bystander
09-27-2006, 05:58 AM
Regarding these articles about a new electrical storage technology:
http://money.cnn.com/2006/09/15/technology/disruptors_eestor.biz2/index.htm
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1141599010468&call_pageid=970599109774&col=Columnist971715454851
The interesting bit is that "service stations" would have to banks of these "hypercapacitors" pre-charged in order to serve cars. Think about it, at any given time, 4-8 cars are pumping gas at a gas station. If 8 cars suddenly tried to fill their "e-tanks" at the same time, the load on the power grid would be enormous, somewhere around half a mega-watt for a few minutes.
So the "service stations" would fill their hypercapacitor "e-tanks" slowly off the electrical grid, but be able to discharge them quickly into a car's "e-tank" when it is time for "refueling".
Now the interesting part about having "banks" of "hypercapacitors" on the electrical grid is that it becomes easier to store large amounts of electricity easily. The "service station" could store electricity at night (when it's cheaper), then sell it to cars at the day rate during the day, or back to the power company (if it's a heavy use day and there could be a brownout).
This would partially alleviate the cost of higher electricity costs due to "overbuilding" capacity to deal with peak loads.
The downside is, these "service stations" could be kind of dangerous. A short circuit could mean a catastrophic explosion, unless safety devices were installed. Gas stations now are pretty good about not exploding, but from time to time, it does happen due to accidents. It would probably be a learning experience for a while, but should eventually be fairly safe.
One last thing,
According to patent documents, EEStor describes the day when gas stations evolve into "electrical energy stations" that store energy overnight when electricity is cheap and sell it like gasoline during daytime. Drivers could pull in and recharge their EEStor-powered car in a few minutes the same way we now fill up with gasoline.
I say bah! Why not build charging stations into the road at stoplights? While waiting for traffic to pass in two minutes, you could fill a fraction of your "e-tank"!
The first couple of rows at an intersection would be fitted with some kind of automatic equipment to connect to the underside of a standard car. If the car was getting low on charge, and the equipment was working properly, it would connect to the car and charge it while it waited at the stop light. A few seconds before the stop light changed, the equipment would disengage.
The driver's account number would be read from the car and debited. If the driver didn't like the rate, he / she would not approve the transaction and the process would not even start.
It might take several stops to completely fill the "e-tank", but it would save time overall. For those who like to stop traveling when charging, conventional service stations would still exist, and charge a slightly lower rate than the "in-road" stations, due to the inconvenience of having to stop.
http://money.cnn.com/2006/09/15/technology/disruptors_eestor.biz2/index.htm
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1141599010468&call_pageid=970599109774&col=Columnist971715454851
The interesting bit is that "service stations" would have to banks of these "hypercapacitors" pre-charged in order to serve cars. Think about it, at any given time, 4-8 cars are pumping gas at a gas station. If 8 cars suddenly tried to fill their "e-tanks" at the same time, the load on the power grid would be enormous, somewhere around half a mega-watt for a few minutes.
So the "service stations" would fill their hypercapacitor "e-tanks" slowly off the electrical grid, but be able to discharge them quickly into a car's "e-tank" when it is time for "refueling".
Now the interesting part about having "banks" of "hypercapacitors" on the electrical grid is that it becomes easier to store large amounts of electricity easily. The "service station" could store electricity at night (when it's cheaper), then sell it to cars at the day rate during the day, or back to the power company (if it's a heavy use day and there could be a brownout).
This would partially alleviate the cost of higher electricity costs due to "overbuilding" capacity to deal with peak loads.
The downside is, these "service stations" could be kind of dangerous. A short circuit could mean a catastrophic explosion, unless safety devices were installed. Gas stations now are pretty good about not exploding, but from time to time, it does happen due to accidents. It would probably be a learning experience for a while, but should eventually be fairly safe.
One last thing,
According to patent documents, EEStor describes the day when gas stations evolve into "electrical energy stations" that store energy overnight when electricity is cheap and sell it like gasoline during daytime. Drivers could pull in and recharge their EEStor-powered car in a few minutes the same way we now fill up with gasoline.
I say bah! Why not build charging stations into the road at stoplights? While waiting for traffic to pass in two minutes, you could fill a fraction of your "e-tank"!
The first couple of rows at an intersection would be fitted with some kind of automatic equipment to connect to the underside of a standard car. If the car was getting low on charge, and the equipment was working properly, it would connect to the car and charge it while it waited at the stop light. A few seconds before the stop light changed, the equipment would disengage.
The driver's account number would be read from the car and debited. If the driver didn't like the rate, he / she would not approve the transaction and the process would not even start.
It might take several stops to completely fill the "e-tank", but it would save time overall. For those who like to stop traveling when charging, conventional service stations would still exist, and charge a slightly lower rate than the "in-road" stations, due to the inconvenience of having to stop.