so 1350 gallons of ethanol per acre, every 3 years?.. how hard is it to grow poplar trees?

"I don't understand why they would put in a 60 kW motor and only 1 kWh worth of batteries. I guess the PHEV conversion crowd will like it." I think its actually 1.6kwh, Honda is 0.5kwh. The reason for the small battery is cost, batteries are still expensive. The Toyota hybrid achieves diesel like efficiencies (and higher) but with much simpler emission control systems.. I think its a cheaper way to do it (vs diesel) and Toyota is making a killing on the profits. Plus the green cachet, regen braking, low particulate count and possibility of all electric range.

will there be an issue with insects eating the foam?

Those Swing cells are very interesting.. they have almost reached the long term goal set by USABC of 200wh/kg. It would be nice if they all used the same form factor so that battery packs could be brand and chemistry agnostic (with some software adjustments in the BMS). Are these Swing cells prismatic or pouch cells?

You are a dreamer Henry. One advantage of using the roads to distribute the power is that it would simplify electrifying the roads for BEVs. So how much does it cost to run one of these lines under the ground?

"What about if a cyclone engine is inserted after the turbine to make use of the hot gases" How about just forget about the turbine and just use the Cyclone directly.. lots of torque, no transmission needed.

0.01V is good if you plan to cycle the cells to 99%.. and you are never going to do that because it overheats the cells and shortens their life. Hopefully its cheap.

and a gallon of methanol contains 16kwh of energy.. not very efficient at all. Hopefully the process can be improved.

Combine this process with the output of a Coal gasifier and a nuclear plant.. combust the resulting gases in the peaking turbines to generate electricity and recycle the CO2 (perhaps with excess power from the nuke)to make methanol.. either sell the methanol or combust it back in the gassifier to generate extra power at peak times, or perhaps when the nuke is down for maintenance. Methanol would be a lot easier to store than synthesis gas. The methanol could also be used locally for transportation. Many nuke sites also have coal and NG burners on site, so they have the raw materials available in quantity. This is the traditional American way, make a profit with a previously discarded waste product.

Carlos Ghosn has stated the batteries will be good for 15-20 years in secondary usage.. but I feel ToppaTom is right, people will junk these packs when they are DEAD, not just 80% down.. in any case they would make a hell of a battery for a home UPS or to buffer your solar installation. Project Better Place will have many of these batteries sitting unused in the swap stations, they can make a tidy side profit selling grid stabilization to the local power company.

"Alcohols and NG just put off the reckoning a few years, then you've got the same crisis only worse." We have lots of coal to make alcohols from, and even make NG from coal if that runs out which seem not likely any time soon.. but yes electric is the only sane long term solution. In any case we probably have enough of those fossil fuels to last for hundreds of years until we transitions to BEVs. ALTe is proposing converting 5 year old fleet vehicles with a new 2.0l GM Ecotec serial configuration with a lithium pack, the fleet operators get a new powertrain warranty and substantial fuel savings over V8s and so on, supposedly they got an order to convert 3000 airport shuttle buses for Gulfstream Coach. http://www.altellc.com/

More practical would be to make ALL cars capable of using E85 AND M85, and more tax credits for vehicles using NG, including long distance trucks. Also spend a few billion on public chargers of BEVs. Research wireless power transfer for charging BEVs also. In a few years this would give a portion of the fleet the ability to run on alternate fuels if oil keeps going up in price. Its a good insurance type of thing..

perhaps an application for a small tilt rotor similar to the V22 Osprey, the electric setup would simplify the transmissions. Something like the helicopters in the movie Avatar. This would give a you the high speed advantages of a tilt rotor without the complexities of dual turbines and transmissions in a small heli.. but electric motors and generators are still heavier than a transmission.

There should not be much vibration with an OPOC.. instead of a heli I would like to see this in light duty pick up trucks. Nothing is going to beat the lightness of a turbine.

nimh cells are used in engine-centric hybrids (Prius) because they work and why change things (the energy and power density are well suited for these cars).. but note that the plug-in Prius is using lithium. I believe the new Hyundai hybrids will use lithium also. In a hybrid with a large pack, the weight of nimh is prohibitive.. A BEV such as the LEAF and Volt are more tolerant of weight but are probably not using nimh due to availability/cost. The moment you attach an ICE to the wheels then low weight becomes all important.

Bring it on if the price is right. I was thinking recharging a BEV would be a good use for the excess electricity made by an NG co-generator. Pretty neat if you dont get paid by the power company when the meter spins backwards. The Honda 1kw unit: http://world.honda.com/cogenerator/

Not bad for just a 4.8kwh battery pack.. this must be the hybrid bus with the lowest cost hybrid premium in the market.