Electric cars

Wind cannot supply all of the energy expended, but it could supply some of it. It might not be worth the added complexity to the charging system, and it would likely take too much room. And don’t forget that the car has to be moving farly fast to use the turbine efficiently. This would not be a city car.

Put a sail on the car. Let the wind propel the car and charge the battery at the same time. When the batteries are charged, turn on the motor and cruise until batteries goes flat. Then sail again until your batteries are charged.

Well, you’ve figured out the no free lunch thing, but with that said, let me just point out that diesel train engines do continually generate power to drive their electric motors. That’s right, diesel train engines are really diesel/electric hybrids. There is very little battery storage in them, but they run their diesel engines very efficiently to drive generators which provide electric power to electric traction motors.

“the battery puts out more voltage then regular use.” Don’t you mean more amps or you could say more power. Some how I don’t think they increase voltage.

well maybe a hybrid with several, well a lot of, 2 or 3 inch generators spaced over the car

well maybe a hybrid with several, well a lot of, 2 or 3 inch generators spaced over the car

No, all that will do is slow down the car. Most hybrid cars now use regenerative braking to slow the car and charge the battery, but if you are using power to move the car, and not wanting to slow down, any little turbines you put out into the air stream are just going to add more load to the motor and consequently drain the battery more than you are recharging it.

Since drag on the turbines seems to be the problem, use an air vent to inside the vehicle. Or really small tubines for each passenger to strap to your face. Loud singing or road rage would create more power.

Sorry, but venting air into a car is a major contributor to aerodynamic drag. It is estimated that about 15 percent of the power generated by an airplane engine is used to cool the engine, meaning that the drag of the airplane would be about 15 percent less if there was no need to vent air into the cowling to cool the engine.

It is estimated that about 15 percent of the power generated by an airplane engine is used to cool the engine

Aerodynamics is not the reason though. A part of the compressed air is vented to the turbine blades to keep them from melting. That 15% of power used for compression is not recovered. Most jet engine in commercial transports are turbofan in which 1/15th of the air goes inside the engine for combustion. The rest goes around the engine.

But a car with no windshield presents the wind with a lot of blunt bodies that creating a lot of drag. If you’ve looked at human powered bicycle that goes 70 mph, you can see the riders shrouded in a streamlined shell.

No. The principal you are trying to brake is called “conservation of energy” Within normal conditions it is not possible to pull yourself up by your boot straps and perpetual motion is not possible. By definition you must create an amount of drag equal to or greater than the amount of energy you are getting.

about 250 watts. At least that’s what the new Nissan LEAF all electric used during testing. It was less than expected.
If you compare it to other fuels that’s about $1 equal to a gallon of gas. If you charge off peak it’s half that cost and uses excess electric most power companies have to dump at night.

I was talking about prop planes with piston engines. Designing low drag inlets and outlets for engine cooling is a science all to itself. The ideal ducting would decelerate the high speed incoming air while turning the air’s kinetic energy into potential energy (pressure), then use that slow moving high pressure air to soak up the heat of the engine, and then have a duct that reaccelerates that high pressure air turning its potential energy back into kinetic energy before it rejoins the outside airstream.
In theory, you could use the engine’s waste heat to power a low thrust ram jet but in reality, you can only minimize the drag.

"and uses excess electric most power companies have to dump at night. "
Where did you get that load of bull?
There is no excess power magically “dumped” at night. There is excess capacity (They are capable of generating more power than is needed), but not excess generation. If more power is used, then more fuel will have to be burned to create it.

I agree with Tardis. Off-peak power is cheaper not because it’s being dumped, but because the power companies have unused capacity that they can call on to generate power at less cost/KW than during peak times. The only way to ‘dump’ energy it to use it, that’s not happening.