Here's a thought: let's sell the military range-extended electric vehicles.

[TheWraith]

I'm thinking specifically HUMVEEs, but trucks and others might work too. Think about it: they're high performance, which the military demands. Excellent economy. Very quiet, perfect for manuvering. Cost isn't a concern. Stick four electric motors in the wheels of a HUMVEE, a gas generator in there somewhere, and you've got not just a fine military-grade vehicle, but also a great way to build economies of scale that would make the production of civilian vehicles cheaper and easier.

[jpak]

1. with electromagnetic rail guns

:evilgrin:

[TheWraith]

3. I think that's best left to the Navy.

You can't really concentrate enough energy into a land-vehicle form to make a railgun practical. Even the smaller ones, you're talking about 9 megawatts to launch a single shot. And you'd have to generate that continuously in order for it to be a viable weapon. We don't currently have anything that can generate that kind of power while still being small enough to be portable on a standard vehicle.

[Greyskye]

2. Good idea - it's already being worked on.

I remember seeing an article a number of years ago that featured a HUMVEE converted to electric. They pulled a small generator in a trailer for long distance operations, and left that behind and relied on internal battery power for short range stealth maneuvers.

Here are some links to some various Electric HUMVEE projects:

http://www.electrifyingtimes.com/UQM_hummer.html

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2005/10/mil-051019-arnews03.htm

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/04/hybrids_could_r.php

[TheWraith]

4. Cool. Though I think the trailer system is a bit of a kludge.

Also very bad if you needed a long combat advance, or had to unexpectedly retreat. A vehicle could be forced to leave its generator behind, greatly limiting its range. It would make more sense to mount the generator on the vehicle, and simply have a selectable switch for the driver. Click over to "stealth mode" and you run solely on batteries.

So let's get Detroit on this. After all, we need a bunch of new HUMVEEs to replace the ones we've trashed in Iraq, right?

[Dogmudgeon]

5. DEE-troit

By any measure of justice, Detroit should (collectively) be "our bitch".

We should force the executives to prance around half-nekkid in French Maids' outfits, and issue the UAW spike heels, fishnet stockings, and big paddles.

Let 'em build ...

Electric cars.

Electric HumVees.

Electric aircraft.

Hell, electric spaceships, if that's do-able.

Aeolian turbines.

Reactor containment vessels.

The retrofitting of everything.

Double the salaries of the rank-and-file, and then free them to transform America and the world.

--p!

[TheWraith]

6. I didn't need that image of the executives. :)

Electric aircraft is a stretch. Weight issues and horsepower mean that aircraft really do require hydrocarbon fuel. At least until we design some new technologies like superconductive electrical storage and magnetically driven turbofan engines. The bright side though is that aviation fuel is basically purified kerosene, which can be produced from almost any kind of waste oils.

But yeah, we should be mass-producing EVs. For that matter, some of the production lines can do double-duty, since permanent magnet motors can be either a generator in a turbine or an engine in a car. This sort of thing is why I think we should just buy the damn companies. The Republicans love to talk about running government like a business, right? What business would give away tens of billions of dollars without getting something in return?

[CRF450]

7. What about smaller aircraft with piston engines?

That purified kerosene is jet fuel. Piston engines run on leaded high octane gasoline. Though if it can be made cost effective, some can be converted to diesel engines. The new Cessna 172 have an optional turbo diesel.