Lamborgini /MIT new electric car no batteries

[hardflex]

Intriguing idea, body panels become the electric source, no battery weight.

Article with pics is on CNN.com


Lamborghini is working with engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on a new all-electric supercar that won't have batteries.
Instead, the body of the Lamborghini Terzo Millennio concept car, made from exotic carbon nanotubes, would be used as a supercapacitor. Supercapacitors store and release energy in a manner different from that employed by batteries. They have certain advantages, but also serious disadvantages.
It could be years, if ever, before scientists from MIT and Lamborghini, which is part of the Volkswagen Group (VLKAF), can overcome the downsides. But the effort would be worth it, said Mauricio Reggiani, Lamborghini's head of research and development.
"At the moment, we are really optimistic," he said.
Even the best batteries won't work in a supercar, Reggiani said, because they're too heavy and bulky. If the car used only small batteries, so as not to add too much mass, he said, they would get drained quickly and wouldn't provide peak performance for very long.

[Aurel]

I will be amazed if it has more than 10 miles range on that concept. Supercacacitors have 20 times less energy density than Li-ion batteries. Even with fancy CNTs inside...It is an 100% PR project to generate press coverage for MIT and Lamborghini. Even they seem to be acknowledging it themselves.

[hardflex]

Could you charge a capacitor pretty quickly?

[dad911]

Flux capacitor... finally a car that works better in electrical storms.

[sc_rufctr]

Originally Posted by hardflex

Could you charge a capacitor pretty quickly?

Very quickly & when compared to conventional batteries they are long term reliable.

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by hardflex

........, made from exotic carbon nanotubes,.........

The idea I came up with about seven years ago was to use something called "carbon foam" to both hold the capacitance charge and absorb impact in an accident.

Carbon foam was developed to be a heat resistant structural foam in supersonic aircraft.

I have no idea if the foam can hold a charge, just know carbon is conductive. I also thought the foam might have been developed with a second purpose to absorb the energy of lightning strikes, a real problem for regular composite aircraft where the energy has no where to go.

I have no idea what happens in an car accident when shear forces fracture the foam with great energy while holding a charge. It could unleash the forces of the universe and cause a dimensional implosion sucking us all into a parallel universe - or at least a good sound and light show might result.

All in all, the research I did over the Internet back then said no one else was working on such a concept. I simply do not have the millions and millions of dollars to pursue such ideas nor the technical expertise to develop such concepts, I'm just an idea guy when it comes to this stuff.

I did stop my toilet from running last weekend by turning a tank/water level adjustment screw 3/4 of a rotation clockwise. I understood that in full, and it was just my speed.

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by hardflex

Could you charge a capacitor pretty quickly?

I believe so.

Quick energy absorption.

Quick energy release.

Over a shorter than battery storage time interval.

At least that's what I recall from several years ago.

There are people experimenting with car starting capacitors where they remove the car battery and replace it. YouTube videos on it plus several forums posting articles on how to do it yourself.

Sample: 2013

Replace your car battery with capacitors!
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/replace-your-car-battery-capacitors-26363.html

[dad911]

Hell, I had a Fiat in the 70's, ran for weeks without a battery.....

Fortunately I lived and went to school on hills.... push, jump in, pop clutch.....

Too poor to buy a battery.

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by dad911

Hell, I had a Fiat in the 70's, ran for weeks without a battery.....

Fortunately I lived and went to school on hills.... push, jump in, pop clutch.....

Too poor to buy a battery.

I popped my clutch down a hill for a week in a full sized short box van in the early 1980's for similar reasons.

I worked at Sears part-time as a student.

One of the mechanics was good enough to get me on my way after work, used the hill to get back to work.

[jyl]

I started my Land Rover with the hand crank every day for a month, until I had time to replace the starter . . .

[wdfifteen]

Most new technology test programs go unnoticed. Labs have discovered that if you put it in/on a car you get instant attention, even if it ultimately never gets used on a car. Unfortunately, in our society where science is increasingly denigrated as a political plot or worse, the attention may backfire.

[RKDinOKC]

Hate it when cars backfire!

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

Most new technology test programs go unnoticed. Labs have discovered that if you put it in/on a car you get instant attention, even if it ultimately never gets used on a car. Unfortunately, in our society where science is increasingly denigrated as a political plot or worse, the attention may backfire.

Don't some firms pay to get their technology (and products) featured in films/movies?

[flatbutt]

MIT does some amazing concept testing. When I was still working we entered into a development project with them. While there I met a professor who developed a working prototype of a city car that would park itself in a special lot and then it would reduce its footprint by folding on a hinge in the middle of the frame. Picture a Smart car that when parked had the wheelbase reduced by the front and rear wheels moving toward each other along the long axis. Brilliant stuff.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Innovation, it's what built this country and will keep us the leader of the world. I love it.