NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #30/NN_1992_30.iso/spool/sci/electron/20721

Text File | 1992-12-14 | 1.8 KB | 35 lines

Newsgroups: sci.electronics
Path: sparky!uunet!caen!mtu.edu!cmwolf
From: [e-mail] (christopher m. wolf)
Subject: Re: Flywheel batteries as EV power source
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Organization: Michigan Technological University
References: <[e-mail]>
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 00:49:56 GMT
Lines: 24

[e-mail] writes:
>To be usable for an electric vehicle, you need a massy, large-diameter flywhee
>that spins at phenomenal speeds.  It is made with high-tech materials (carbon
>fibers, that sort of thing) so that it won't tear itself apart.  It must be
>spun in a vacuum chamber or else a lot of the stored energy goes to heating th
>air.  It must be Floated on near-frictionless bearings, such as magnetic
>bearings, and coupling to the outside is via a magnetic clutch (ie the flywhee
>shaft does not extend outside the enclosure).
>
>The flywheel must be arranged with a vertical axis so that gyroscopic effects
>don't make it impossible to turn the car.  Still, you need to worry about thes
>effects whenever the car enters a sharply-banked road or freeway ramp.

The same flywheels are referenced in the last IEEE.  They are low mass, very
high speed devices.  The low mass does not obstruct cornering, while the
high speed and low diameter helps them to store more power.  They supposedly
should take about 10 minutes to fully "charge", given a large enough (not
impossible) power source, although usually not available in the normal home.
They should be made of a composite fiber material, so if they should break
apart, they will basically turn into something resembling cotton, instead of
destroying everything around it.  Several of these would be needed.  The
magnetic bearings would supposedly allow them to spin for months if not
being used.