Tesla Roadster--Response (2)

This was an interesting road-test article of the Tesla Roadster. I first saw this car in a movie called Batteries during Chemistry class.

Many people have concerns and questions about fuel-efficient and alternative energy cars. They are very comfortable with gasoline powered cars, but suspicious of new technology. From the articles I have recently viewed regarding fuel cell and electric cars, differences in performance are relatively minor. Both of these types of cars seem competitive with many gasoline-powered automobiles.

I thought it was amazing how the Tesla Roadster can travel over 200 miles on a single battery charge, and its only costs two dollars to recharge the battery. These cars are very expensive, though recharging is so inexpensive compared to gasoline, they might become cheaper than conventional cars, particularly if the price of gas climbs again.

There is one problem with these cars compared to fuel cell cars. They do use electricity which mostly comes from power plants that burn coal, oil and natural gas. In the future, maybe these greenhouse-gas producing plants will be replaced with wind, hydro or solar energy.

My two topics of fuel cells and electric cars could possibly be combined with stations run by fuel cells to replace gas stations. These stations could either recharge your car (which would probably take a few hours) or the stations could accept discharged batteries and some money in exchange for a recharged battery. Batteries would have to be standardized for this idea to work.

In the coming weeks I will be looking for articles about how electric batteries will be recharged and how hydrogen for fuel cells, might be distributed.

Tesla Roadster (2)

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/convertibles/112_0810_2009_tesla_roadster_one_speed/index.html

This is an article published on November 3, 2008 by Paul Horrell, who normally tests regular gasoline powered cars with a leading American automobile magazine. In his piece, he test drives the electric Tesla Roadster.

Overall he is extremely impressed. It has a single-speed transmission which replaced the previous two-speed transmission. He thought that the acceleration was tremendous. Tesla has tested the car's acceleration at 0-60 in 3.9 seconds. Horrell comments on the acceleration: "And it's not just accurate and progressive, it's instant: as fast as you can stretch your foot, this thing delivers."

The Roadster also function like many hybrid cars in that it recovers energy when braking, but it also recovers energy whenever the accellerator is not being pressed. This is because the car partially brakes, causing resistance and energy which is stored in the battery.

Horrell gives many compliments about how well the car handles. He mentions how precise the steering is and that the car has excellent traction control. Traction control is actually easier to attain in an electric car, according to Horrell, compared to gasoline-powered cars.

The car has a range of over 200 miles before a recharge is necessary. It takes 3.5 hours to recharge the lithium ion and this equates to about two or three dollars. This is the equivilent of about 105 miles per gallon. This is pretty good considering it goes 125 miles per hour.

Early Tests for Fuel Cell Cars--Response (1)

I found this article interesting because it gives examples of fuel cells being used in the real-world by average Americans and not merely tested in laboratories by scientists.

I wonder why some technical problems in one car were not problems in the other, and vice versa. For example, the air compressor was quiet in the Equinox though the battery cooling system was loud, while in the Clarity the air compressor was loud and the battery cooling system quiet. It seems like the next prototypes should be able to solve these problems.

The performance of both cars sounds like it will be acceptable to most Americans. I suspect that some stubborn people may not find these cars adequate in terms of power or speed. There will always be people who do not care about fuel economy or enviromental effects especially if it is at the cost of power.

I wonder if the current economic difficulties faced by Americans, and in particular, American car companies, might limit the ability of American car companies to research and develop fuel cell cars.

Early Tests for Fuel Cell Cars (1)

http://libraries.maine.edu/mainedatabases/authmaine.asp?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=34375922&site=ehost-live
Healey, James R. "Fuel-Cell Cars" Scientific American Oct. 2008: 80-81.

This article describes the early testing of two models of hydrogen fuel cell cars developed by GM and Honda. They "are putting close to 300 street-legal, full-featured, hydrogen fuel-cell machines into the hands of individual American drivers for use in the real-world conditions"(Healey, 80-81). The article describes the testing of these two models.

GM has created the Chevy Equinox and given them to consumers to use for three months. The company pays all the bills and the drivers receive a short training class. The drivers pump their own hydrogen at GM selected sights. James Healey was impressed that the air compressor that feeds oxygen into the fuel cell was so quiet though the fans that cool the battery pack were too noisy. He liked the strong torque of the electric motor at low speeds. Though the car was less responsive at medium and high speeds. Healey mentions, "When I nailed the throttle at highway speed, little punch was left. Passing on two-lane roads can be done only with careful consideration"(Healey, 80-81). This car had 120 horsepower and a one-speed transmission. He would have preferred a continuously variable transmission like in hybrid cars to better leverage the motors power.

Honda is producing the Clarity and leasing them for $600 a month over a three year lease. This car had a louder air compressor though quieter battery cooling compared to the equinox. The car had good acceleration and was better that the equinox. He thought the car handled well, given that its features were designed for good economy rather than performance.

After testing both of these new street-legal, full-featured, hydrogen fuel-cell machines, James Healey concluded these cars were quite similar to regular, gasoline-powered cars.

I think doing fuel cells would be really interesting. I don't know anything about them, and it would interesting to know more through your blogs. Are you sure you will be able to find enough information, and fully understand it? If you are then I really think you should do ahead a pick fuel cells as long as you think you will be fully interested.
Doing Costa Rica would be good to do, too. When you go there you would fully understand it, and it would be really fun to research it for months. But it might be hard to find research on it, and find a lot of good information.

Liam, Costa Ric would be a great research project for you since you are going there this spring! however, it would be a hard topic to find ongoing research information on it for the next six months. I am not very informed in nanotechnology, but it seems like an excellent topic to use because not only does it tie on every on else's topics, but their topics can be tied into yours as well, such as global warming and alternate resources.

ideas (:

It would be really cool to do this project on Coasta Rica since you'll be going there! It would also constantly be changing. Maybe you could interview the International Club leader or someone who's been there before.

I don't know anything about fuel cells! It sounds like it would be a good topic since it's a problem we're all trying to find a solution to.

Beginning the Selection Process

I am fairly interested in the research of fuel cells because, once they become less expensive, I believe they will be one of best sources of energy. I am also interested at what it would take economically to to make this possible, and how much it will help our environment if we completely replaced greenhouse gas producing oil. I think I could also find interesting pictures and diagrams to help me present this.

There might not be a substantial daily change, but I think over a few weeks, (and definitely over a few months) there will be significant progress. Currently, oil prices are declining and this may cause the demand for fuel cell cars to slow. Because of the potential economic crisis, I am curious as to whether fuel cells will become much less expensive sooner than expected. There may be a lot of information every week from the companies that are developing fuel cells for different purposes. There may be news about their progress, failures, testing, future product releases, stock prices, etc.

I think it will be difficult to find current and changing newspaper articles regarding fuel cells, however, I am sure that there are scientists that post weekly journals. I have already gathered articles explaining that General Motors (GM) and American Honda Motor are giving nearly 300 street-legal, fuel cells cars to individual American drivers. I might be able to find responses from some of the drivers. This would be very useful as the response would come from someone with first-hand experience driving one of these cars. I have already found a journal from the writer of USA Today, James R. Healey, who tested one of these cars. Healey said that, "In the end, the driving personalities of the two test vehicles, with a few exceptions, were close enough to those of ordinary gasoline-powered cars that if buyers ultimately reject fuel-cell machines, it won't be because the cars seem unfamiliar from behind the wheel."

I do think that this a challenging topic because I don't entirely understand fuel cells myself. I am learning about the technical details of fuel cells so I still have a fair amount to learn. I also need to learn how hydrogen fuel might be produced. There are a number of different ways to make hydrogen fuel though researchers aren't sure of the most effcient way yet. In studying fuel cells there is a lot more to learn besides just how they work. An entire system beginning with hydrogen production and then delivery (hydrogen station?) must be considered.

isearch topic

Liam, frankly I'm very limited on fuel-cell technology and their benefits. If this is the way you are thinking of going it does sound really interesting. Perhaps you could narrow your search down to one item that fuel cells help run and compare that to traditional ways of running the item with oil. As far as Costa Rica goes, that is way to broad. Perhaps narrow it down to tourists and one national park and why the tourists are hurting it. I hope my ideas help you, as limited as they are. I do think that if you narrow your search down you'll get better results.

Technology and Geography- Which one is better?

All of your topics seem to be extremely interesting. Each provide a completely different area of research and each seem to have massive amounts of information documented about them. However, none of your topics seem to be one that have any real advantage to being tracked. Fuel cell technology is quickly being replaced by hybrid-electric, at least in cars, and nano-technology can experience a breakthrough every few years at best. I am not attempting to state that none of your topics will work. I just think that you should refine them more. If you are interesting in nano-technology, research and select one lab to follow their daily achievements. Or pick one potential product that will use fuel-cell technology and follow that. If you narrow your research much more, maybe even down to the level of one small research group or even researcher, I think you will be suprised with the information that will come out of the haze. Costa Rica however, allows for a completely different approach. I agree that it is a very broad topic. However, I am also aware of the fact that the country is having troubles with the massive amounts of tourists that visit it every year. Even though it is the biggest income to the country, it is slowly destroying it. Perhaps you could choose to follow the steps being taken to try and counteract the destruction occuring in the country. All of these topics really do have great potential, however, alone, none of them seem fast moving enough or constantly changing. If I were you, I would do some more research on these topics in order to uncover a more defined topic that might allow you more freedom in your research.

Liam Mullen
10/23/08

I-Search Topics
After searching databases for my three topics I have gathered 5 articles on each of them. Most of the information I have gathered comes from journals and some are from newspaper articles although, some of the Costa Rica articles are from encyclopedias and world geography websites. I have found a number of articles on fuels-cells but it has been a little difficult finding a scientific journal explaining how a fuel-cell works.

During this research project, I have learned many facts about Costa Rica. Almost a quarter of Costa Rica's land area falls under the protection of the national park system. I found it interesting that 10% of the worlds bird species are found there, as well as 100 species of bats! Ecotourism is one of the most important industries in Costa Rica. Many people visit national parks like Manuel Antonio, with its beaches, Monteverde Cloud Forest and Braulio Carrillo, with their rain forests, and Poas, with its volcano. Because of the money brought in by ecotourism encourages both the government and the private sector to protect Costa Rica's natural treasures. I found most of this information at http://www.worldgeography.abc-clio.com/.
Before I started researching, I knew that fuel-cells convert the energy in hydrogen to electricity with the only waste products, water and heat. Through my research I have learned that fuel cells can have up to two or three times the efficiency of traditional combustion engines. They operate quietly, have fewer moving parts and are well suited to a variety of uses. They can be used for primary and back up power, portable power sources that typically use batteries and for transportation including space vehicles, cars, trucks, buses, and ships.

I knew of few specific detail in nanotechnology, before I started investigating this topic. Nanotechnology is technology developed at the atomic, molecular, or macromolecular level on a scale of one to 100 nanometers (one billionth of a meter). This technology is used to create and use structures, devices, and systems that have novel properties and functions because of their small and/or intermediate size. Nanotechnology research and development includes manipulation under control of the nanoscale structures and their integration into larger material components, systems, and architectures. Important areas for nannotechnology research include:

Nano-electronics, optoelectronics, and magnetics;
Advanced healthcare, therapeutics, and diagnostics;
Nanoscale processes for improving the environment;
Efficient energy conversion and storage;
Microcraft and robotics;
Bio-nanosensor;
Applications in economical and safe transportation; and
National security.

I received this information from http://web.ebscohost.com.prxy2.ursus.maine.edu/ehost/detail?vid=1&hid=6&sid=37e45252-90b2-413c-80c7-7dfaf17df5ff%40sessionmgr8&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=f5h&AN=14763653.

After these two classes spent researching in the library, I have gained a better understanding of the amount of information on each of my topics. I think that the general topic of “Costa Rica” is a little to broad for this assignment. I could narrow it down to one aspect of Costa Rica such as its national park system and nature, but it still seems very broad and maybe not as interesting for a blog. While I am interested in the progression of nanotechnology and fuel-cells, it has been difficult finding interesting and fully developed resources for nanotechnology. Since nanotechnology has comercial uses, developments may be kept secret. For these reasons, I have been leaning towards fuel-cells as my I-Search topic. I think that it has great potential for being the most valuable energy source of the future. The sources were very informative and interesting, and I think this would be a great blog topic since it ties into other people's topics regarding global warming, alternative energy, and oil dependance.