Wireless Power Pitched as Replacement for EV Batteries
2/15/2012
Using magnetic resonance coupling, coils in the roadway could wirelessly transmit power to electric cars cruising down the highway. (Source: Stanford University)
This articles states a glaring contradiction. 1) If you do the math, you see that it would provide enough energy for the car to cruise down the road at about 65mph." VERSUS 2)It's not known yet how many of the coils would be needed or how far apart they would be spaced in order to power a car driving down the highway."It could be 10ft or 20ft or 50ft," Beiker said. "More research will tell us what the exact number is." Did Beiker really do the math?
Wow. Great story, Chuck. If we were able to create the intercontinental railroad and the interstate system, we could do this. It would be a trick to distribute the ongoing electrical costs to individual vehicle owners. Perhaps toll booths would be the solution. It would be interesting to compare energy costs against battery-powered cars, or even gas powered cars.
I wonder if the magnetic field could also prevent cars from hitting each other. That would deliver huge savings in life and property damage.
When you lay it out like that, the plan appears even more daunting and long term. While many of the best solutions to our hard problems will be years, maybe even decades, down the road, we have to focus on a mix of short-term and long-term remedies. It's easy to shoot something down like this because it seems impossible to get off the ground and with no real benefits to be seen in the short term.
Exactly right! The hot swap of battery packs was talked about over decade ago and is now resurfacing.
The problem is the infrastructure cost. The cost to just install it would be monumental. The cost to maintain it unacceptable.
A great example is electrification of the railroads. This started during the steam era. Then diesel electrics came along. No catenaries to maintain. The overhead wires have all but dissiapeared except where the density might justify it.
In addition, what do you do during the transition to such a system? What is the advantage of a car? You can go lots of places not served by systems like trains and other mass transit. So, you will still need batteries or a gasoline engine.
This might be something we see in a hundred years, but looking more short term. Why not just put powered rails in the road. That kills two birds with one stone. If you are on rails, you don't need to steer.
Better solution, maybe. And while I have to applaud any and all efforts to explore alterative fuel technologies, the key downside to this, as it strikes me, is that the whole thing is a moot point unless there is significant buy-in and commitment to alloting huge budgetary resources to building out new infrastructure. Already, cities and states are struggling with how to finance the upgrade of aging highway systems and bridges. Unless something like this could be bundled as part of a nationwide road and highway upgrade plan, I don't see how any private investment could facilitate. Finally, again at the risk of being a naysayer, good luck getting something like this to gain any kind of traction in this divided government.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
A quick look into the merger of two powerhouse 3D printing OEMs and the new leader in rapid prototyping solutions, Stratasys. The industrial revolution is now led by 3D printing and engineers are given the opportunity to fully maximize their design capabilities, reduce their time-to-market and functionally test prototypes cheaper, faster and easier. Bruce Bradshaw, Director of Marketing in North America, will explore the large product offering and variety of materials that will help CAD designers articulate their product design with actual, physical prototypes. This broadcast will dive deep into technical information including application specific stories from real world customers and their experiences with 3D printing. 3D Printing is
To save this item to your list of favorite Design News content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
If you found this interesting or useful, please use the links to the services below to share it with other readers. You will need a free account with each service to share an item via that service.
Tweet This
25 
