Outside the Herd

Cars as trolleys?

One Comment to “Cars as trolleys?”

1. 
   Rick Bryan
   03, 23, 2009 at 9:49 am

   A couple of problems here, Ed. First, kilowatts per hour is clearly wrong in this context — maybe they meant kilowatts for the whole experiment? This common error makes a big difference when considering the physics, or the economics! I have to say, though, that having us drive on crystals is creatively New-Age-y. Maybe the next-gen road can have pyramids, too?

   Second, taking power from self-propelled vehicles is a kind of hidden taxation or toll, except that it’s only indirectly money. Consider how much harder it is to walk on beach sand than sidewalk, or recall how hard it is to pedal your tricycle on the carpet, because a fraction of your transportation power is sucked away by the “road”. I haven’t done the math quantitatively, but multiplying the energy inefficiencies of the vehicles, the crystals, and the necessary energy conversion circuitry, I suspect everyone would be better off if the road charged an overt toll and purchased electricity from the grid.

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