Drew Dowdell

Fwd

Actually, they help with directioning. But yes, they would be huge.

Drew Dowdell - January 19, 2012 - CheersandGears.com One of the limitations of current wind turbine technology is the limited amount of power generated per turbine. Large scale installations are required to match the power output of just the smaller coal buring powerplant. The largest wind turbines in the world produce about 5mw of power while the average coal fired power station produces around 500mw. Simple math can tell you that 100 of the largest wind turbines we have would need to be built to equal just one coal power plant. The additional real estate and construction costs v. the fuel costs of coal and natural gas are a substantial hurdle in the adoption of wind power. A new development from Japan shows a promising way to change the math. A scientist at Japan's Kyushu University has developed a simple addition to the wind turbine that can increase the power output between 100 to 200 percent. A curved ring called a "wind lens" installed around the outer edge of the blades disperses air away from the trailing side of the turbine. This has the effect of creating a vacuum behind the turbine that draws additional air through. The wind lens itself is made of fiberglass and is a relatively inexpensive addition to the turbine's construction. Additionally, existing turbines can be retrofitted with the wind lens, potentially tripling the output of existing wind farms. Going back to the math, the number of turbines needed to equal the power output of a coal plant drops from 100 to about 34. The largest onshore wind farm in the world is Roscoe Wind Farm in Roscoe, Texas. Rated at a power output of 781.5 megawatts, if retrofitted with wind lenses, could potentially triple output to 2,344 megawatts or roughly equal to two standard size nuclear power plants. The wind lense has another benefit. It allows the turbine to start and operate efficiently at much lower wind speeds greatly increasing a turbine's baseline power generation. Low wind situtations therefor have a less drastic effect on power output. How does this relate to automobiles? Plug in electric vehicles and plug in hybrid vehicles are still proliferating in the marketplace and their presence is expected to grow. Charging at home can have a noticable impact on a household's financial bottomline. Typical home wind installations cost roughly $8,500 before any tax credits and generate 3,000 watt-hour of power peak. Tripling that output to 9,000 watt-hours cuts a substantial savings into the average household using 11,000 watt-hours a month. This new development in wind technology could mean that the wind would really be blowing your Nissan Leaf down the road. View full article

It could be that these pickups are expected to be the cash cows of the near future with ever-rising gas prices? Look how many people are abandoning the large car segment for mid- and compact-sized cars... could be that it's expected that many full-size pickup purchases may become mid-size (compact) instead... sort of like those going from a LaCrosse to a Regal (or Regal to Verano). This may also open up the market in 5-10 years for the return of the true compact pickup (i.e. S10-Sonoma-LUV pickups). People aren't abandoning the large car market. The models in each respective segment are growing so there is a psychological trick that is being played. People who trade in their '91 Accord on a 2011 Civic didn't go down a size. They stayed the same. People who trade their '94 Taurus in on a Fusion didn't go down a size, they stayed the same. People who trade their Contour in on a Focus didn't go down a size, they stayed the same. People who trade their 98 Avalon in on a Camry haven't gone down a size... well... you get the picture. I agree 100% with your logic, BUT many of the people I know and reference aren't coming out of ancient cars. Most are coming out of 3-6 year old cars (like an '05 Ford 500 owner going to a Focus). How about the people coming out late-model Lucernes, Crown Vics/Marquis/Town Cars, 300s, et al for Regals, Malibus, Fiestas, Focuses, Cruzes, Sonics, and so on? A lot of my neighbors replacing their cars lately are going to smaller cars from their larger ones (and the same with SUVs - from Yukons & Tahoes to Equinoxes and Terrains, from Expeditions to Edges, and so on). People are choosing smaller vehicles from their previous purchase, mainly due to higher gas prices. I'm not arguing with you, just pointing out what I'm seeing in my area. I'm just going with the fact that Taurus sales are way down compared to the Taurus of yore, and Fusion sales seem to have taken over for it. Maxima -> Altima is the same pattern.

It could be that these pickups are expected to be the cash cows of the near future with ever-rising gas prices? Look how many people are abandoning the large car segment for mid- and compact-sized cars... could be that it's expected that many full-size pickup purchases may become mid-size (compact) instead... sort of like those going from a LaCrosse to a Regal (or Regal to Verano). This may also open up the market in 5-10 years for the return of the true compact pickup (i.e. S10-Sonoma-LUV pickups). People aren't abandoning the large car market. The models in each respective segment are growing so there is a psychological trick that is being played. People who trade in their '91 Accord on a 2011 Civic didn't go down a size. They stayed the same. People who trade their '94 Taurus in on a Fusion didn't go down a size, they stayed the same. People who trade their Contour in on a Focus didn't go down a size, they stayed the same. People who trade their 98 Avalon in on a Camry haven't gone down a size... well... you get the picture.

the color is the charm. Cheers.

You know there is an Avantime fanclub out there somewhere.....

I thought FWD was doing to dilute the brand.... at least thats what you say about FWD at Cadillac.

Wow! What a difference. The alternator must have been a problem since I bought the car and then I replaced it with another bad one. headlights are much brighter she starts first time every time now (after the initial recharge of the battery), and quickly too, I was planning on looking at the fuel pump in the spring because she usually took two tries to start. She even seems to idle better, though it could be my imagination.

Because Austrailia is closer to China and closer to the Middle East.

Doing my best to keep it high with my 30 year old car.

Nissan Leaf? 100 mile range. Step 1. Drive 50 miles to work Step 2. Plug in and recharge, even a partial charge on 110v for 8.5 hours (a typical work day) will leave you with well over 50 miles range. Closer to 75 miles range Step 3. Drive 50 miles home. The hills don't matter too much. What goes up must come down and regenerative braking negates 60% to 75% of the extra power needed to get up the hills. A Leaf on perfectly flat land actually has a range of 138 miles. So I guess we can put you down for one?

FWD?

Company #4 Had much success in automotive products and later purchased a company that had much success in rail products, yet both companies succumed to their competition in the same decade. The corporate remants of both companies are still in existance today.

The only way we have to generate hydrogen in any great number today is by.... burning fossil fuels. So, yes, you CAN waste hydrogen. The only way around that currently is to generate hydrogen via solar, wind, or other renewable means.... and last I checked, you poo pooed those too. Yes, there are those algae that fart hydrogen, but that is still a scientific curiosty right now. Burning hydrogen with no mechanism for regeneration is, indeed, wasteful.

While it is a problem, these bills amounted to seizure without due process. The AG of Pennsylvania could seize the C&G doman on a CLAIM of copyright infringment and shut us down until it was resolved in court.... effectively killing the website.

Which reminds me, I need to get one as a press car at some point and have albert model it.

I think Porsche could get away with a Sub-Boxster in the US quite easily. Look at how well the original Z3 sold until BMW jacked the price up. Share it on a VW platform and price it starting at about 32k with a smallish turbo-4

You thought you were going to pass emissions with a hollowed out cat? ..... in PA?...

You know... except for the cost... I could probably drive one of these.

106k original miles maybe....

Yes, yes it would. Hydrogen-powered ICEs would make me most happy. No batteries! Hydrogen powered ICEs are a waste of fuel because of all of the mechanical inefficiency of the turning engine. The way to take the most advantage of hydrogen is to put it into a fuel cell to run an electric motor instead of burning it in an ICE. Thus regenerative braking can actually re-charge the fuel cell partially. A fuel cell is just a battery that consumes the chemical used to generate the electricity. In a hydrogen fuel cell, the process can be reversed to create more stored hydrogen.

Sometimes Dodgefan forgets that he's an admin and can bypass things that are turned off... it isn't broken.... it was shut off.

Just a reminder to email your representatives today