Seems like electric is the end goal

[freebeard]

I'll have to take your word for that since "[the] course of events in [my] life led [me] to not understanding how batteries work".

I do note however, that the steam turbine locomotive failed to compete with the diesel-electric serial hybrid.

Steam turbine locomotive
A steam turbine locomotive is a steam locomotive which transmits steam power to the wheels via a steam turbine. Numerous attempts at this type of locomotive were made, mostly without success. In the 1930s this type of locomotive was seen as a way both to revitalize steam power and challenge the diesel locomotives then being introduced.
More at Wikipedia

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

I remember reading something about steam turbines for ship propulsion.

[oil pan 4]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

Modern EVs maintain thermal regulation even when not in operation, and also periodically top off the 12v battery from the traction battery.

In some extremely cold environments, a significant amount of extra juice can go into just maintaining battery temperature while it sits. To a lesser extent in extremely hot environments, some energy is spent cooling it.

The only possible way an EV would be less efficient than an ICE is if both sat for like a year, not being driven, in environmentally extreme conditions.

Not the the leaf.

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

I remember reading something about steam turbines for ship propulsion.

When coal is cheaper than dirt and fuel oil is $10 a gallon.

[freebeard]

https://ntrs.nasa.gov › citations › 19870000360
Coal-Fired Rocket Engine - NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Coal-Fired Rocket Engine Brief report describes concept for coal-burning hybrid rocket engine. Proposed engine carries larger payload, burns more cleanly, and safer to manufacture and handle than conventional solid-propellant rockets. Thrust changeable in flight, and stops and starts on demand. Document ID 19870000360 Document Type

Else you can turn the coal into kerosene and burn it with liquid Oxygen:

Is China's New Rocket Really Coal Powered? Deep Space Updates - April 2nd -- Scott Manley

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by freebeard

turn the coal into kerosene

Sounds quite reasonable considering how it was done in Germany and is still done in South Africa. Not to mention the usage of wood chips as a feedstock for synthetic gasoline in Poland during the Nazi invasion.

[Hersbird]

A multi stage steam turbine is very efficient by itself. It can be 80-90%. You end up with waste heat in the condensate, and you can have inefficient ways of making the steam in the first place.

So old ships burned fuel oil to make steam, then steam to turn the propeller and steam to run generators to make electricity. The condensate heat was just wasted into the ocean because it was simple and reliable and needed to be handled on a large scale. Modern ships use jet fuel to run a gas turbine and eliminate the steam middle man. Then nuclear ships use the nuclear reactor to superheat water at pressure, that water is used to boil other water and make steam, steam runs propulsion turbines, and turbine generators, and again the condensate heat is wasted.

So if you used an efficient method to make steam like nuclear, used efficient turbine generators, and put the condensate heat to some use, I'm sure it would be by far the cleanest and most efficient way to make electricity.

I know some fossil fuel power plants up north use the condensate heat to melt sidewalks in the towns nearby. That is sort of a luxury and seasonal, but there has to be some use of heat year round. In a desert neat saltwater you could probably use it for desalination. If you put water at a high vacuum it will boil at a lower temperature.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Hersbird

So old ships burned fuel oil to make steam

Makes me wonder if the Titanic would've arrived at its destination successfully if bunker oil had been used instead of coal, considering the explosion and fire which caused the sheetmetal at some hull sections to lose its temper, and shred
like a piece of paper once it hit the iceberg, were caused by the usage of coal which was more brittle than usual and also had a higher amount of sulphur contamination. You know, coal, sulphur and some nitrogenated substract are the main components of gun powder (at least made at the ancient way).

[oil pan 4]

Coaking coal removes sulfur.
Coaking coal allows it to very slowly burn for 12 to 24hr before being introduced into the steel making process.

And you don't want steam condensate forming in your power assembly.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Sulphur in Brazilan coal is so high it's only used for electric power generation, with most steel mills resorting to coal imported from South Africa AFAIK.

[freebeard]

Electricity doesn't necessarily mean coal.

I mentioned this one before somewhere:

The British VW ID. Buzz? NEW Morris JE Van review exclusive first drive

The Late Brake Show reviews the electric Morris Commercial. At 19:27 they show a screenshot of the aluminum ladder frame that use trusses as the main members.

The electric part doesn't interest me as much as the recycled carbon fiber shell. This is a product in the UK, carbon fiber scraps that have had the epoxy removed and reduced to short strands. They use carbon fiber tape for reinforcement. He talks about producing a bare shell, but it wouldn't be as photogenic.

The other part is the two-bar rear door hinges. A massive hinge and a control arm.