I support the idea of rapid charging, too, but that ALSO involves huge amounts of current being exchanged in outdoor circumstances (in all kinds of weather) by civilians.
Why would civilians have any trouble sticking a big plug in a socket ? Seems a lot simpler than dealing with a 1000 lbs battery pack.
he would just seem to be firing off extremely expensive rockets for his own amusement
The primary goal is testing a heavy lift reusable rocket that can be used to bring heavy satellites in Earth orbit for profit. In order to test the rocket, he needs a cheap dummy payload. The only "amusement" part is using an old car instead of a bag of rocks. The rest of the plan is business.
They could also stage some supplies for a future Mars mission in Mars orbit.
I strongly suspect the car isn't going into a Mars orbit. Rather, it's most likely going into a solar orbit that passes by Mars. A true Mars orbit would require an additional stage, and at this point not even Elon Musk is going to invest in that.
I agree, going to Mars is a useless stunt. Developing cheap rockets is very useful. If SpaceX needs the Mars dream to get motivated to build cheap rockets, it's still a good deal.
The efficiency of the most efficient diesel in the world is only around 50%
And the most efficient gasoline engine is the Mercedes Formula 1 engine which has efficiency over 50%. Of course, it also costs a million bucks and you have to replace it after a few trips.
What are you trying to prove with this example ? Gas tanks are not interchangeable, not all the same size, and carefully designed to fit one particular model of car.
Compared to a gas tank, a battery pack is huge and heavy, so it's even more important to carefully integrate the design of the battery pack with the car. Also, the connection between battery pack and car is complicated due the large voltages and currents, as well as some systems that circulate coolant throughout the pack, which may be attached to the car's air climate control or air conditioning system.
Greed is responsible for rushing products prematurely to market, which has consequences.
If the products end up saving lives overall, it's not premature.
which perhaps could have also been avoided had a half-ass solution not been rushed to market
We can also avoid a bunch of accidents if we didn't rush a bunch of immature teenagers behind the wheel, after they complete some half-ass test.
You're also dismissing other risks with autonomous vehicle networks coming under attack and being responsible for causing more deaths than we have today
When a hacker attacks a freeway full of autonomous vehicles during rush hour and causes 1,000 deaths to include one of your loved ones, you'll likely be revisiting your "winning" position here.
An when a hacker takes over an airplane. you'll be revisiting the plan to allow air travel.
If you don't need the battery pack to be replaceable, there's no need to restrict yourself to standards.
Re-use is very important.
You don't need standard battery packs for that. You could make standard battery cells, like Tesla is doing. Rip open the battery, take out all the cells, and re-use those.
Fossil fuels are going to run out, so the switch to electric is going to happen anyway. The earlier we start upgrading the grid, the more time we have for the transition.
The big advantage of electric is that you become flexible in energy generation, and with a big fleet of electric cars charging on the net, there's plenty of room to soak up excess solar and wind (which aren't very expensive as you claimed).
removable battery packs would solve a lot of issues
No, they'd solve one issue, but create a bunch of new ones. Removable battery packs requires a standard size, which will stifle progress in battery tech. Standard sizes don't work very well with different models of car, requiring bigger or smaller packs. Also, making a removable battery removes a lot of design freedom, and forces a suboptimal battery placement and connection. It required bulky and complicated battery replacement robots, and a bulky storage facility for batteries. And you still need a beefy grid connection to recharge them.
Fast charging is a problem that can be solved with better battery technology.
You're totally right. This will completely fail because you have to bring your own sunglasses. I hope your message comes early enough for GM to see the huge mistake they are about to make.
When human drivers kill 40,000 people a year in the US, but autonomous solutions "only" kill 30,000 people a year due to avoidable glitches, Greed will still arrogantly sell that as a win.
In my book, that is a win. And if the glitches were avoidable, that's even better, because that means the numbers will only go down in the future.
Slashdot Mirror
I support the idea of rapid charging, too, but that ALSO involves huge amounts of current being exchanged in outdoor circumstances (in all kinds of weather) by civilians.
Why would civilians have any trouble sticking a big plug in a socket ? Seems a lot simpler than dealing with a 1000 lbs battery pack.
Antarctica has air and water, even food, a pleasant climate and is very accessible.
he would just seem to be firing off extremely expensive rockets for his own amusement
The primary goal is testing a heavy lift reusable rocket that can be used to bring heavy satellites in Earth orbit for profit. In order to test the rocket, he needs a cheap dummy payload. The only "amusement" part is using an old car instead of a bag of rocks. The rest of the plan is business.
a lot of professors would have loved to have students come up with a micro satellite design and build it as part of a project.
I suspect communication with Earth would be a huge problem, especially if the professor doesn't have access to the deep space network.
Boo hoo. The guy makes his own rocket, and his own car, and you're telling him he can't do with it whatever he wants ?
They could also stage some supplies for a future Mars mission in Mars orbit.
I strongly suspect the car isn't going into a Mars orbit. Rather, it's most likely going into a solar orbit that passes by Mars. A true Mars orbit would require an additional stage, and at this point not even Elon Musk is going to invest in that.
I agree, going to Mars is a useless stunt. Developing cheap rockets is very useful. If SpaceX needs the Mars dream to get motivated to build cheap rockets, it's still a good deal.
The efficiency of the most efficient diesel in the world is only around 50%
And the most efficient gasoline engine is the Mercedes Formula 1 engine which has efficiency over 50%. Of course, it also costs a million bucks and you have to replace it after a few trips.
Does your car have a gas tank?
What are you trying to prove with this example ? Gas tanks are not interchangeable, not all the same size, and carefully designed to fit one particular model of car.
Compared to a gas tank, a battery pack is huge and heavy, so it's even more important to carefully integrate the design of the battery pack with the car. Also, the connection between battery pack and car is complicated due the large voltages and currents, as well as some systems that circulate coolant throughout the pack, which may be attached to the car's air climate control or air conditioning system.
Space is big. One car doesn't make a "stunt laden dumping ground".
Don't keep us in suspense, what are the biggest challenges for fast charging ?
Greed is responsible for rushing products prematurely to market, which has consequences.
If the products end up saving lives overall, it's not premature.
which perhaps could have also been avoided had a half-ass solution not been rushed to market
We can also avoid a bunch of accidents if we didn't rush a bunch of immature teenagers behind the wheel, after they complete some half-ass test.
You're also dismissing other risks with autonomous vehicle networks coming under attack and being responsible for causing more deaths than we have today
You haven't shown that these risks are real.
When a hacker attacks a freeway full of autonomous vehicles during rush hour and causes 1,000 deaths to include one of your loved ones, you'll likely be revisiting your "winning" position here.
An when a hacker takes over an airplane. you'll be revisiting the plan to allow air travel.
There was a company called Better Place that had automated battery swaps that would take a few minutes.
And they're bankrupt now (or if you prefer, they went to a better place)
A standardized battery pack would be great
If you don't need the battery pack to be replaceable, there's no need to restrict yourself to standards.
Re-use is very important.
You don't need standard battery packs for that. You could make standard battery cells, like Tesla is doing. Rip open the battery, take out all the cells, and re-use those.
Fossil fuels are going to run out, so the switch to electric is going to happen anyway. The earlier we start upgrading the grid, the more time we have for the transition.
The big advantage of electric is that you become flexible in energy generation, and with a big fleet of electric cars charging on the net, there's plenty of room to soak up excess solar and wind (which aren't very expensive as you claimed).
Latest drug on the market kills 75% of people because they rushed to market? Oh well, we can only improve from here!
You're forgetting to mention that without the drug, 100% of the people would have died anyway. Oh, no, greed is saving 25% of the people!
removable battery packs would solve a lot of issues
No, they'd solve one issue, but create a bunch of new ones. Removable battery packs requires a standard size, which will stifle progress in battery tech. Standard sizes don't work very well with different models of car, requiring bigger or smaller packs. Also, making a removable battery removes a lot of design freedom, and forces a suboptimal battery placement and connection. It required bulky and complicated battery replacement robots, and a bulky storage facility for batteries. And you still need a beefy grid connection to recharge them.
Fast charging is a problem that can be solved with better battery technology.
You're totally right. This will completely fail because you have to bring your own sunglasses. I hope your message comes early enough for GM to see the huge mistake they are about to make.
We're also ignoring the cost of the damage caused by CO2 and by exhaust particulates. Good grief.
...overhyped (3D printing)
3D printing is not going to flop. It may not do everything some people said it would, but it's going to stay, and it will get even better.
If an auto-driving auto gets into an accident, whose insurance covers the cost?
The one that caused the accident, just like now.
When human drivers kill 40,000 people a year in the US, but autonomous solutions "only" kill 30,000 people a year due to avoidable glitches, Greed will still arrogantly sell that as a win.
In my book, that is a win. And if the glitches were avoidable, that's even better, because that means the numbers will only go down in the future.
5. Humans knows what is going on internally with an AI
Unless, of course, the AI was designed by another AI.
Not existing is supposedly not bad either.