[Tfug] OT: Battery Powered Transportation: Converting Thermal to Electrical Energy

[Bexley Hall]

>  pretty cool:
> 
>  http://www.chevrolet.com/pages/open/default/fuel/electric.do

This seems like yet another case of Detroit missing the boat.
The car (allegedly) gets 230MPG -- but only if you make
short trips and keep recharging it (I think the range is
just 40 miles on a charge)

So, instead of creating a car *just* for "short trips"
(and using whatever tricks they could to economize on
that -- weight, size, etc.), they try to address the
"old" (existing) market mentality with a car that *tries*
to act like a "real car" (i.e., longer range) -- I think
it claims a range of ~300 miles on a "tank".

As a result, they end up with the worst of both worlds.
As a regular car, it has to lug around all of those
batteries and charging gear -- plus incur the attendant
reliability issues.  As a "short trip electric", it
lugs around all the bulk and weight of a "regular car"
(which is either reducing its range or increasing its
battery requirements).

This seems to be common of many companies -- not knowing what
their market is (i.e., what *business* they are in).  As if
the marketing droids are terrified of making a statement
that they could get MEASURED by...

And the claim that the Lithium Battery will last 10 Years
is really laughable.  Anyone own a 10-year-old laptop that
is still running with the original battery??  I suspect you'll
be recharging this car's battery AT LEAST as often as your laptop!
(esp withjust a 40 mi range)