On Sat, 26 Jun 2010 13:44:17 -0400, "J. Clarke"
> wrote:

>On 6/26/2010 3:11 AM, sf wrote:
>> On Sat, 26 Jun 2010 12:08:55 +1000, >
>> wrote:
>>
>>> I laugh at those who suggest the electric cars (plug in overnight types)
>>> are going to solve the emissions problems. You see, all our electricity
>>> is generated, in my home state at least, by dirty brown coal generators.
>>> All that's going to happen is a transferrence of pollution to where the
>>> generators are.
>>
>> I don't know about "most people", but my vision of the perfect
>> electric car has never been a plug in type - it's always solar.
>
>So how does that work?
>
In theory it works nicely. In practice, not so well. A good rule of
thumb is one horsepower per square yard of fully-illuminated area. A
car that requires twenty horsepower---which is pretty low by today's
standards---needs an area of solar cells at least nine feet by twenty
feet.

Working solar cars have been constructed. They require extreme
lightweight materials and aren't well-suited to a Sunday drive with
the family. More like "one person, 10-20 mph, as long as it's sunny."

Someone may pipe up and say "but you can use batteries and charge them
when you're not driving". That's done with the experimental cars but
there's a very carefully-calculated tradeoff in weight and
performance. Take a look at this car:
http://www.speedace.info/solar_cars/..._road_test.jpg
Not much room for anything but a driver.

Best -- Terry