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dumpster-rat-king t1_ixpn5iw wrote

They are SO CLOSE to figuring out trains

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rcmaehl t1_ixtf6cw wrote

Until people can own their own trains to drive how they want when they want half of Americans will call it communism

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auranyxi t1_ixq2j1d wrote

Not a word about high speed trains. Here in Switzerland even EVs are thought to be the worst for transportation in terms of damage to the environment. Trains are the best.

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this_barb t1_ixqbbgh wrote

I need to wonder if this is even worthwhile. Perhaps the future is hydrogen fuel cell. Having to re-engineer the entire road system in the USA just to fit the vehicle type seems like an awful waste of money.

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whyreadthis2035 t1_ixq7djc wrote

Auuuggghhh. We can’t maintain regular roads. This is not a good investment. Yes 100% go green. But that’s going to have to involve fewer cars over time. Fancy public roads when we don’t maintain our current roads is a distraction.

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LightInthewater t1_ixpb46e wrote

I thought this idea was an old one? I remember it being tested and it came down to not being worth the trouble/too expensive.

The problem was since cars were driving daily on it the roads got incredibly dirty incredibly fast (on top of natural weather and dut) and even in the best of conditions the cars didn't charge nearly as fast enough.

Maybe tech got better, but we're still a long way from this.

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[deleted] t1_ixpcf9d wrote

[deleted]

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TokyoTurtle t1_ixrddy7 wrote

Hmm, to get rid of the inductive losses we could use a direct wire connection. There's a lot of power involved so having it next to the road might be dangerous... So, we'll put it above the vehicle. We'll need a return path for the electricity, so let's have a metal bar under the vehicle for that. Self-driving is difficult, so seeing as we have something in the road already, let's ensured that it's accurately placed for the vehicles to follow it. Maybe even make it a mechanical connection. Aaannd... We've reinvented electric trams/trains.

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anthonykantara t1_ixps8dn wrote

Energy products are getting more affordable to produce each year as the manufacturing ramps up and technology advances.

Today, electric airplanes idea is not feasible. Consensus around that. But also acknowledge that in the near future it could be depending on how the tech develops.

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ahfoo t1_ixugsav wrote

I don't get the hate. You can talk about trains all you like but the US is already committed to a suburban layout and this didn't just happen with cars. It was already the case in the era of horses that people would live outside of town and only come into the city to shop periodically. This trend towards suburbs is not recent and impossible to unwind. People who grew up in the suburbs and moved to the city love to whine about it but the burbs aren't going away any time soon. If you live downtown, take the subway by all means but it won't work for suburbs where large portions of the population live.

Electrifying roads is the most sensible thing in the world. There are all these comments saying that it is an "old idea" as if this somehow demonstrates that it is flawed. Battery powered vehicles is also an old idea. Solar panels were invented in the 1950s --so what? Being an idea that has been in circulation for some time doesn't imply anything about its practicality.

Charging in motion with inductive chargers is a great idea that is a perfect match with electric vehicles and it is pretty much inevitable that we'll end up with both widespread electric vehicles and wireless charging roadways because both those idea make perfect sense.

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butterflyl3 t1_ixp9iqs wrote

Very cool. Wish my country was as advanced...

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Un-Scammable t1_ixpg1k7 wrote

Anybody that's been on this sub for a few years knows this idea is already half a decade old. I believe it was already implemented in Germany or somewhere

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CasualObserverNine t1_ixqy04v wrote

What about the increase of energy required to push the vehicle through the opposing field? Will that negate any charge the inducting obtained?

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JollyTotal3653 t1_ixsb9bg wrote

Listen I’m a suburbanite idiot who would never ever give up private cars. But you wan the actual solution here MORE FUCKING TRAINS! If I could reasonably travel via train to and from work or shopping I would… if I had access to high speed rail I would travel to LA for work no problem, have access to a higher income and normalize housing prices across a larger region brining down demand in LA and bringing up demand along the train rout, stop trying to invest in stupid projects and just give us mother fucking trains!

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skunksmasher t1_ixrz1wo wrote

Hasn't this been busted a thousand times by scientists already?

It's just another Theranos.

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Scipion t1_ixt9mz8 wrote

Doesn't this suffer from all the same design failures of the "solar" roadway?

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