-energy-by-2030">http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=a-path-to-sustainable-energy-by-2030</a><br /><br />And we can use wave power -- there are three companies (at least) around the world that already make these -- here's the one in New Jersey:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.oceanpowertechnologies.com/">http://www.oceanpowertechnologies.com/</a><br /><br />Most of the world's people live close to the coast, so wave power and tidal power are close by.<br /><br />We need to transition to renewable energy NO MATTER WHAT. Eventually, the finite resources we are using now -- oil, coal, gas and uranium will run out, by definition. The earth is just one planet; and it is the only one we have. The other more likely scenario is that we will cause too much climate change by burning up the carbon fossil fuels dumping all the carbon that has been packed away over million and millions and millions of years back into the atmosphere in less than 200 hundred years, and we will have more chaos in our climate than we can adapt to.<br /><br />So, hopefully oil and coal gets too expensive so that we will switch to renewable energy -- which will last another billion years -- until the sun explodes! And it will not pollute in ways that we cannot deal with. <br /><br />We need to stop subsidizing oil and coal. We need to be able to stop requiring a huge military to defend oil supplies.<br /><br />We need to stop using up all of the finite resources -- our factory agriculture is totally dependent on oil and gas and phosphorus and chemical pesticides. It kills the natural life cycle within the soil -- the dirt that we are utterly dependent on for our lives. Dead unproductive soil that erodes into the sea won't grow anything. It won't hold water and it won't let it filter down into the aquifers that we are pumping dry as fast as we can.<br /><br />Life itself created all the soil, and we are made of the exact same materials that are in the soil.<br /><br />Oil is the primary reason that we have accelerated so quickly from living within that cycle of life to living beyond what the earth can sustain. We need to use our intelligence and our scientific knowledge, and our adaptability to change what we now know needs to be changed; before we lose too much of the life support here on this earth that we cannot live without.<br /><br />There is no "planet B".</div>Neil Blanchardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12984405294365982958noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2737780198586917506.post-71361546358145454052012-01-04T19:18:00.000-08:002012-01-16T12:24:14.430-08:00What Do We Do Now?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h6 class="uiStreamMessage" data-ft="{"type":1}" style="font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}">It
is critical that we do something about global climate change and our
unsustainable consumption of many important resources -- because we can
have an affect. We started the ball rolling, and by the same token, we
can work to reverse what we have started. It won't be easy and it will
be painful, but as moral beings we have to try.<br /> <br /> Paul Gilding in his book "<a href="http://paulgilding.com/the-great-disruption">The Great Disruption</a>" talks about an <span class="text_exposed_show">approximate
time line of 5 or 6 years of status quo before we hit a big tipping
point, and then very aggressive reduction of carbon output over the next
25-30 years, followed by as much carbon sequestration as we can muster.
<br /> <br /> We need to take the 2C increase very seriously, and we must
not pass ~450ppm or all hell will really break loose. We need to return
back down to <350ppm to avoid the worst effects. The equilibrium we
had for ~650,000 years was ~270ppm.<br /> <br /> When and if we can do this,
the world won't be back to what we had, because there is real and
lasting damage to biodiversity, but it will probably settle down.<br /> <br />
We and all life forms here in the present are the results of all life that
has come before us. We would not even have oxygen in the air without
plants splitting water in photosynthesis. Each and every molecule in
our bodies has been part of myriad other life forms before, many times over.</span></span></span></h6>
<h6 class="uiStreamMessage" data-ft="{"type":1}" style="font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="text_exposed_show">Think of this as a kind of reincarnation. I love this quote from <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1690802636">Neil</a></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_deGrasse_Tyson"> deGrasseTyson</a>:</span></h6>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Apple LiSung;">We are all connected;<br />To each other, biologically<br />To
the earth, chemically<br />To the rest of the universe atomically *** </span></span></div>
<h6 class="uiStreamMessage" data-ft="{"type":1}" style="font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="text_exposed_show"> Each and
every drop of water has been cycling through life forms, the soil, and
the rocks of this planet -- over and over and over and over again and
again and again... The oxygen carrying iron in our blood came from the
stars. All the gold we have came from supernovas. The soil itself was produced by all of life forms down through the
eons.<br /> <br /> This is a balanced and efficient and bountiful cycle.
The carbon we have so blithely thrown up into the atmosphere in less than 2
centuries was packed away underground over a couple of billion years.
We have made a very basic change, and we must take responsibility for
it.</span></span></span></h6>
<h6 class="uiStreamMessage" data-ft="{"type":1}" style="font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span></h6>
<h6 class="uiStreamMessage" data-ft="{"type":1}" style="font-weight: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;">*** </span></h6>
<h6 class="uiStreamMessage" data-ft="{"type":1}" style="font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;">A recent study said that 83-95% of ALL daily drives in the USA could be done in a Nissan Leaf.</span></h6>
<h6 class="uiStreamMessage" data-ft="{"type":1}" style="font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /> Can you imagine the day when ~90% of all cars in America are electric? We wouldn't need a military any where near as large as we have now. We would stop spending 1.5 BILLION a DAY on foreign oil. Our carbon output could be 20-25% lower (if I am anywhere close on this?), and the air pollution would be hugely reduced, saving many lives and many people would be far healthier with out it.</span></h6>
<h6 class="uiStreamMessage" data-ft="{"type":1}" style="font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;">We could all have solar PV panels on our roofs and we would save another 20-30% of carbon output because
all the oldest coal plants could be shut down. We can get almost all
out hot water from solar heat vacuum tube collectors, and the most
efficient heat pumps, some being geothermal heat pumps would let us heat
and cool our houses completely carbon free.</span></h6>
<h6 class="uiStreamMessage" data-ft="{"type":1}" style="font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;">We could employ 250,000+ people building and assembling wind turbines and wave power machines, and in a few decades we could get 100% of our electricity from fuel free renewable energy sources. We would lower our carbon output by 80% overall and we would stop killing coal miners and have zero oil spills and not need to devastate the boreal forests of Alberta or dig for uranium around the Grand Canyon, or poison drinking wells with fracking fluid.</span></h6>
<h6 class="uiStreamMessage" data-ft="{"type":1}" style="font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;">If we switched back to farming like we did it 75 years ago, we would not be poisoning the rivers with chemical runoff, not create dead zones in the ocean, and not add nitrous oxide (the results of chemical nitrogen fertilizers!) to the atmosphere, adding to global climate change. We would all be much healthier and all food could be local and fresh and in season and safer and cancer rates would drop and all food would be fully nutritious and have full flavor. </span></h6>
<h6 class="uiStreamMessage" data-ft="{"type":1}" style="font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;">And we would avoid the worst of global climate change. If we can stay below ~450ppm and keep the Antarctic ice sheets frozen and not mess up crop productivity too much, and not cause too many 1,000's of more species to go extinct and not flood our most populous river deltas and low lying coastal plains and only displace a few million people -- then we might just survive the next millennium, and have chance to correct what we have done in the last century and a half.</span></h6>
<h6 class="uiStreamMessage" data-ft="{"type":1}" style="font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;">We would come back into step with the natural cycle of life that has sustained life for millions of years.<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="text_exposed_show"> </span></span></span></h6>
<h6 class="uiStreamMessage" data-ft="{"type":1}" style="font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="text_exposed_show"> </span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Apple LiSung;">*** This was used in a song, that <a href="http://neilblanchard.blogspot.com/2010/09/symphony-of-science.html">I blogged about earlier</a>, called "We Are All Connected"</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="text_exposed_show"> </span></span></span></h6>
</div>Neil Blanchardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12984405294365982958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2737780198586917506.post-24544891933536423382011-09-08T03:35:00.001-07:002011-09-08T03:35:38.194-07:00Tar Sands = Peak Oil<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<strong>Tar sands is proof of peak oil</strong> -- and that should be
worrying to anybody who thinks we "have" to have as much oil as we
want, and that we have a "right" to use it as quickly as we want to.<br />
<br />
Oil is finite.<br />
Coal is finite.<br />
Natural gas (methane from underground sources) is finite.<br />
Uranium is finite.<br />
<br />
So
why do we humans of this particular generation -- think somehow that we
can use up these finite resources as quickly as we want to?<br />
<br />
Renewable
energy all come either from the sun -- solar, wind, wave, biofuel; or
from the earth's core -- geothermal; or from the moon's gravity -- in
the case of tidal energy. And all of these will be here as long as the
earth is here -- scientists estimate about a billion more years.<br />
There
is a huge abundance of renewable energy, all around us. It is
available in an excess -- we only need to gather a tiny fraction of it,
to more than meet all our needs.<br />
<br />
None of these energy
sources cause any pollution, and none cause global climate change, and
no one has to pay another country to get them. No one can control these
energy sources. They are there all over the world, and nobody can
dominate them.<br />
<br />
So, here's where we are at:<br />
We
have burned up a huge amount of these finite energy sources in a very
brief period of time, leaving very little for all the generations of
humans to come.<br />
We have caused global climate change, that is an
unavoidable result of releasing the carbon from millions and millions of
years back into the atmosphere in about a century.<br />
We have also caused myriad of more localized damage to the earth we depend on to live.<br />
<br />
Oil is running out.<br />
Coal is running out.<br />
Natural gas is running out.<br />
Uranium is running out.<br />
<br />
It
is totally possible to use renewables for all our needs. The hardest
is certainly flying, but biodiesel is coming along fine. There is a
huge abundance of energy all around us. And we do not need to "go back
to an earlier time" -- electricity and the Internet are here to stay.<br />
<br />
Materials
for PV panels are (probably) recyclable. The energy to do this can
come from ... renewable sources. And we don't have to sit still --
there are going to be new and better ways to gather renewable energy.<br />
<br />
Enough sunlight energy hits the earth in <strong>one hour</strong> to power ALL of human needs for <strong>one year</strong>.
Of course, we cannot gather all of it, so it might take us a week to
gather enough energy for the whole year -- and that is just solar
energy. Wind power would take about a month to provide enough energy
for an entire year. Wave power might take a month, as well.
Geothermal energy can be drilled. Tidal power in places like the Bay
of Fundy are truly awesome. Biogas (methane aka natural gas) can be
produced from every sewage treatment plant in existence, and from farm
waste (plant and animal), too.<br />
<br />
There is way more renewable energy than we could know what to do with. Energy is the least of our worries.<br />
<br />
The
true costs of burning oil and coal and gas (and nuclear fission for
that matter) are way beyond what we pay for them, in money. We cannot
pay enough to make up for the true costs for these finite energy
sources. They are far more valuable than the cash/money we pay for
them.<br />
<br />
We will all pay dearly -- but we cannot afford to <em>not</em>
transition to renewable energy. For many reasons, truly renewable
energy will be the only energy that be here as long as the earth
exists.<br />
<br />
Once wind turbines, solar installations, wave
power systems -- are installed and producing power, all those jobs are
guaranteed to stay local. The profits from the power produced stays
local, too. Renewable energy is here to stay as long as the earth
exists. And they burn zero fuel and produce no pollution.<br />
<br />
The
amount of water pollution from the processing the tar sands in
staggering. It will take lots of natural gas to heat the water need to
even get the tar separated from the sands, and that gas has to be
fracked out of the ground, which uses even more water and causes it's
own pollution.<br />
<br />
A "growth" economy is by definition
going to end. It cannot continue to grow forever, even if we humans
figure out how to limit ourselves to ~7 billion.<br />
The inevitable conclusion is that the <em>only</em>
thing we can do is use renewable energy, if we want to continue to live
as we are, here on this earth. This has been a hard lesson, and we had
better pay attention.<br />
<br />
Sincerely, Neil</div>
Neil Blanchardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12984405294365982958noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2737780198586917506.post-24210828728164467462011-03-24T11:39:00.000-07:002012-01-30T17:47:51.168-08:00CarBEN EV5 Open Source Project part 4 [Updated 10 May 11]<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="http://neilblanchard.blogspot.com/2010/09/carben-ev-open-source-project-part-3.html">CarBEN EV5 open source project Part 3 </a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="http://neilblanchard.blogspot.com/2010/09/carbn-concept-ev-open-source-project.html">CarBEN EV5 open source project Part 2</a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="http://neilblanchard.blogspot.com/2010/09/carben-124th-scale-wooden-model-of-ev.html">CarBEN EV5 open source project Part 1</a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC_wGPeEiKUjGx_0talP-XzkTWRC1mS-eLt0w8ccb2C82gVtK2gT-u55s8GnvXKEiBsl6alXU1abQL7NPvSm1WFgeDDY4zCDisIK-aNMUfuQ0Fg9h-v3XeWKB6uefvVxk6e132VBZMkQg/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-05-09+at+5.14.05+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="323" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC_wGPeEiKUjGx_0talP-XzkTWRC1mS-eLt0w8ccb2C82gVtK2gT-u55s8GnvXKEiBsl6alXU1abQL7NPvSm1WFgeDDY4zCDisIK-aNMUfuQ0Fg9h-v3XeWKB6uefvVxk6e132VBZMkQg/s640/Screen+shot+2011-05-09+at+5.14.05+PM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNxPMipFdkyqHL86FmnNdNrHooZh-i99Fu59Mwsf2CShSmlivy19euJgmLbXvl5IjQN_htbaUf8YKZaLA-OmbRdx_joP-8sLXHu644Zm6NYmHVCHnPwNSW6z-Mv2kR-ACJnqJ96HTDIZs/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-05-09+at+4.53.06+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNxPMipFdkyqHL86FmnNdNrHooZh-i99Fu59Mwsf2CShSmlivy19euJgmLbXvl5IjQN_htbaUf8YKZaLA-OmbRdx_joP-8sLXHu644Zm6NYmHVCHnPwNSW6z-Mv2kR-ACJnqJ96HTDIZs/s400/Screen+shot+2011-05-09+at+4.53.06+PM.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Some new images of the SketchUp model (Mk 3.9) -- I've arched the trailing roofline -- there is 1-2" more headroom in the passengers seats now, and I think the air flow is better, too. The roof just above the windshield is smoother, too.</div>
<br />
I was also considering <i>slightly</i> elongated the front, as well, but I think the aero is better with it as it is? On the (subtle) styling front, there are now two "hard chines" on the edges of the hatch door, and along with the "spine", the three together balance the three hard chines on the hood and front fenders.<br />
<br />
Here's a video animation of the SketchUp model:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/SXrqznFQ85c?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I'm working on a 1/4 scale model of CarBEN EV, which I am going to do some aerodynamic tuft testing -- or maybe in a wind tunnel? If you have any leads on this, I would greatly appreciate it! </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkAbbpwP_gaXcHSK-FPKvnGJcp24UF7LHhBtb05MHkaLiYjL5eGhEdwj0BJ6KRWidoyjyYTJ8qGdfYJzGdkpocQ7k-DwyWNI2Zj4uMkXQbE4xGKOnLg_hs1lBogR6Us9S-DrjduA03tqQ/s1600/DSC_7058.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkAbbpwP_gaXcHSK-FPKvnGJcp24UF7LHhBtb05MHkaLiYjL5eGhEdwj0BJ6KRWidoyjyYTJ8qGdfYJzGdkpocQ7k-DwyWNI2Zj4uMkXQbE4xGKOnLg_hs1lBogR6Us9S-DrjduA03tqQ/s400/DSC_7058.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">CarBEN EV 1/4, 1/12, and 1/24 scale models</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6bF9QW1hPV7CTaN03l8lXvUdkXNrqOMnY8_wq0qJk54p0XSGWBKanLSuEVBAXCc3fzEXPVrykytAF8BoHPs7Q2B8-dp6gxPnEsLfCXud9fCJmzofuB9uQAYJ5Ry4ZRo8gC0L1u9d8cWQ/s1600/DSC_7059.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6bF9QW1hPV7CTaN03l8lXvUdkXNrqOMnY8_wq0qJk54p0XSGWBKanLSuEVBAXCc3fzEXPVrykytAF8BoHPs7Q2B8-dp6gxPnEsLfCXud9fCJmzofuB9uQAYJ5Ry4ZRo8gC0L1u9d8cWQ/s320/DSC_7059.JPG" width="302" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">CarBEN EV 1/4, 1/12, and 1/24 scale models</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp8JREjPlU7ML7auu_VRX3fPVoWs2fwU_HBztXBIlxnjvpi3cOn3UdLPB1e3ub-0mR9OZ2iGghUtyOvL83c9Io7UvJ29tutFVXfZRae9PzKvvXZzLsXwE4QAF29sGQhHyTNj2Z4sXAJaY/s1600/DSC_7063.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="124" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp8JREjPlU7ML7auu_VRX3fPVoWs2fwU_HBztXBIlxnjvpi3cOn3UdLPB1e3ub-0mR9OZ2iGghUtyOvL83c9Io7UvJ29tutFVXfZRae9PzKvvXZzLsXwE4QAF29sGQhHyTNj2Z4sXAJaY/s320/DSC_7063.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">CarBEN EV 1/4, 1/12, and 1/24 scale models</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidM_5VPT8njB4MU2ergegZKMNH2JbBzoC-oZ2TcP6VsB3L0hs5tsG-3njWXgBRRU2aSeLvuQ7eupKqpI3QGEooHhrgM5tcD8B2AHbYLdhxZX2PjqCXkc6z2bodH72qL0SDzxDhnhgLNr0/s1600/DSC_7065.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidM_5VPT8njB4MU2ergegZKMNH2JbBzoC-oZ2TcP6VsB3L0hs5tsG-3njWXgBRRU2aSeLvuQ7eupKqpI3QGEooHhrgM5tcD8B2AHbYLdhxZX2PjqCXkc6z2bodH72qL0SDzxDhnhgLNr0/s400/DSC_7065.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">CarBEN EV 1/4, 1/12, and 1/24 scale models</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I'll be repairing / correcting with epoxy, and then doing tuft testing as soon as possible. The slot in the front and the gaps in the back in particular, need to be filled in.<br />
<br />
The 1/24 scale model (the purple and blue one) is what started it all -- I photographed it and then used these to loft the model in DataCAD X3, and then used that in SketchUp to make a 3D model. The 1/12th scale egg crate model and the 1/4 scale EPS foam model are generated from the SketchUp 3D computer model I made. After I do what aero testing as I can on the 1/4 scale model (maybe in a wind tunnel, too?), I will start on a full size shell; using foam ribs, with a 1/4" foam skin and then overlay that with epoxy fiberglass. At that point, I hope to work with someone, to get it to a working prototype!<br />
<br />
If you want me to send you the SketchUp model and/or the CAD drawings, please <a href="mailto:neilblanchard13@gmail.com">email</a> me, or comment here, and I'd be happy to send it!<br />
<br />
Edit: I've now done a couple of preliminary tuft tests! Here are the (noisy) videos:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/T_sxITFbS6o/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/T_sxITFbS6o?f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" />
<param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" />
<embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/T_sxITFbS6o?f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/s4MAPJYfjEM?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/" rel="license"><img alt="Creative Commons License" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-sa/3.0/88x31.png" style="border-width: 0;" /></a><br />
<span property="dct:title" xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/">CarBEN EV5</span> by <a href="http://neilblanchard.blogspot.com/2011/03/carben-ev-open-source-project-part-4.html" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL" xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#">Neil Blanchard</a> is licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/" rel="license">Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License</a>.
</div>Neil Blanchardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12984405294365982958noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2737780198586917506.post-24141455052421205362010-11-24T05:50:00.000-08:002011-01-03T07:25:49.257-08:00On Regenerative Braking and CoastingHaving to hold the accelerator pedal <i>exactly</i> in one position to be able to coast is difficult and tricky, and should not have to be learned. Driving long distance like this is not good for efficiency, or for the leg muscles. I do a lot of ecodriving, and coasting is by far the most efficient way to roll -- in an EV, you would use zero energy, and reclaim the potential energy directly.<br />
<br />
If you have to use the brakes, then you have accelerated too much. Regenerative brakes should only be used to slow the car in unanticipated situations, and at the last moments to come to a stop.<br />
<br />
Not only is ecodriving much more efficient, but it also helps to improve traffic flow. The worst thing for traffic flow is also the least efficient way to drive: accelerate hard and then brake hard. This sets up lots of oscillations in the traffic flow, which causes many drivers to apply their brakes for no apparent reason.<br />
<br />
Smooth predictable driving results in smooth and predictable traffic flow, and it is the most efficient way to drive.<br />
<br />
Heated brakes are to be avoided, and having hot brakes for normal driving is the clearest indicator that the driver can improve their efficiency.<br />
<br />
Coasting uses the weight and momentum of the car in the best way possible. So, it makes sense that making it as easy as possible to coast -- by just lifting your right foot completely off the accelerator to coast will predictably; and by the way, provide a couple of moments to relax the muscles in the driver's leg, too.<br />
<br />
All the braking should be engaged by the brake pedal; pure and simple. On an EV, all the regenerative braking should be used to regain as much of the energy as possible -- but this is less efficient than coasting, by definition; so it should not be the way you drive to maximize range on an EV. So, as much braking as possible should come from regeneration, and the engineers need to integrate the hydraulic brakes to provide emergency braking and stop the car at slow speeds; when regen cannot.<br />
<br />
Yes, the data is out there -- how do you think a Honda CRX HF gets 118MPG?<br />
<br />
http://ecomodder.com/blog/20-yearold-modified-honda-crx-hf-scores-118-mpg-fuel-economy-run/<br />
<br />
Coasting is better for several reasons:<br />
<br />
When you coast you are getting most of the energy that it took to accelerate back; as you only lose from aero and rolling drag.<br />
<br />
With regenerative braking, you lose the aero and rolling drag AND from the losses of the generator/charger/batteries, too.<br />
<br />
More importantly, in many situations if you cannot coast easily -- it is too easy to accelerate and then immediately brake. So, you over accelerate and then have to over brake.<br />
<br />
Think about it: there are three possible modes of driving, right?<br />
<br />
1) Accelerating<br />
2) Coasting<br />
3) Decelerating<br />
<br />
Accelerating uses energy, depending on the weight of the car, the steepness of the grade, and the rate of acceleration.<br />
<br />
Coasting uses no added energy, and it uses the accumulated momentum / kinetic energy gained by the acceleration. It only loses energy to aerodynamic and rolling drag.<br />
<br />
Decelerating loses energy to energy to aerodynamic and rolling drag <b>and</b> either to losses in the regen, and/or converting kinetic energy to heat in the brakes.<br />
<br />
To be the most efficient, we need to minimize the energy it takes to accelerate and the energy lost through braking, and we need the car to lose a minimum amount of kinetic energy by being as low aerodynamic and rolling drag as possible.<br />
<br />
To cover the most distance with the least energy, we need to accelerate up to a speed that will then allow the car to coast as close to the end as possible, and then use regen to regain some of the remaining kinetic energy. The brakes needs to stay as cool as possible.<br />
<br />
Of course, cruising longer distances and/or up hills requires some additional acceleration; either to maintain a constant speed, or to climb a hill / slope. You can do pulse and glide instead of constant acceleration (using the terrain as possible) and climbing hills well requires what I call "swooping". This involves accelerating ahead of the uphill slope (when gaining speed takes less energy) and then use this to help carry speed up the hill. Think how a bicyclist would climb a hill, and you'll understand.<br />
<br />
Coasting downhill is a no-brainer, and it certainly is easier to do this when you don't have to constantly fine tune your foot on the accelerator pedal. If you go too fast, then use the regenerative brakes, on the brake pedal! And prepare to "swoop" if there is an uphill.<br />
<br />
If coasting is the most efficient way to cover distance, then it should be the easiest mode to achieve; not the hardest. If all the regenerative braking is integrated into the brake pedal, and lifting your right foot off the accelerator lets you free-wheel coast -- then you will quickly learn how to maximize the time spent coasting. You will learn the dynamics of your car, on the routes you routinely drive, and you will maximize your range / efficiency; ICE or EV. <br />
<br />
Sincerely, NeilNeil Blanchardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12984405294365982958noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2737780198586917506.post-12197230081443120472010-09-29T06:56:00.000-07:002012-01-30T17:46:57.155-08:00CarBEN EV5 Open Source Project Part 3 - Updated 12 Jan 2011<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://neilblanchard.blogspot.com/2010/09/carben-124th-scale-wooden-model-of-ev.html">CarBEN EV5 Part 1 </a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://neilblanchard.blogspot.com/2010/09/carbn-concept-ev-open-source-project.html">CarBEN EV5 Part 2</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://neilblanchard.blogspot.com/2011/03/carben-ev-open-source-project-part-4.html">CarBEN EV5 Part 4 </a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_GdtBR5FcdWyuzgSRSvnMz0ZDfHBwghZX6ozQV_r4_mQ22v19m-TUAx7TuRucABT6Lde-MZD8l__wgF0Dow94hrEsUcGQ2iaAbdLTgIztrGwJ4_PpQl2jQFP2rsNPDSKAuaLvKJeluWg/s1600/CarBEN+EV+Mk3-8+LeftAboveBirdseyeView.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_GdtBR5FcdWyuzgSRSvnMz0ZDfHBwghZX6ozQV_r4_mQ22v19m-TUAx7TuRucABT6Lde-MZD8l__wgF0Dow94hrEsUcGQ2iaAbdLTgIztrGwJ4_PpQl2jQFP2rsNPDSKAuaLvKJeluWg/s400/CarBEN+EV+Mk3-8+LeftAboveBirdseyeView.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPIOYFhU1b0FagiAf19wsOGudPEe99YwSHi8iv2-KgMyGbKw2BqWipM7onG2XAPvkQh8B8J6yLjmviWPHQ_D_WP_Wc0DY0dcVVc4iAv4SwCwoIfannNDVJ7bx2ZiZjBnMtwVdLQw5YWh0/s1600/CarBEN+EV+Mk3-8+LeftFront.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPIOYFhU1b0FagiAf19wsOGudPEe99YwSHi8iv2-KgMyGbKw2BqWipM7onG2XAPvkQh8B8J6yLjmviWPHQ_D_WP_Wc0DY0dcVVc4iAv4SwCwoIfannNDVJ7bx2ZiZjBnMtwVdLQw5YWh0/s400/CarBEN+EV+Mk3-8+LeftFront.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis9gxCwpl6yq0Glna3oohuJGBnBShCUmxOeIA3V-JR13YcEevq3jSEwWgtbFDbQ5mIuumOKoXCaYlZaFgfVijt2L3Wc-LrZz0DSgrjUdc2yGhjHeUaMvNEVvZiF5TwWKo-SW6KX1m7LPQ/s1600/CarBEN+EV+Mk3-8+LeftFrontLowView.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis9gxCwpl6yq0Glna3oohuJGBnBShCUmxOeIA3V-JR13YcEevq3jSEwWgtbFDbQ5mIuumOKoXCaYlZaFgfVijt2L3Wc-LrZz0DSgrjUdc2yGhjHeUaMvNEVvZiF5TwWKo-SW6KX1m7LPQ/s400/CarBEN+EV+Mk3-8+LeftFrontLowView.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
The single entry is probably the most controversial feature of the CarBEN EV -- it has to do with weight savings and surrounding safety structure.<br />
<br />
It's not like the the benefits aren't well worth the minor sacrifice: the CarBEN EV could well be the most efficient car yet made, and it could be one of the first electric cars to have a range of 400 miles (or more) on a single charge. If I was able to take part in the X-Prize, the CarBEN EV would have held the most people of any car in the contest. It might have a Cd under 0.14 and weigh less than a ton; hopefully less than a ton with the driver onboard.<br />
<br />
I'm serious about these goals, and I have to make choices that save weight, while not diminishing safety, and yes, body gaps add aerodynamic drag. The Bionic increased the Cd from 0.095 (the early blue clay model that I am starting with) up to 0.19. The main reasons for much of this increase is the uncovered wheels and the cooling for the diesel engine.<br />
<br />
Since about 97% of all accidents involve impacts on the front and sides of the car, I want to have maximum protection in those areas.<br />
<br />
Since a square encloses the most area with the least perimeter (except for a circle, naturally), it is the best shape to make a car with a given frontal area, and it gets the most usable interior volume. The Mercedes Bionic/Boxfish model provides an amazing opportunity: it combines an amazingly low coefficient of drag (Cd) in a shape that is nearly a square in the frontal area. This makes it possible to have comfortable seating for 5 people in a car less than 14 feet long.<br />
<br />
A compact car can be much lighter and stronger, and still keep the frontal area down to ~25 sq ft (2.323 sq m). If the Cd of CarBEN EV is 0.14, then the effective frontal area (CdA) is 3.5 sq ft (0.325 sq m). And it is possible to get the Cd as low as 0.11 or so, and that would lower the CdA to 2.75 sq ft (0.255 sq m).<br />
<br />
These would be unprecedented drag numbers for any car, let alone one that seats up to 5 people. Having an electric drive train also contributes a lot to this packaging efficiency: the electric motor is much smaller than an equivalent ICE and it's transmission (an electric motor only needs a reduction gear -- or can be direct drive!) and they need just a fraction of the cooling air flow.<br />
<br />
And here's one of the reasons where the aero and the aero shape enter into why the entry door is in the back: since truncating the back of the shape (called a Kamm back) makes the vehicle makes it much more practical, and has a very small increase in drag (and the Boxfish model achieves it's staggering Cd of 0.095 with a Kamm back), and this is where a small fraction of the accidents occur anyway, this is where I chose to put the main entry door.<br />
<br />
Side doors add weight and reduce the safety; by cutting big holes in the structure (think about a large box beam web) which then has to be reinforced all around the perimeter, and the door itself has to have a similar frame all around the perimeter, and you add the hinges and if you want to have as much strength as possible, you need 2-4 latches (instead of the usual 1). Adding the latches, means that you gain back some/much of the strength you had with no side doors, but it will weight more.<br />
<br />
Since I would need a rear hatch door <i>anyway</i> if I put in a side door; I can save a lot of weight and get the safety protection even better than most cars.<br />
<br />
Another aspect of the aero that affects many other things, including the seating arrangement: the tapered shape required for ultra low drag means that conventional rows of seats is not the best way to fit everything in. Since the electric motor is so compact, the driver can be moved forward between the front wheels, opening up more room. And the staggered seating means that even more legroom is available by angling your legs off to the side. So, the CarBEN EV fits 5 comfortably, in a package that most cars fit 4 less comfortably. The mesh seats are also a big part of this.<br />
<br />
On the asymmetrical seating -- basically, the most the weight would be unbalanced is about 300-350 pounds (the two "extra" seats are for shorter adult/kids), and that weight is on the higher part of the road crown; and away from the much rougher right side edge. I've only ever had to replace wheel bearings and the like on the right side of any of my cars. The battery pack in the floor is 800-900 pounds, and since most cars have the driver on the left -- and most often the driver is the only person in the car; so, most of the time the CarBEN will be in total balance! On the other hand, most cars are usually out of balance by up to 250 pounds (or more). <br />
<br />
I think I've shown that the choices I've made so far, are aimed at achieving unprecedented ultra-efficiency, in a compact, very practical people moving machine. Since the most import part of that function is just that: moving people with safety, the small inconveniences of slightly more effort getting in and out of the car are more than offset, if I can get anywhere near the performance I think are possible. Form follows function, and I think the CarBEN EV can function at a very high level, indeed.<br />
<br />
As Oliver Kuttner says: you must get the physics right to get to higher efficiency; and <i>all</i> design choices affect the efficiency. Using less energy is my focus, and that is where I cannot compromise.<br />
<br />
After I get a prototype and running, I hope to experiment with rigid wheels and solid (non-inflatable) tires and regenerative shock absorbers. The solid tires and rigid wheels could be much lighter weight (which counts double to weight losses anywhere else), and they could have vanishingly low rolling resistance, and they would pass along most of the energy to the regenerative shocks; making their effect greater than it would be with conventional tires.<br />
<br />
The ride quality could actually be better than with conventional tires, since light wheels makes the system more compliant (they move rather than moving the car), and the suspension can be fully tuned and damped to match the wheels.<br />
<br />
This could help get the energy consumption even lower than 100Wh/mile, and that could extend the range, as well as recharging the batteries (a bit) from the energy regained from the shock absorbers (instead of wasting it as heat). Every little bit counts.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRUQ-i3LBM5RUJPaifsraweE0DgpZ0LWohXlmfvdPdbAMH65zSs-e6O4dXMLxiT5HTMcDmTWmHsATAVb6gI-BJ5-gJnDQ9PK6IRgt-CQLXOCl9XPAgLneazYKkWwIQZGE4F9p5i792xxU/s1600/CarBEN+EV+Mk+3-8-3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="516" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRUQ-i3LBM5RUJPaifsraweE0DgpZ0LWohXlmfvdPdbAMH65zSs-e6O4dXMLxiT5HTMcDmTWmHsATAVb6gI-BJ5-gJnDQ9PK6IRgt-CQLXOCl9XPAgLneazYKkWwIQZGE4F9p5i792xxU/s640/CarBEN+EV+Mk+3-8-3.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCxZQRDEB5uY5_kkaGj7F7cjfPoX6R7MBMyi7d8xThA6emYYoSX9TmpR7ukKjcssPRbZQSHnbfd0x9DM_DPjlHZ_5Vor54M3oZmE3t3oq7Fh2lK3l1BlhbmyjrS3JE9jJdVTT80hnBeTw/s1600/CarBEN+EV+Mk+3-8.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
<br />
****************<br />
<br />
Here's the latest video animation: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9Yj4EzwdAY">Final </a><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9Yj4EzwdAY">Design </a><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9Yj4EzwdAY">Intent Video</a><br />
<br />
Here are the newest images and of the SketchUp model. If you want a copy of the model, I'd be happy to email you a copy!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizB9SVMf_kw1PFfIq0J2HNvUoS0hBExyeHxm832gEktA9f0eiYfIi3pqA7YzAXJF2rlGiBoluFPfjscKy4SsW1xAhuSfS32u3tCWGC9yAN4bbxxa1buZPOeDzpxL2wujrAsFIrUia8d1o/s1600/CarBEN+EV+Mk3-8+InsideBehindPassengers.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizB9SVMf_kw1PFfIq0J2HNvUoS0hBExyeHxm832gEktA9f0eiYfIi3pqA7YzAXJF2rlGiBoluFPfjscKy4SsW1xAhuSfS32u3tCWGC9yAN4bbxxa1buZPOeDzpxL2wujrAsFIrUia8d1o/s640/CarBEN+EV+Mk3-8+InsideBehindPassengers.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxJIg46EmH5Zbf_33E6v1dDXIMNFukirjyACUvy686d4LemMbMDWrmBA-hSYsvP4izfNDaxRiFXZGPZIhJpgTa27jkr9vGlyCwV_H3xwkiY18IIGnvZ0eCrn86bmj_EVBfuTL2C3OvFk8/s1600/Screen+shot+2010-09-29+at+2.34.18+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxJIg46EmH5Zbf_33E6v1dDXIMNFukirjyACUvy686d4LemMbMDWrmBA-hSYsvP4izfNDaxRiFXZGPZIhJpgTa27jkr9vGlyCwV_H3xwkiY18IIGnvZ0eCrn86bmj_EVBfuTL2C3OvFk8/s640/Screen+shot+2010-09-29+at+2.34.18+PM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-yDK_9Fb31Dy6mLQhJxy_1JM47lYSopXdhOl9uIJnDi-3bbhWYuq66F32FlmhrWFtsAh1y0rTH2vVNkNiuXL8UUalJ7lNV95NvCVgELxwwoerUXOANWFPI4-AeEmrMeXf8Xh8QZlt0Wc/s1600/CarBEN+EV+Mk3-8+BatteryPackSide.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-yDK_9Fb31Dy6mLQhJxy_1JM47lYSopXdhOl9uIJnDi-3bbhWYuq66F32FlmhrWFtsAh1y0rTH2vVNkNiuXL8UUalJ7lNV95NvCVgELxwwoerUXOANWFPI4-AeEmrMeXf8Xh8QZlt0Wc/s640/CarBEN+EV+Mk3-8+BatteryPackSide.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAm-oCMuNEC329_-buSwk_iKzkFepFZ8-ToUHFM5fEXqafpPXJ8bwwadTXS94B94y0W40f9opy_utBa5YqblonqDJBP0TmIRaSnqk990uHjpTg3-EC2zA61QUqLGjhxu1Egdwdl0H1Nnk/s1600/CarBEN+EV+Mk3-8+LeftSidePerspective2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAm-oCMuNEC329_-buSwk_iKzkFepFZ8-ToUHFM5fEXqafpPXJ8bwwadTXS94B94y0W40f9opy_utBa5YqblonqDJBP0TmIRaSnqk990uHjpTg3-EC2zA61QUqLGjhxu1Egdwdl0H1Nnk/s640/CarBEN+EV+Mk3-8+LeftSidePerspective2.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnGUEuUkp7ze1vmUNLGkAVrCDV5ivbz2VVC0n5JtuYLoRn27ODUI5IR5iTxLRZ71LIeLL1oSlDLue5lSAZqZSdp_wkFpxVbqyopWZCWgPZ0mKjwatLm_v7ja57v3Dy6CfHYaaO2NwGxys/s1600/CarBEN+EV+Mk3-8+FrontPerspective2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnGUEuUkp7ze1vmUNLGkAVrCDV5ivbz2VVC0n5JtuYLoRn27ODUI5IR5iTxLRZ71LIeLL1oSlDLue5lSAZqZSdp_wkFpxVbqyopWZCWgPZ0mKjwatLm_v7ja57v3Dy6CfHYaaO2NwGxys/s640/CarBEN+EV+Mk3-8+FrontPerspective2.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz4p-A8RsRTgBEYFE9b0QK9UMAgeRA-4fPTKd0YMQZQSpd3-mDVjTG6gp4HifurpGkOuZZT-9znvrL4Oai3thc6IVaEcmMpJYvCoMddPxvxWzNy3Ah9zWpSeBdWhnuwwrfiPHR1Uy1kTs/s1600/CarBEN+EV+Mk3-8+SimToBionicDoorsOpen.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz4p-A8RsRTgBEYFE9b0QK9UMAgeRA-4fPTKd0YMQZQSpd3-mDVjTG6gp4HifurpGkOuZZT-9znvrL4Oai3thc6IVaEcmMpJYvCoMddPxvxWzNy3Ah9zWpSeBdWhnuwwrfiPHR1Uy1kTs/s640/CarBEN+EV+Mk3-8+SimToBionicDoorsOpen.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8Hvqjd9pdwEJ72hOSPmxJnshIYuqKAIPNYnvaSu1YdnZOBEYGOOwoTLtupZkMPBvm1qOQhtN5suRjrYEoj5kF-esE9IJc62QXnE2SKNhdUEeaqOlx0_75bmH9vUsvldioNx6mvRhRwbc/s1600/CarBEN+EV+Mk3-8+TopPerspective.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8Hvqjd9pdwEJ72hOSPmxJnshIYuqKAIPNYnvaSu1YdnZOBEYGOOwoTLtupZkMPBvm1qOQhtN5suRjrYEoj5kF-esE9IJc62QXnE2SKNhdUEeaqOlx0_75bmH9vUsvldioNx6mvRhRwbc/s640/CarBEN+EV+Mk3-8+TopPerspective.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjr35NszAbA70eGcC_fPLU2Ok3qehB7R4HD2F1G2RZVmHWeGv4o-XJNlkne_7cedHGupy336kx0OL8byoQsLgnf5nCs6-0sgVfL9DK4Rkm9sdrLTa6RaNoNy9QXKEIheI97q7etdlCMa4/s1600/CarBEN+EV+Mk3-8+AboveRightBehind.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjr35NszAbA70eGcC_fPLU2Ok3qehB7R4HD2F1G2RZVmHWeGv4o-XJNlkne_7cedHGupy336kx0OL8byoQsLgnf5nCs6-0sgVfL9DK4Rkm9sdrLTa6RaNoNy9QXKEIheI97q7etdlCMa4/s640/CarBEN+EV+Mk3-8+AboveRightBehind.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisCjdajwKBjxgtjUNToHzraERBNEeYP0RX4BGmPm1NumwpN4fGEtFF6BG-vgB3BaZTOrKwkzEvBDtvZQAcPVCpInXeaivkRj603tHGHraRTZ8Mr4Zh2x-YXCkUDm6bb5gT1IgC1dwzWMU/s1600/CarBEN+EV+Mk3-8+RightSidePerspective.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisCjdajwKBjxgtjUNToHzraERBNEeYP0RX4BGmPm1NumwpN4fGEtFF6BG-vgB3BaZTOrKwkzEvBDtvZQAcPVCpInXeaivkRj603tHGHraRTZ8Mr4Zh2x-YXCkUDm6bb5gT1IgC1dwzWMU/s640/CarBEN+EV+Mk3-8+RightSidePerspective.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOtmVCFlAEAUSQ-_sQcoelthATN3lwYuuQ803PlSpS3AECzbskPq53zKe6gfXKv5WAJYmgttXLrCNz-ZQkebq0BPgckSvUXDngJtrqjiLsHCImdcxsSNUZRtyjrr4RnlYATb7J2ZcjvRQ/s1600/CarBEN+EV+Mk3-8+RearViewDoorsOpen.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOtmVCFlAEAUSQ-_sQcoelthATN3lwYuuQ803PlSpS3AECzbskPq53zKe6gfXKv5WAJYmgttXLrCNz-ZQkebq0BPgckSvUXDngJtrqjiLsHCImdcxsSNUZRtyjrr4RnlYATb7J2ZcjvRQ/s640/CarBEN+EV+Mk3-8+RearViewDoorsOpen.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8tDnT0-ncel6ikXVEXVpck1yGqSQuLzvTDxmpUGMfUBeIk_4YS_CuF3dKso-VKO1wnfsJOa3utDIXOXxmBlYcU_GOiZBAKGNWHe2JL5jjDexxKR_QzW2AYvc7hKv0vnHoa_DNIW3_GTo/s1600/CarBEN+EV+Mk3-8+LeftSidePerspective.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8tDnT0-ncel6ikXVEXVpck1yGqSQuLzvTDxmpUGMfUBeIk_4YS_CuF3dKso-VKO1wnfsJOa3utDIXOXxmBlYcU_GOiZBAKGNWHe2JL5jjDexxKR_QzW2AYvc7hKv0vnHoa_DNIW3_GTo/s640/CarBEN+EV+Mk3-8+LeftSidePerspective.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Some pictures of a 1/12th scale (1" = 1') model of the eggcrate frame similar to what could be used to lay the fiberglass shell:</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ22UzJE-wur4ZURRoJgZMUqkYL9CZ6ivBOa2EgrzDJZCH0KU-6AexDW5bGeXyMG4-Yhvo8LkcbtkKlj7_zsHe4LD8SzhiiPuU8Z8j1YJLW9N9d-EAtTxukwyYijriGJnGu0sqovcY0To/s1600/DSC_6836.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ22UzJE-wur4ZURRoJgZMUqkYL9CZ6ivBOa2EgrzDJZCH0KU-6AexDW5bGeXyMG4-Yhvo8LkcbtkKlj7_zsHe4LD8SzhiiPuU8Z8j1YJLW9N9d-EAtTxukwyYijriGJnGu0sqovcY0To/s640/DSC_6836.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW6hBJ5eBM88f94UXDhe1LShvWxNv3XQvwnmFymXJ42-jVs3QqCjp8hMeyLJXZOHNNeh1vxRJA2YnPESpHFL9F3QYB48kRjMZvOFUqxJvoI7Cmj25HtNG98HyBt2-H4yPad4KXApozifg/s1600/DSC_6838.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW6hBJ5eBM88f94UXDhe1LShvWxNv3XQvwnmFymXJ42-jVs3QqCjp8hMeyLJXZOHNNeh1vxRJA2YnPESpHFL9F3QYB48kRjMZvOFUqxJvoI7Cmj25HtNG98HyBt2-H4yPad4KXApozifg/s640/DSC_6838.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWLkLrwQR8X96ic_jJL_TfiNXtxHGNjyR303fnoJuIwfwqGsQCzdSKPdoh71kWAj3-csdCt9sQW1t3IU27nc82AZEk9EpDQ04rO7FRVwlDhiQo0mUtalUPCCgI6VLlP5ZYHqhzgNQ1t6Q/s1600/DSC_6840.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWLkLrwQR8X96ic_jJL_TfiNXtxHGNjyR303fnoJuIwfwqGsQCzdSKPdoh71kWAj3-csdCt9sQW1t3IU27nc82AZEk9EpDQ04rO7FRVwlDhiQo0mUtalUPCCgI6VLlP5ZYHqhzgNQ1t6Q/s640/DSC_6840.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
</div>
<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/" rel="license"><img alt="Creative Commons License" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-sa/3.0/88x31.png" style="border-width: 0;" /></a><br />
<span property="dct:title" xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/">CarBEN EV5</span> by <a href="http://neilblanchard.blogspot.com/2011/03/carben-ev-open-source-project-part-4.html" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL" xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#">Neil Blanchard</a> is licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/" rel="license">Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License</a>.
</div>Neil Blanchardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12984405294365982958noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2737780198586917506.post-3363673129211636462010-09-05T10:09:00.001-07:002010-09-06T19:32:03.383-07:00Oil Is Finite, Electricity Is Infinite<span style="font-size: large;">Oil has a lot of embedded energy to account for:</span><br />
<br />
Exploration is getting harder all the time; and can take years; and lots of energy is consumed doing so.<br />
<br />
Drilling is very hard to do, and takes a lot of energy, including making a lot of "drilling mud", which takes a lot of energy to make, and to inject deep down underground. Look it up! The BP drilling rig is nowhere the deepest at ~23,000 feet below the surface of the ocean.<br />
<br />
Extraction takes a lot of electricity (with all of it's overhead!) -- possibly more than refining(!); never mind the energy to build and move and operate those gigantic oil rigs.<br />
<br />
Transportation to land is expensive, and super tankers burn a lot of fuel, with it's overhead of embedded energy. The routes taken now have to be lengthened to avoid pirates, and pipelines are hard to build and maintain.<br />
<br />
Oil then has to be pumped into tanks onshore for storage, and/or into pipelines. Any energy used along the way has it's own overhead of embedded power.<br />
<br />
It then has to be transported to refineries; burning more fuel with it's embedded overhead.<br />
<br />
Refineries use a lot of electricity (and all it's overhead!) and they use a lot of natural gas to heat the oil, in a process that takes days. There is a lot of blending and other chemicals used, all of which that have to be made ahead of time, using yet more energy and all of it's overhead. The various fuels and by products are then pumped again to storage tanks.<br />
<br />
Then the gasoline/diesel is pumped and transported using pipelines, trucks, and trains, burning more fuel and using electricity, added yet more to the overhead.<br />
<br />
It then has to be pumped into the storage tanks at the filling stations, and then pumped out again into the cars, using more electricity, adding that overhead of energy.<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">By rights, we should also include the military used to defend and maintain our access to oil, and maintaining stability in oil prices. There are huge hidden subsidies in foreign policy, too. Don't fool yourself to think that much of our battle with terrorism is tied to this whole messy and corrupt situation. Do you know how much oil gets stolen in the Congo or in Iraq?</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
I almost forgot -- it isn't just the fuel! ICE engines require a lot of lubrication and maintenance: you have to add in all the steps to find, produce, transport, store, refine, store, transport, use, then dispose of the engine oils used in the ICE. So, many of the same steps I listed above have to be repeated for the other consumable carbon based things used by ICE machines, including the lubrication oils and the filters, etc. This accumulates even more carbon footprint.<br />
<br />
I HAVE PROBABLY OVER SIMPLIFIED THIS LONG AND ENERGY INTENSIVE PROCESS.<br />
<br />
Electricity from coal, on the other hand is fairly easy: mining takes a lot of effort and energy, then moving it around in the storage yards, then transporting it on trains (which are the most efficient way to move anything!), then moving it around storage yards, then burning it, and disposing of the ash waste. This fly ash can be used as aggregate in concrete. Dealing with fly ash is a significant challenge. <br />
<br />
Electricity generated from natural gas is more similar to making gasoline/diesel, except for the refining stage. Coal produces the most carbon waste, but has less embedded energy, while natural gas produces far less carbon, but represents a greater amount of embedded energy; just not nearly as much as oil.<br />
<br />
Grids losses are not as bad as you might think: the average is a bit less than 8% loss on the grid. Any and all of the overhead for electricity that is used at all the various stages along the way to produce oil -- get added to the oil! So, the 7.5kWh PER GALLON of gasoline could instead just be used directly to move a car 30-60 miles *rather* that making the gasoline.<br />
<br />
Electricity can come from renewable sources: solar PV, solar heat, wind power, geothermal (by drilling deep holes!), biomass (methane from plant and animal waste and others), wave power, tidal power, small scale hydro, etc. The more we use of these, the smaller the carbon footprint becomes in the future, as we make the new wind turbines from renewable energy, and so on, and so on.<br />
<br />
All of these use energy from our sun, in one form or another -- much more directly that oil an gas. The Sun is our big-fusion-reactor-in-the-sky!<br />
<br />
Each gallon of petroleum fuel represents ~100 TONS of biological material, that is millions and millions of years old. We are squandering it -- using so little of it potential. We should use it only when absolutely necessary.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The cost of electricity is very low compared to gasoline -- an EV can be driven the same distance as an ICE powered car for a fraction of the cost. And again, we are not talking price; but rather the amount of embedded energy.<br />
<br />
So, in total gasoline/diesel represents a FAR GREATER amount of carbon per mile traveled -- even now before we produce very much electricity from renewable energy.<br />
<br />
And that, my friends, is electricity's greatest strength -- it can come from a great variety of energy resources; many of them being renewable.<br />
<br />
Petroleum in finite.<br />
<br />
Electricity is (for all intents and purposes, until our Sun burns out) infinite. If we used mostly/all renewable energy sources, then we would not even have to conserve...<br />
<br />
We *must* think very long term, if we are to survive on this Eaarth we share. We can live without a lot, but we cannot live without the Eaarth.</div>Neil Blanchardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12984405294365982958noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2737780198586917506.post-10167695114127645562010-09-03T12:47:00.000-07:002011-01-03T07:28:48.246-08:00EaarthOriginally posted on 14 Aug 2010:<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.billmckibben.com/eaarth/eaarthbook.html">"Eaarth" by Bill McKibben</a><br />
<div at:align="center" at:enclosure="asset" at:format="extra-large" at:xid="6a00c22524d97c604a01347f2f2788860b" class="enclosure enclosure-center enclosure-extra-large photo-enclosure"><div class="enclosure-inner"><div class="enclosure-list"><div class="enclosure-item photo-asset last"><div class="enclosure-image"> </div><div class="enclosure-meta"><div class="enclosure-asset-name"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.billmckibben.com/images/eaarth-200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.billmckibben.com/images/eaarth-200.jpg" /></a></div><a href="http://neilblanchard.vox.com/library/photo/6a00c22524d97c604a01347f2f2788860b.html" title=""Eaarth" cover"><br />
</a></div></div></div></div></div></div>"Read it, please. Straight through to the end. Whatever else you were planning to do next, nothing could be more important." —Barbara Kingsolver<br />
<br />
I agree.<br />
<br />
Please read "Eaarth". Check it out from your local library, or buy it and pass it along to someone.<br />
<br />
[From now on, I will be spelling the name of the planet we all share "E-a-a-r-t-h".]Neil Blanchardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12984405294365982958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2737780198586917506.post-83849857035952588342010-09-03T12:44:00.000-07:002010-10-15T05:31:38.630-07:00More Vehicle Efficiencies!This post is a continuation/generalization/more organized version of <a href="http://neilblanchard.blogspot.com/2010/09/more-ways-for-auto-makers-to-build-more.html">my earlier blog post</a>.<br />
<br />
There are a lot of improvements possible for internal combustion engines (aka ICE's). It helps to list the areas that are causing losses, to start:<br />
<br />
-- The geometry of the physical layout of the piston, connecting rod and the crankshaft is less than ideal. The connecting rod needs to be ~60 degrees past top dead center to get the best leverage on the crankpin; but the pressure from the fuel ignition occurs much earlier than this; when the connecting rod is essentially trying to bend the crankshaft sideways. The motion of the piston is necessarily sinusoidal.<br />
<br />
- The power stroke is only 25% of the full cycle, and there is a lot of mass that has to be accelerated, stopped and accelerated again.<br />
<br />
- The valvetrain has to physically resist being moved, and it has to work against the air flows.<br />
<br />
- The piston tends to scrape the sides of the cylinder, because it would "rather" twist that stay straight. The rings must exert friction on the cylinder.<br />
<br />
- The oil must be pumped through little tiny passageways.<br />
<br />
- Electricity must be generated.<br />
<br />
- An ICE is a self-powered air pump, in essence. Air flow and the pressures generated, and the cyclical nature of them cause resonances, and backpressures, and the gasses become spring-like.<br />
<br />
- Small volumes, like the space above the top ring and the top edge of the piston, trap unburned fuel because the flame cannot reach it.<br />
<br />
- <i>Everything</i> flexes and springs -- the crankshaft and the camshaft flex torsionally and longitudinally, the piston vibrates and distorts, as do the cylinders. Valves bounce and stretch and distort into potato chip shapes.<br />
<br />
The list goes on... The net result is a typical internal combustion engine that uses ~20% of the energy in the fuel for output motion <b>at best</b>, and requires a transmission to keep the torque of the engine relatively close to the speed of the vehicle.<br />
<br />
<b>So, knowing all this, how can we make incremental or wholesale improvements?</b><br />
<br />
+ Offsetting the crankshaft center away from the power downstroke gives the connecting rod some better mechanical leverage -- but is the compression stroke adversely affected?<br />
<br />
+ Variable valve timing allows the torque to be available over a broader range of RPM's.<br />
<br />
+ Valves can be electrically/hydraulically moved in both directions (opened and closed) to avoid fighting the springs. This also makes it easier to use subtle or more abrupt adjustments to the valve timing.<br />
<br />
+ Use cams rather than the crankshaft, to gain a lot more mechanical leverage, and to allow the piston motion to be controlled by the designer; like the <a href="http://www.revetec.com/development.htm">Revetec</a>:<br />
<br />
<div at:align="center" at:enclosure="asset" at:format="large" at:xid="6a00c22524d97c604a0137a4cd3d76860c" class="enclosure enclosure-center enclosure-large photo-enclosure"><div class="enclosure-inner"><div class="enclosure-list"><div class="enclosure-item photo-asset last"><div class="enclosure-image"></div><div class="enclosure-meta"><div class="enclosure-asset-name"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.revetec.com/images/revani.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.revetec.com/images/revani.gif" /></a></div></div><div class="enclosure-asset-name"></div></div></div></div></div></div>This particular design also reduces piston scrape (but it introduces some tendency to spin the piston within the cylinder). It also avoid big changes in crankcase pressures (in configurations with even numbers of pistons). This design effectively doubles the efficiency.<br />
<br />
+ Use the Atkinson valve timing, like the Prius does, which has a lot of overlap of the exhaust valve with the beginning of the intake downstroke (I think?) so that there is built in exhaust gas recirculation (aka EGR). This also effectively doubles the efficiency.<br />
<i>Hmmm, how well would a 2-cylinder Revetec with Atkinson cycle and electrically activated valves work?</i><br />
<br />
+ Use a rotary design that reduces the reciprocal motion.<br />
<br />
+ Use a 2-stroke design to cut the parasitic losses in half.<br />
<br />
++ Use a continuous burn design to further reduce the cyclical nature of the engine; or at least reduce the time between power cycles.<br />
<br />
+ Figure out how to reduce waste heat from being produced, and then try to use the remaining excess heat to produce output.<br />
<br />
<b>What are other ideas to improve ICE's?</b>Neil Blanchardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12984405294365982958noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2737780198586917506.post-38801118492659581092010-09-03T12:42:00.000-07:002010-09-03T12:42:46.554-07:00X-Prize Knockout Round - Con't.Originally posted 1 July 2010:<br />
<br />
<div class="asset-content"> <div class="asset-body preview-links"> I think that the X-Prize competition is fulfilling the objective of focusing on vehicle efficiency. Starting with the results so far, I am hoping to contribute to the discussion and to the process.<br />
<br />
Here's the link to the PDF that shows the results of the X-Prize Knockout Round:<br />
<a href="http://www.progressiveautoxprize.org/files/downloads/auto/Knockout_Final_Results_v1.0_06-29-10.pdf">Progressive Automotive X-Prize Knockout Round Results</a><br />
<br />
The measured MPGe of the teams in this round -- remember this is the Combined number from the City, Urban, and Highway tests:<br />
<br />
American HyPower 54.5 Hybrid<br />
Spira 84.8 ICE (E10)<br />
FVT eVaro 152.5 Hybrid (serial)<br />
Zap 111.0 EV<br />
Tata 134.3 EV<br />
Electric Raceabout 128.1 EV<br />
AMP'd Sky 86.7 EV<br />
West Philly (MS) 63.5 Hybrid<br />
West Philly (Alt) 53.7 Hybrid<br />
Global-E 50.4 Hybrid<br />
Li-ion 182.3 EV<br />
Aptera 140.1 EV<br />
TW4XP 107.0 EV<br />
WWU 92.5 Hybrid<br />
Tango 86.8 EV<br />
BITW 51.1 ICE (diesel)<br />
X-Tracer (#72) 180.0 EV<br />
X-Tracer (#79) 188.8 EV<br />
Illuminati 119.8 EV<br />
Enginer 53.0 Hybrid (electric/ICE w/ steam heat recovery)<br />
Edison2 (#95 Alt) 97.0 ICE (E85)<br />
Edison2 (#97 MS) 101.4 ICE (E85)<br />
Edison2 (#98 MS) 80.3 ICE (E85)<br />
<br />
I think these results speak for themselves! The electric cars are in general, giving much better efficiency, and several of those (the X-Tracer, FVT, Tata, and the Aptera) also have excellent acceleration. The Li-ion, Illuminati, TW4XP, and Edison2 (among others) were not as quick -- the Li-ion and Edison2 cars are through to the finals, though. I am sad that neither the FVT eVaro nor the Illuminati Seven made it through, due to (relatively) minor technical reasons. They failed at the moment (which is how racing/competitions work, to be sure), but I think their problems are solvable, and the strong merits of their vehicles are obvious.<br />
<br />
The Aptera is through, but still a bit disappointing -- it's aero is equal or better to anybody (save the X-Tracer), but their efficiency seems to have suffered. It barely betters the Tata, which is "just" a well executed EV conversion of a decent but ordinary hatchback. The Global-E had an ignition mapping error that made their number lower.<br />
<br />
So the lowest MPGe of an electric drive; the AMP'd Sky was 86.7MPGe (Tango was 86.8), while the best of a car with an internal combustion is the Edison2 #97 at 101.4. (Actually, the FVT has a ICE powered generator onboard, but did not need it *at all* in the X-Prize. It would be great to see how the eVaro does for MPGe in charging mode!) The hybrids all were all below the 67MPGe -- except the WWU at 92.5 (and the FVT).<br />
<br />
The average of the 12 vehicles using electric drive MPGe (I'm including the FVT in this) was 134.7MPGe<br />
The average of the 6 hybrids (not including the FVT) was 61.26MPGe (Please note, these are all parallel hybrids?)<br />
The average of the 5 internal combustion drive cars was 82.92MPGe<br />
<br />
The X-Prize results table does not include weights, but I daresay that the average weight of the internal combustion cars was lowest (the Edison2 and Spira are all much lighter!).<br />
<br />
The best aero drag is on the X-Tracer, followed by a very close group including the Aptera, Edison2, Li-ion.<br />
<br />
As many have said, the X-Prize is setting a very high standard (which is both good and bad). They are essentially looking for the complete package, and virtually no glitches. Even the well financed/professional teams had several glitches. I would have set up the X-Prize a bit differently; to measure (and therefore emphasize and encourage) the four main things that need to be improved to get the maximum efficiency.<br />
<br />
Those four critical things are; from most important to least important (as I am interpreting the Knockout results):<br />
<br />
* Drivetrain Efficiency<br />
* Aerodynamic Drag<br />
* Weight<br />
* Rolling Efficiency<br />
<br />
I would have scored these in relative terms, which pits each vehicle against the others (rather than setting standards that are somewhat arbitrary). On drivetrain efficiency, I would either use a dynamometer or the best result of the three economy tests: the City, Urban, or Highway. (This will indicate what vehicle is good for a particular role, and measures the drivetrain at it's best.)<br />
For Drivetrain Efficiency, the points awarded would be the best MPGe x Number of Seats. So, using the Overall MPGe for 23 vehicles that competed in the Knockout Round listed above (we do not have the separate measured results from the City, Urban, and Highway test): the X-Tracer #79 would be 188.8 x 2 = 377.6 points, and so on. The best mainstream MPGe was the Illuminati Seven: 119.8 x 4 = 479.2 points.<br />
<br />
Aerodynamic Drag would use the Weight and the Rolling Efficiency, and the results of a Coastdown test to determine the Cd of each car. I would take the inverse of the number of entrants divided by the Cd, then multiplied by the Number of Seats: So the Aptera and the Li-ion and the Edison2 alternate cars may be at the top: 23 (22, 21) / 0.15 x 2 = ~306.6 and ~293.3 and ~280 points respectively. The Edison2 mainstream cars would get 20 and 19 (or higher depending on their Cd) resulting in 20 (19) / 0.15 x 4 = 533.3 and 506.6 points respectively.<br />
<br />
For Weight, I would take the lightest one and score it by inverting the number of Entrants x the Number of Seats – the Spira would get 23 x 2 (seats) giving it 46 points. The Edison2 alternate car would be next with 22 x 2 = 44 points. The two Edison2 mainstream cars would be 21 x 4 = 84 points and 20 x 4 = 80 points respectively; and so on. This give priority to the cars that seat more people, and it is realistic in terms of what is achievable in the real world.<br />
<br />
Rolling Efficiency includes tires and alignment and would be prorated for weight – a slower coastdown test using a ramp would be needed. I think an inverted number of the entrants would be a fair way to award points. <br />
<br />
Obviously, all four of the critical factors are interrelated, and they all would be reflected in the Overall MPGe number – but testing for them and awarding points (in some manner) for them separately, helps focus the designs on the most important aspects – and more importantly helps demonstrate their performance; whether or not the designs get ALL of them right and in the right balance, and if there is something that lags (or breaks) and the vehicle is DQ'd, people will still be able to judge the merits of the design.<br />
<br />
We could quibble about how each of these was scored – I am just throwing this out there. At this moment in time, I feel that the emphasis on the safety, and meeting the letter of the rules, etc. are distracting the designers from the main point; of maximizing the efficiency. Obviously, for a finished, production, reasonably priced, appealing vehicle – ALL of these things are also critically important. These would be determined by finished vehicle, and the buying public. But, I feel that an emphasis on the overall efficiency, and the four most important factors that directly contribute to maximum efficiency, would have better served the purposes of the X-Prize.<br />
<br />
One of the most important things I learned while I was at the X-Prize Knockout competition was: do not dismiss or ignore anybody! There is a LOT more than meets the eye with all of the entrants, and no matter the results, all the designs have strengths – and weaknesses that are all very informative.<br />
<br />
I also was floored by the height of passion by so many people; on all the teams.<span style="font-size: 0.512em;"> <span style="font-size: 1.95312em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emanuele_Pirro">Emanuele Pirro</a> -- 5-time Le Mans winner</span></span>, was there driving for the Edison2 team -- because he wanted to do his part. The sight of Oliver Kuttner with tears streaming down his face; returning from the starting line of the City Test with the first of his cars about to actually get to the heart of the matter; moves me to tears, as well. And I'm quite sure that every person involved in the X-Prize, who has put in a similar Herculean effort, feels the same.<br />
<div><br />
</div></div></div>Neil Blanchardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12984405294365982958noreply@blogger.com0