Power Train

Submitted 4 years ago

Why doesnt vw or any other vehicle manufacturer want to build a gas/diesel electric hybrid vehicle based on the system used in locomotives. Batteries are are heavy, have a very short life span and demand massive open pit mines and still the use of fossil fuels to produce the materials needed to produce them. Its not at all the greener choice. Batteries cause much pollution in their production and will greatly add to landfills over time. Its clearly just a fad and living in a country that experiences fridges cold winter climates, a battery dependant vehicles is extremely inefficient and can even become dangerous on long road trips because the cab heat is created but electrical power instead of a highly useful byproduct from regular use ( electrical is very inefficient means of heating a cab). It could drastically reduce your expected distance traveled from the cold temperatures draining extra power out of batteries to run heating unit and possibly cause travellers to become stranded as well as the insane cost of building charging stations all across the world not to mention the additional load on the worlds power grid systems that already experience many power outages all over. Its much more difficult to transport small amounts electricity to add to the battery cells then it is a gerry can of gas or diesel in order to revive a vehicle that has run out. Diesel electric locomotives are the single most efficient methods of on land transportation. . So why couldnt a highly efficient VW engineered gas or Diesel engine used to power a generator, be attached to an highly efficient electrical motor drivetrain such as what can be found in a Tesla? That would give everybody the best of all technologies!
Using solely Electrical power generation for world wide use can not be sustained into the future by wind, solar and water turbine if every vehicle, household and business in the world is expected to consume electricity. The worlds consumption of electricity is already increasing every day with new electronic devices being purchased and more and more homes being built to house the overall increase in world population. We need to conserve fossil fuels and use them where they can use to the best of their ability , so we an continue to use them along with other forms of power like nuclear, solar, wind and water turbines all while cleaning up the atmosphere and reducing our mining of non renewable materials eg. Lithium aluminum and any other precious metals.
Thank you for listening. I love VW and know this idea would make the world a better place.