Dean Kamen Combines Stirling Engine With Electric Car

Colin Smith writes "Dean Kamen, (inventor of the Segway) has combined a Stirling engine with a battery-powered electric vehicle based on the Ford Think to provide a fully decoupled electric hybrid car which can run on any fuel which can provide enough heat to run the Stirling generator. Think are also producing a purely battery 'Think City' car which is capable of 62mph and with a range of 126miles." Some stats on the Ford Think: Top speed, 55mph; 0-30, 6.5 seconds; Range, 60 miles on battery.

Comments

Disruptive technology

[Chairboy]

When he mentions it being 'disruptive', he's referring to the concept of disruptive technology as written about in The Innovator's Dilemma by Christensen:
http://www.amazon.com/Innovators-Dilemma-Revolutionary-National-Bestseller/dp/0066620694

Great read, and the concepts are laid out here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disruptive_technology

If you're not familiar with the concept, it's worth checking out.

Wondering what a Stirling engine is?

[mgkimsal2]

Wonder no more

"A Stirling engine is a closed-cycle regenerative heat engine with a gaseous working fluid."

As with many of these hybrid and electric car announcements, it'd be great if I could really go buy one, and have it be inexpensive. We're always just "2-3 years" away from these things reaching market, and "eventually" being affordable by regular folks.

Perhaps some Indian or Chinese company will make these and sell them here for under $10k. That would spark a huge revolution. Hybrids at $24k don't change people's buying habits enough to cause a huge shift in demand.

For better or worse, I think we'll see an alt-energy evolution in the US, rather than a revolution.

Re:stirling engine is a no-go

[rolfwind]

I'm no engines expert, but I thought the good part of a stirling engine was that they often are just a few percentage points from theoretical maximum efficiency of a heat engine, about 50%???

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_engine

I thought the downside is that they take a while to get up to speed. Ford in the 1970s tested a small vehicle with such an engine and they could get it up to speed after 13 seconds. So it should be a natural fit as a battery charger in an electrical car...

At least, that's what I thought when I looked into this a few years back (just as a curiosity, nothing professional mind you).

Stirling not connected, not enough to power car.

[guidryp]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/10/27/sv_deankamen.xml

I read several articles on this when news first broke. The above indicates the Stirlin isn't even connected. When it is, it doesn't produce enough power to actually move the car. Kamen has a 1KW Stirling that is about the same size as what is pictured and other articles mentioned it as a "trickle charger".

In this case the Stirling is essentially a novelty, it doesn't drive the car when the battery is run down.

Re:The Uri Geller of industry

[abigor]

Well, I'd say his inventions such as the portable dialysis machine, the auto-syringe technology for people who require round the clock injections, and the wheelchair that can climb stairs made a tremendous difference. These medical inventions restored a reasonable standard of living to a great number of people, and are the foundation of his current fortune.

Re:stirling engine is a no-go

[shbazjinkens]

According to wikipedia, Stirlings have efficiency equivalent to conventional auto engines, but for the same power they're more expensive and heavier.

According to NASA, there was no weight change. Read it. More expensive is a matter of mass production, no auto engine is exactly simple nowadays anyway.