4 ms·
tell me a startup that is not creating a frivolous toy
by quasimojo 18y ago
tell me a startup that is not creating a frivolous toy
- dfranke 18y agoWell, to choose the one that most obviously addresses Tim's challenge, CO2Stats.
- DaniFong 18y agoWe're aiming to create practical, beautiful, inexpensive compressed air powered vehicles.
- zhyder 18y ago(Warning: Following comment irrelevant to OP's subject.) Wow, that's amazing! There're so many interesting mechanical (and electro-mechanical) innovations on your Technology page. My appreciation for Hacker News just went up several notches since it's attracting folks like you. Are you funded? I hope so. Who else is building such stuff that isn't just computer science/engineering?
- DaniFong 18y agoWe're of course intending to raise funds. At this stage we're writing the business plan, putting together the engineering drawings, doing simulations, and sourcing components for the first prototype build. We'll be moving into fundraising mode soon.
- hugh 18y agoThat is both interesting and awesome. I just looked at your website. Good luck, and I hope you'll keep us all informed about your progress. (I'd buy one!)
- DabAsteroid 18y agoHave you looked at this?: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_density#Energy_density_in_energy_storage_and_in_fuel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_density#Energy_density_i... Energy density Energy density by mass (MJ/kg) by volume (MJ/L) Gasoline 46.9 34.6 Lithium ion battery 0.72 1.9 Lead acid battery 0.11 0.17 Compressed air in fiber-wound bottle at 200 bar (at 24°C) 0.1 0.1 compressed air in steel bottle at 200 bar (at 24°C) 0.04 0.1
- DaniFong 18y agoYes, we have. We're not intending to use 200 bar air, and we have to aim at a substantially more efficient vehicle, and even then we need a much larger tank than normal. But compared to batteries they're very, very cheap. We think we can hit the range required, and that's what really matters.
- DabAsteroid 18y agoThere are 700-bar tanks. What are you aiming for? and we have to aim at a substantially more efficient vehicle Against which car models (once you are done marketing the scooter) are you intending for your car to compete? Camry/Accord? But compared to batteries they're very, very cheap. What tank-prices are you figuring? $4,000? http://www.google.com/search?q=hydrogen+car+tank+costs http://www.google.com/search?q=hydrogen+car+tank+costs
- DaniFong 18y agoWe'd scale from 300 to 700 bar as the market allows. In the Asian market, for example, range and bulk is less of an issue than cost. We're actually aiming at creating a scooter first, and other vehicles later. The hydrogen tanks are much more sophisticated than we need. In particular they require a plastic liner (because hydrogen is so damned small). We just need carbon fiber wound tanks. These are manufactured to a higher precision but are not fundamentally different from 300 bar tanks which are fairly cheap (ie: you can buy single quantities of 9 L tanks for $500 - $600). It's only a guess, but we think we can keep the tank price for a scooter below $1000, and for a car, below $3000. This is dependent on carbon fiber prices, and how efficient we can make the engine and drivetrain. The important thing is that we can expect prices to improve handsomely while t goes to infinity, whereas batteries have had a lot of the manufacturing improvements that they're going to get.
- davidw 18y agoWith Hecl, I'm trying to make it easier for people to write programs for mobile phones. That is potentially a lot of people and a lot of programs.
- acangiano 18y ago> tell me a startup that is not creating a frivolous toy https://www.23andme.com/ https://www.23andme.com/