Re: 300 kW EV Tractor vs 400 hp Diesel
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Posted by Eeyore on July 25, 2008, 9:47 pm
Please log in for more thread options John Larkin wrote: > disgoftunwells wrote:
> >OBretCah...@peoplepc.com wrote:
> >> The Tesla is powered by 7,000 Li-Ion laptop batteries for an output of
> >> 200 kW. > >> > >> A similarly powered 300 kW electric tractor (10,500 batteries) would > >> turn a 400 hp articulated 22 gallon/hour diesel tractor every which > >> way but loose in a tractor pull which apparently is vitally necessary > >> education as well as entertainment for those too ignorant do basic > >> IEOR calculations. > >> > >> Running either tractor wide open to work a square mile at 0.5 mph > >> would take 3 months of 7 day work weeks at 8 hours / day. > >> > >> It would also require 17,000 gallons of diesel. > >> > >> Today the cost is "only" $80,000 for the diesel. > >> > >> In 2 years, with the price of hydrocarbon fuel spiraling by 30% a > >> year, that cost will be $150,000/yr. > >> > >> In six years the cost of the fuel will be half a million dollars. > >> > >> And that's just for one field. > >> > >> Maybe if we have massive truck and bus conversion to natural gas -- > >> include farm tractors in Pickens plan -- the price will "only" be > >> $350,000/field in 6 years. > >> > >> The battery tractor would be cheaper even if grid power tripled and > >> even if you went to your overpriced Apple Inc. store and bought the > >> batteries one by one and wired them together one by one yourself. > >> > >> Now, if you don't believe laptop batteries exist, please go to alt. > >> conspiracy and post there. > >> > >> Bret Cahill > >
> >I've read that over time, crop fields suffer from the compression of > >tractor wheels. > > > >Would it make sense, for heavily utilised fields, to lay down a rail > >track? > > > >Whatever the tractor / harvester is doing, it could be a 20m wide > >vehicle necessitating a single track spaced every 20m. > > > >The track could also be used to provide electric power. > > > >A few details to work out about how the tractor changes track at the > >end of the rails. >
> Why not monorails in all the cornfields? Then the electric power > could be provided by the rail, and there would be zero unnecessary > contact with the soil. And you could give tourists rides in the off > season. > > Or just use nuclear powered helicopters for plowing; as a bonus, > they'd blow the bugs away, and irradiate the produce. > > I you bury superconductors under the crop rows, you could use a maglev > tractor. Put Luke Skywalker back on the farm. > > Or the San Francisco farming technique, cable-car tractors. No power > needed at all! > > We'll teach all those dumb farmers how to do it right. When I read the first line of your post, for a second I wondered in you'd had some psychotic episode. Graham | ||||||||||||||||
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Posted by John Larkin on July 26, 2008, 12:08 pm
Please log in for more thread options >
> >John Larkin wrote: > >> disgoftunwells wrote:
>> >OBretCah...@peoplepc.com wrote:
>> >> The Tesla is powered by 7,000 Li-Ion laptop batteries for an output of >> >> 200 kW. >> >> >> >> A similarly powered 300 kW electric tractor (10,500 batteries) would >> >> turn a 400 hp articulated 22 gallon/hour diesel tractor every which >> >> way but loose in a tractor pull which apparently is vitally necessary >> >> education as well as entertainment for those too ignorant do basic >> >> IEOR calculations. >> >> >> >> Running either tractor wide open to work a square mile at 0.5 mph >> >> would take 3 months of 7 day work weeks at 8 hours / day. >> >> >> >> It would also require 17,000 gallons of diesel. >> >> >> >> Today the cost is "only" $80,000 for the diesel. >> >> >> >> In 2 years, with the price of hydrocarbon fuel spiraling by 30% a >> >> year, that cost will be $150,000/yr. >> >> >> >> In six years the cost of the fuel will be half a million dollars. >> >> >> >> And that's just for one field. >> >> >> >> Maybe if we have massive truck and bus conversion to natural gas -- >> >> include farm tractors in Pickens plan -- the price will "only" be >> >> $350,000/field in 6 years. >> >> >> >> The battery tractor would be cheaper even if grid power tripled and >> >> even if you went to your overpriced Apple Inc. store and bought the >> >> batteries one by one and wired them together one by one yourself. >> >> >> >> Now, if you don't believe laptop batteries exist, please go to alt. >> >> conspiracy and post there. >> >> >> >> Bret Cahill >> > >> >I've read that over time, crop fields suffer from the compression of >> >tractor wheels. >> > >> >Would it make sense, for heavily utilised fields, to lay down a rail >> >track? >> > >> >Whatever the tractor / harvester is doing, it could be a 20m wide >> >vehicle necessitating a single track spaced every 20m. >> > >> >The track could also be used to provide electric power. >> > >> >A few details to work out about how the tractor changes track at the >> >end of the rails. >>
>> Why not monorails in all the cornfields? Then the electric power >> could be provided by the rail, and there would be zero unnecessary >> contact with the soil. And you could give tourists rides in the off >> season. >> >> Or just use nuclear powered helicopters for plowing; as a bonus, >> they'd blow the bugs away, and irradiate the produce. >> >> I you bury superconductors under the crop rows, you could use a maglev >> tractor. Put Luke Skywalker back on the farm. >> >> Or the San Francisco farming technique, cable-car tractors. No power >> needed at all! >> >> We'll teach all those dumb farmers how to do it right. >
>When I read the first line of your post, for a second I wondered in you'd had >some psychotic episode. I have psychotic episodes daily, or more often for difficult projects. Often we'll go into the conference room and do it as a departmental activity. The whiteboards get positively psychedelic. Bret has two problems: he's fixated on a single solution, and he understands neither the application nor the technology. He's crazier than I am. What farmers really need are robot oxen. John | ||||||||||||||||
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Posted by terryc on July 26, 2008, 11:30 pm
Please log in for more thread options On Sat, 26 Jul 2008 09:08:05 -0700, John Larkin wrote:
> What farmers really need are robot oxen.
<tic> Isn't that his solution? </tic>
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