Inspired by this post, I did a post in the ASB section where someone from 2030 time travels to 1908 and gives Henry Ford the instructions on how to make lithium air batteries. The electric transportation revolution IOTL will have very disruptive impacts (cities will be quieter and have super clean air, we'll need fewer mechanics, we won't need gas stations etc.) but if it had happened in the early 20th century, it would've just been seen as a continuation of the electrification revolution that was hitting everything else.
On the negative side, the Nazis would have no energy problems.Rural electrification sooner? In some areas old school tin-vaned windmills could be used as a supplement.
Rural electrification sooner? In some areas old school tin-vaned windmills could be used as a supplement.
I doubt it will work well for taxis, they get used too much over the course of a day to make it practical (too many miles, too long to recharge). But I really like the idea of a better EV for various delivery services and the Post Office that will return to a central terminal every night to be recharged. That proposal could work really well. And, in turn, it would lead to better personal EVs. Especially for people in major cities, where the charging infastructure is already present, it just needs to be expanded.later R&D to accelerate better batteries, charging and management, then we might see more widespread use by delivery such as Postal Service, local operators like tradesmen, utilities, and then taxicabs? Later we start to get consumer electric cars in the 1980s really competitive by the 1990s versus waiting to today?
With steam, it's a matter of efficiency. Low pressure steam won't be very efficient to use for motive power. You're also comparing a stationary boiler to one that is expected to move and deal with constant vibrations, shocks, impacts, etc. As for tankless heaters, it's literally copper pipping over an open flame. And it never gets heated above the boiling point, so pretty useless in a steam powered vehicle.As to steam, I know it is not directly comparable, but the water heater industry seems to mass produce a low pressure boiler rather cheaply, would that not argue for mass production being simpler than assumed compared to locomotive or power generation? The tankless water heater industry shows us how compact one might make the boiler. Again, might this be better in delivery vehicles before cars?
As to steam, I know it is not directly comparable, but the water heater industry seems to mass produce a low pressure boiler rather cheaply, would that not argue for mass production being simpler than assumed compared to locomotive or power generation? The tankless water heater industry shows us how compact one might make the boiler. Again, might this be better in delivery vehicles before cars?
To me, the biggest issue to overcome, other than cost and manufacturing, is that an ICE is inherently safer than live steam. Check out what happens to a locomotive when it suffers a crown sheet failure. That's a risk for a steam powered car as well. Obviously not quite as bad as say a Super Power 4-8-4 blowing, but bad enough.
They really ran that high? Wow. Even the biggest steam locomotives only ran 300 PSIThere's a world of difference between a commercial heating boiler at 15psig and a Stanley boiler running at 600psig
I did not know that the Stanley's used a flash tube. I honestly thought they were fire tubeFiretube boilers are bombs waiting to go off.
Flash tube boilers have such small amounts of steam in the system, a breach won't be like a few sticks of dynamite going off.
That said, there's no record of any Stanley water tube boiler blowing.
Flash boilers on the Dobles ran at 750psigThey really ran that high? Wow. Even the biggest steam locomotives only ran 300 PSI
that was a mistype, they were not, didn't edit my post in timeI did not know what the Stanley's used a flash tube. I honestly thought they were fire tube