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Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

washingtonpost.com

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Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#2

Post by GeorgeOrr »

That is an interesting video to watch. I immediately imagine a self driving car, on its way to pick me up, swinging by this robot arm to charge up.

I wonder if it would be possible for something like this to provide a charge while moving? Like airplanes that can be fueled in the air.

I suspect the energy to keep the charger itself moving would make that a pretty inefficient way of doing things, but it's fun to imagine.

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#3

Post by codeulike »

GeorgeOrr wrote: post #2

That is an interesting video to watch. I immediately imagine a self driving car, on its way to pick me up, swinging by this robot arm to charge up. I wonder if it would be possible for something like this to provide a charge while moving? Like airplanes that can be fueled in the air. I suspect the energy to keep the charger itself moving would make that a pretty inefficient way of doing things, but it's fun to imagin…

The weight of the battery needed to charge a Tesla at anything like a 'fast' rate would be huge ... there's no efficient way of then propelling such a heavy battery along without then needing even more heavy batteries or a big ICE engine. So nope.

I think this is meant to complement the (as yet unreleased) Tesla can-park-itself-in-your-garage feature.

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#4

Post by Amorymeltzer »

codeulike wrote: post #3
GeorgeOrr wrote: post #2

That is an interesting video to watch. I immediately imagine a self driving car, on its way to pick me up, swinging by this robot arm to charge up. I wonder if it would be possible for something like this to provide a charge while moving? Like airplanes that can be fueled in the air. I suspect the energy to keep the charger itself moving would make that a pretty inefficient way of doing things, but it's fun to imagin…

The weight of the battery needed to charge a Tesla at anything like a 'fast' rate would be huge ... there's no efficient way of then propelling such a heavy battery along without then needing even more heavy batteries or a big ICE engine. So nope. I think this is meant to complement the (as yet unreleased) Tesla can-park-itself-in-your-garage feature.

Or allow you charge-up without really doing anything. Stay inside your car and read at the supercharger station!

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#5

Post by slxh »

GeorgeOrr wrote: post #2

That is an interesting video to watch. I immediately imagine a self driving car, on its way to pick me up, swinging by this robot arm to charge up. I wonder if it would be possible for something like this to provide a charge while moving? Like airplanes that can be fueled in the air. I suspect the energy to keep the charger itself moving would make that a pretty inefficient way of doing things, but it's fun to imagin…

Very cool tech indeed.

A battery swap while on the move might be more efficient/faster then a charge on the move. (But it would be nice if the next-gen solar panels installed on a car would be efficient enough to provide enough power for a car drive)

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#6

Post by toufka »

codeulike wrote: post #3
GeorgeOrr wrote: post #2

That is an interesting video to watch. I immediately imagine a self driving car, on its way to pick me up, swinging by this robot arm to charge up. I wonder if it would be possible for something like this to provide a charge while moving? Like airplanes that can be fueled in the air. I suspect the energy to keep the charger itself moving would make that a pretty inefficient way of doing things, but it's fun to imagin…

The weight of the battery needed to charge a Tesla at anything like a 'fast' rate would be huge ... there's no efficient way of then propelling such a heavy battery along without then needing even more heavy batteries or a big ICE engine. So nope. I think this is meant to complement the (as yet unreleased) Tesla can-park-itself-in-your-garage feature.

I bet there could be creative situations where it could work. Imagine a rig that joins to an electric overhead line (like a light rail). The rig could move at the speed limit around the ring-loop of a city's interstate. Cars can pull alongside it to charge. If it had enough arms, and was narrow enough you could charge quite a few cars. If its then charging from the grid it needn't actually be propelling a battery at all.

Or in a situation where moving the battery already happens. Maybe where a whole fleet of trucks have purchased into a booster pack scheme. The booster packs fall on and off at various cities along a long route. Kind of like jettisoning a space shuttle's boosters. On either side of the city you have 50 packs charging. Radio that you need more juice and as you hit the city limits a booster latches on, you trail it through the city charging your main pack back up, and drop it off on the other side of the city where it charges and waits for someone going the other way. The truck never stops, it just keeps going and gets 'boosted' by a self-driving battery trailer every time it's within 100 miles of a city.

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#7

Post by seanp2k2 »

Amorymeltzer wrote: post #4
codeulike wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The weight of the battery needed to charge a Tesla at anything like a 'fast' rate would be huge ... there's no efficient way of then propelling such a heavy battery along without then needing even more heavy batteries or a big ICE engine. So nope. I think this is meant to complement the (as yet unreleased) Tesla can-park-itself-in-your-garage feature.

Or allow you charge-up without really doing anything. Stay inside your car and read at the supercharger station!

Or, cars become a shared resource and you just call up basically a driverless Uber when you need it. That's the future I want to see in e.g. areas where mass-transit is blocked politically (e.g. BART from SF to SJ) or where the population density is such where it doesn't make sense.

Re: Tesla unveils new car-charging robo-snake

#9

Post by toomuchtodo »

seanp2k2 wrote: post #7
Amorymeltzer wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or allow you charge-up without really doing anything. Stay inside your car and read at the supercharger station!

Or, cars become a shared resource and you just call up basically a driverless Uber when you need it. That's the future I want to see in e.g. areas where mass-transit is blocked politically (e.g. BART from SF to SJ) or where the population density is such where it doesn't make sense.

Looks like Elon plans on competing with Uber.

http://qz.com/473803/tesla-ceo-elon-musk-on-potential-uber-p...

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