
Originally Posted by
Old Geezer

Originally Posted by
davidstebbins
My proposal: Could we take one of these ceiling fan-style wind generators, turn it on its side, and put it on the top of a car? This way, the wind-like sensation you get when you ride in a car with the window down will turn the crank (imagine winds of up to 70mph!), and in the process, recharging the battery.
What you are missing here is the fact that the energy needed to spin your windmill generator is being provided by the engine of the car.

With that arrangement, you've gained nothing (and lost quite a bit) compared to the standard method in which the car's alternator is belt-driven by the car's engine. Sorry.
Actually, I'm not missing that. You see, as the car is using up battery power to power the car, it's simultaneously (sp) recharging the battery via the windmill. The energy input is greater than the energy output, yes, but by a much smaller margine than if the car didn't have the windmill, in which case the battery would be lasting only a few hours. With it simultaneously (sp) recharging at a relatively slow but potent rate, the battery has the potential to last much longer than if it were going off the plug-in charge alone.
What I'm proposing here is not meant to totally get rid of the need for gasoline, merely to make the car more efficient. People have it in their heads that hybrid cars are better, but if you look at the big picture, you'll find that they do nothing except lighten your wallet. Allow me to explain.
One of the biggest "draws" of a hybrid car is the supposed reduced pollution, but really, when you replace half of the gasoline with battery, that battery power needs to come from somewhere, and where do we get most of our electricity?
Coal! Coal emmits greenhouse gasses when burned, so ultimately, we're not reducing the pollution; we're just moving it from the road to the power plant.
Another "draw," which is really the only other draw, is better mileage, but is it really any more expensive to buy gasoline alone than it is to buy half gasoline and half electricity for your battery? Electricity isn't free, people, nor is it cheap.
My proposal will decrease the number of times that the battery will need that costly recharge, thus lowering the cost of the electricity part of the hybrid car. I don't know how much more clearly I can put that.