Slashdot Mirror
Looking To Better Engines Instead of Electric Vehicles
hlovy writes "Don Runkle thinks it's engines, not batteries, that will make automobiles cleaner and more efficient. 'We unabashedly say that we have the best solution,' says Runkle, the CEO of Allen Park, MI-based engine developer EcoMotors International. The startup, which brought in $23 million in Series B financing this summer from Menlo Park, CA-based Khosla Ventures and Seattle billionaire Bill Gates, has designed an opposing piston, opposing cylinder engine that uses fewer parts than traditional motors do and generates more power from each stroke of the engine, CEO Runkle says. He says the 'opoc' engine is smaller, lighter, and less expensive than the motors already out there, and a more viable option than switching automobile fleets over to electrical power."
why not better engines with hybrid technology as well? I'll tell you why, so big oil can keep their death grip on all those who drive cars and so that bicycle advocates and environmentalist can have a reason to continue to hate cars and think they are evil.
Only 'flamers' flame!
Does slashdot hate my posts?
Stop posting these advertisements! Also please stop spreading the idea that gasoline engines and electric engines are somehow different in there pollution factors. THEY'RE NOT. They both utilize incredibly wasteful systems to produce power and both are horrifically inefficient. You think that the EV's are being powered by unicorn tears? No. It is coal. Shifting the problem to larger plants may seem to make it more efficient, but then you remember we have to build these EV cars and no one knows exactly how bad they are for the environment in the long run. I highly doubt refining thousands of 'rare earth minerals' and then dumping them back into the planet is a good idea.
So basically, -1 troll/offtopic is really slashdots way of saying "I hate that you thought of something before me."
Rather relax, a solution will magically appear as soon as it is needed.
Yeah right. Like, for example, the cure for cancer automatically appeared as soon as it was needed.
"It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
How will the police officer know that the electrons in your battery came from an untaxed source? Wouldn't it be simpler to have some sort of a weight-mileage-based tax? Every time you get a new sticker for your license plate, the DMV would read the odometer and charge you the appropriate tax. Even with the tax, electricity would be vastly cheaper than current gas prices.
Another advantage is that we would not be subsidizing terrorism from certain oil-rich countries.
All theory is gray