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A gas turbine is a really bad idea for a car. They take a long time to get up to speed and spew a lot of hot exhaust in the meanwhile. Gas turbine cars weren't
by _hypx 4y ago
A gas turbine is a really bad idea for a car. They take a long time to get up to speed and spew a lot of hot exhaust in the meanwhile. Gas turbine cars weren't practical cars at all.
I will argue that the finite nature of battery related materials, plus their weight, is a major impediment against all-battery powered cars in road transport. They are not "good enough" except as a stopgap until the next idea comes around. Which ironically could just be synthetic fuels, but more likely something like a hydrogen fuel cell car.
- bryanlarsen 4y agoFuel cells require catalysts like platinum which are far less common than anything in a battery.
- _hypx 4y agoThey don't actually require platinum. Only some types. And even then, it is basically the catalytic converter in terms of platinum needed. It is also 100% recyclable already.
- bryanlarsen 4y agoAll catalysts are way less common than the Iron, Phosphate and Lithium in a mass market car battery.
- _hypx 4y agoNo, since sometimes it is also just iron or whatever. Not to mention that a catalyst is a surface, not a volume. You can get away with atom-thick layers of catalysts. Which is why even with platinum you only need a few grams of it. Cost of that is significantly less than a large mass of other materials.
- bryanlarsen 4y agoCatalysts are consumables and need to be replaced regularly. Battery materials are recyclable.
- _hypx 4y agoAgain no. Catalysts are endless recyclable.
- enslavedrobot 4y agoNickel iron oxide is the best catalyst for a type of fuel cell based on Anionic Exchange Membranes. Cheap as dirt and you only need milligrams per kW. But it's so cheap you can use a tenth of a gram just to be on the safe side.