Range Extender: harness the shocks getting out of the car

[DeaneG]

Last night, getting heavily shocked as usual when leaving the car, I realized that if I could harvest these repeated jolts of energy, I could extend the range of my car a bit.

So I did the math: assuming 15kV shocks, and me at 300pF, that's almost 0.07J of energy with each shock, or 1.9 x 10-8 kWh. At 4mi/kWh, that's enough to move the car almost 5 thousandths of an inch!

I was surprised that the answer wasn't closer to zero. That's an inch of free driving for just several months' worth of shocks.

 

[adric22]

Last night, getting heavily shocked as usual when leaving the car, I realized that if I could harvest these repeated jolts of energy, I could extend the range of my car a bit.

So I did the math: assuming 15kV shocks, and me at 300pF, that's almost 0.07J of energy with each shock, or 1.9 x 10-8 kWh. At 4mi/kWh, that's enough to move the car almost 5 thousandths of an inch!

I was surprised that the answer wasn't closer to zero. That's an inch of free driving for just several months' worth of shocks.

I imagine the solar panel on the back could do better than that by a few inches (assuming it could actually charge the HV pack)

 

[lenny]

How about replacing the antenna with something really, really long, and parking in the middle of an open field in a thunderstorm, to harness lightning? Bet that's more than a few joules.

Actually, come to think of it, you can probably build an induction charger by having large coils of wire and parking under high voltage transmission towers. (disclaimer : I don't advocate doing that, as it is both illegal and dangerous)

 

[GaslessInSeattle]

thank you, you just made me laugh! this car really can have a bit!! the newer upholstery is an improvement at least.

Last night, getting heavily shocked as usual when leaving the car, I realized that if I could harvest these repeated jolts of energy, I could extend the range of my car a bit.

So I did the math: assuming 15kV shocks, and me at 300pF, that's almost 0.07J of energy with each shock, or 1.9 x 10-8 kWh. At 4mi/kWh, that's enough to move the car almost 5 thousandths of an inch!

I was surprised that the answer wasn't closer to zero. That's an inch of free driving for just several months' worth of shocks.