Re: Open-Source Armchair Critics At It Again

c186282 <[email protected]> wrote:
> On 7/27/26 00:42, rbowman wrote:
>> On Sun, 26 Jul 2026 21:23:57 -0400, c186282 wrote:
>> 
>>>     They DID promise atomic-powered cars back when I was a little kid.
>>>     Wonder what happened ?
>> 
>> Ford didn't make any promises with the Nucleon. It was a concept based on
>> small, lightweight reactors becoming available in the future. Never
>> happened.
>> 
>> I do remember Chrysler's turbine car from the '64 World's Fair. There were
>> working prototypes but that didn't prove out either.
> 
>   Turbines aren't great for automobiles.
> 
>   We CAN make 'em cheap enough now - but they are not very fuel 
>   efficient and take too long to wind up and down.
> 
>   So, no "Batmobiles".
> 
>   "Hybrids", using a small constant-speed diesel as the recharge 
>   generator ...  those can be very efficient.

Which is also a "usage point" for "turbines".  Run them at 
constant-speed spinning a generator, then use the resulting electricity 
for battery recharge.

But you still have to deal with the "not terribly efficient" factor for 
a car sized model, plus the heat generated by the turbine combustion 
process.