[extropy-chat] 12000 miles per gallon (equiv) !!

[Mike Lorrey]

The only thing that makes this thing a car and not a bike is that it
has three wheels instead of two. This being said, here are some
comments:

a) as it was performed on a track, after the vehicle had reached its
average speed (i.e. energy cost of accelerating to 30 km/h were not
included) it only had to expend energy on rolling and wind resistance

b) for a very small very light (30 kilos is about 1/50th to 1/100th of
the mass of most vehicles called 'cars') and very aerodynamic vehicle
(note that aerodynamic resistance increases geometrically as vehicle
cross section and surface area increase) I would expect such high fuel
efficiency. 1200 mpg is no different than what solar powered vehicles
using similar design principles have demonstrated in similar tests.

--- BillK <pharos at gmail.com> wrote:

>
<http://www.fuelcelltoday.com/FuelCellToday/IndustryInformation/IndustryInformationExternal/NewsDisplayArticle/0,1602,6118,00.html>
> 
> ETH Zurich's Fuel Cell Vehicle Sets New World Record
> 28 June 2005
> 
> ZURICH, Switzerland, Jun 28, 2005 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The Swiss
> Federal
> Institute of Technology -- ETH Zurich has set a new world record for
> fuel efficiency. The world record-holding PAC Car operates on a
> hydrogen-powered fuel cell. Using the lower heating values of
> hydrogen
> and gasoline as a conversion basis, this world record now stands at
> 5385 kilometres per litre of gasoline.
> 
> The top-ranked world-renowned ETH Zurich set itself the goal to
> construct a vehicle that used as little fuel as possible and provided
> the highest possible fuel efficiency. PAC Car has an optimized fuel
> cell system that produces electrical energy from hydrogen and drives
> two high-efficiency electric motors. The only "emission" from PAC Car
> is pure water. The car weighs in at less than 30 kilograms. It
> achieved the top result at the Shell Eco-marathon on the Michelin
> proving grounds at Ladoux, France on June 24 to June 26, 2005. The
> vehicle used only 1.02 grams of hydrogen to drive the distance of
> 20.68 km at an average speed of 30 km/h. This converts to about 5385
> kilometres per litre of gasoline, a new world record in minimal fuel
> consumption. This means that PAC Car would only use the energy stored
> in about eight litres of gasoline to drive around the globe.
> 
> Also at <http://www.paccar.ethz.ch/>
> 
> 
> BillK
> _______________________________________________
> extropy-chat mailing list
> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org
> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo/extropy-chat
> 


Mike Lorrey
Vice-Chair, 2nd District, Libertarian Party of NH
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.
It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
                                      -William Pitt (1759-1806) 
Blog: http://intlib.blogspot.com

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com