# Fucking Futurecar on the Discovery Channel. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 26, 2007, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-futurecar-on-the-discovery-channel/393678 "2007-02-26T03:22:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-futurecar-on-the-discovery-channel/393678/21 "2007-02-26T23:10:43Z")
The suspension will be used to compress air with the up and down motion to run the air compressor to run the car. People will run out of gas in the country with their date, and have car bouncing sex to fill up the car. Buses using this technology will be powered by all riders in bus bouncing in their seat. ---
**Author:** ![iPost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/858c86/32.png) [@iPost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iPost)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-futurecar-on-the-discovery-channel/393678/22 "2007-02-27T14:15:38Z")
Oh it works all right but more than one car is required. As the car in front exhausts, the car behind gathers that exhaust in it’s intake, uses it and passes it to the car behind. It’s beautiful in it’s simplicity. ---
**Author:** ![Subway\_Prophet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@Subway\_Prophet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subway_Prophet)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-futurecar-on-the-discovery-channel/393678/23 "2007-02-27T14:42:36Z")
I was actually pretty excited about watching this show, seeing as how it was all about concept cars and whatnot. I couldn’t get ten minutes into either the first or second episodes - it was all advertising and hand-waving. And the long glamour shots of Mr. Italian Mustachioed Stogie Puffer in the first ep was just slightly past nauseating. …Why as a matter of fact, yes, I _had_ forgotten how much the Discovery Channel’s gone to pot in the last five years. Why do you ask? ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-futurecar-on-the-discovery-channel/393678/24 "2007-02-27T16:44:42Z")
I like Mythbusters, Dirty Jobs, the survival shows and such. But the seances and historical revisionism shows? Dumb. Although I don’t think the stupidity of the stupid shows rubs off on the good shows, the annoying part is that they take the place of good shows. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-futurecar-on-the-discovery-channel/393678/25 "2007-02-27T17:32:15Z")
[QUOTE=Lemur866] A fucking perpetual motion machine is not–I repeat, NOT–perfectly fucking feasable. [/QUOTE] In this garage, we _obey_ the laws of thermodynamics! ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-futurecar-on-the-discovery-channel/393678/26 "2007-02-27T17:58:02Z")
[QUOTE=Kevbo] Ford built a hybrid concept SUV. Rather than IC/electric hybrid, it was IC/Hydraulic. Energy was stored in a hydraulic accumulator. Such an accumulator compresses nitrogen to very high pressure…so there is high pressure oil involved, but ultimatly, it is compressed gas that is storing the energy. [/QUOTE] If it’s storing energy in compressed nitrogen, wouldn’t that be a pneumatic accumulator? ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-futurecar-on-the-discovery-channel/393678/27 "2007-02-27T19:29:55Z")
[QUOTE=Musicat] You must have missed the little hand pump on the side where you have to charge it up before it starts. Just a little. OK, a _lot._ [/QUOTE] Oh someone with some time PLEASE photoshop [this](http://www.ncroots.com/Beaufort/page103.jpg) into one of their “future cars”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-futurecar-on-the-discovery-channel/393678/28 "2007-02-27T19:30:13Z")
[QUOTE=iamthewalrus(:3=] If it’s storing energy in compressed nitrogen, wouldn’t that be a pneumatic accumulator? [/QUOTE] The input/output fluid is oil. The nitrogen is stored internally to the accumulator, seperated from the oil by either a bladder, or a free floating piston. So to the outside world, the device accumulates oil. Nitrogen is used instead of air to insure that if the seperation mechanism fails, there is no chance of an explosive mixture. (the pressure can be high enough for diesel style ignition) ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-futurecar-on-the-discovery-channel/393678/29 "2007-02-27T20:37:30Z")
[QUOTE=clayton\_e] Oh someone with some time PLEASE photoshop [this](http://www.ncroots.com/Beaufort/page103.jpg) into one of their “future cars”. 😃 [/QUOTE] Or better yet, one of [these](http://windupkey.com/). ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-futurecar-on-the-discovery-channel/393678/30 "2007-02-27T20:41:22Z")
[QUOTE=enigm4tic] Maybe they drive their car in a completely frictionless environment… [/QUOTE] And, presumably, continue to do so. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-futurecar-on-the-discovery-channel/393678/31 "2007-02-27T21:47:47Z")
I don’t know about the compressed air car, but I’ve always wondered if it would be possibile to have a kinda-sorta self-charging electric car. Have a dynamo set up on one (or more) of the wheels and run the car off of half the batteries while recharging the other half, or something like that. It’s not a true perpetual motion machine because you would still need the initial charge for the battery, and eventually you would have to plug it in to top off the charge. It seems like such a configuration would greatly extend the time between plug-ins, however. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-futurecar-on-the-discovery-channel/393678/32 "2007-02-27T22:26:28Z")
[QUOTE=Clothahump] I don’t know about the compressed air car, but I’ve always wondered if it would be possibile to have a kinda-sorta self-charging electric car. Have a dynamo set up on one (or more) of the wheels and run the car off of half the batteries while recharging the other half, or something like that. It’s not a true perpetual motion machine because you would still need the initial charge for the battery, and eventually you would have to plug it in to top off the charge. It seems like such a configuration would greatly extend the time between plug-ins, however. [/QUOTE] Some/most electric cars and hybrids use [Regenerative braking](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regenerative_brake), where the energy dissipated in slowing the car is used to recharge the batteries. What I think you’re describing won’t work either though - if one wheel is acting as a dynamo, it’s slowing the car down - it takes mechanical energy to keep a dynamo turning. The energy it can provide back to the battery is less that used by the other wheel(s) to keep the car going. In other words - your car’s battery would discharge sooner, not later. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2007, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-futurecar-on-the-discovery-channel/393678/33 "2007-02-28T19:09:26Z")
[QUOTE=Lemur866] Except a few fucking seconds of thought would make anyone who has thought for more than a few fucking seconds realize that you can’t power a car by a perpetual motion machine, even a perpetual motion machine that runs on compressed air. [/QUOTE] Sure you can. Go bring me a perpetual motion machine, and I’ll show you… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2007, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-futurecar-on-the-discovery-channel/393678/34 "2007-03-01T10:03:35Z")
[QUOTE=Clothahump] I don’t know about the compressed air car, but I’ve always wondered if it would be possibile to have a kinda-sorta self-charging electric car. Have a dynamo set up on one (or more) of the wheels and run the car off of half the batteries while recharging the other half, or something like that. It’s not a true perpetual motion machine because you would still need the initial charge for the battery, and eventually you would have to plug it in to top off the charge. It seems like such a configuration would greatly extend the time between plug-ins, however. [/QUOTE] No, it wouldn’t. Quite the reverse. You’re not driving that dynamo for free, and what’s more, you’re not getting as much energy out of it as you used to turn the damned dynamo. A dynamo isn’t an energy source; it’s a means of turning kinetic energy into electric, nothing else. You have to do work to turn it. As **muldoonthief** says, you can have regenerative braking - i.e. if you have to stop, you may as well turn your kinetic energy into electricity instead of just waste heat. But you can’t do this unless you’re intending to slow down, and you don’t get as much energy back as you used to speed up, still less can you get any energy back while you’re maintaining a constant speed. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2007, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-futurecar-on-the-discovery-channel/393678/35 "2007-03-01T18:20:33Z")
[QUOTE=iPost] Oh it works all right but more than one car is required. As the car in front exhausts, the car behind gathers that exhaust in it’s intake, uses it and passes it to the car behind. It’s beautiful in it’s simplicity. [/QUOTE] So the cars gathering up this exhaust have got fucking great scoops mounted on the bonnet? 😕 Yeah that makes sense…apart from the drivers doing the gathering being unable to see :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-futurecar-on-the-discovery-channel/393678/36 "2007-03-02T05:57:27Z")
[QUOTE=chowder] So the cars gathering up this exhaust have got fucking great scoops mounted on the bonnet? 😕 Yeah that makes sense…apart from the drivers doing the gathering being unable to see :dubious: [/QUOTE] I think you might have gotten whooshed. It struck me as an “it’s turtles all the way down!” kinda joke regarding perpetual motion. There is, however, a way for a single car to power all the ones behind it. I am unaware of any system that uses compressed air, but the engineering for it is feasible. It’s called a train. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-futurecar-on-the-discovery-channel/393678/37 "2007-03-02T07:52:38Z")
[QUOTE=A Monkey With a Gun] I think you might have gotten whooshed. It struck me as an “it’s turtles all the way down!” kinda joke regarding perpetual motion. There is, however, a way for a single car to power all the ones behind it. I am unaware of any system that uses compressed air, but the engineering for it is feasible. It’s called a train. 😉 [/QUOTE] :smack: :smack: :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-futurecar-on-the-discovery-channel/393678/38 "2007-03-02T08:49:51Z")
:: points and laughs at **chowder** :: ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-futurecar-on-the-discovery-channel/393678/39 "2007-03-02T15:00:01Z")
::sulks and hides in corner, crying softly thinking “I hate that malwhathaveyou”:: ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-futurecar-on-the-discovery-channel/393678/40 "2007-03-02T15:03:15Z")
[QUOTE=A Monkey With a Gun] I think you might have gotten whooshed. It struck me as an “it’s turtles all the way down!” kinda joke regarding perpetual motion. There is, however, a way for a single car to power all the ones behind it. I am unaware of any system that uses compressed air, but the engineering for it is feasible. It’s called a train. 😉 [/QUOTE] Ahah! gotcha (I hope) the train doesn’t power the cars behind it, it pulls them using its own power [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-futurecar-on-the-discovery-channel/393678.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-futurecar-on-the-discovery-channel/393678.md?page=3)