Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Mazda has tested a synthetic fuel in an unmodified MX5 on a 1000-mile road trip

wkk.usa.mybluehost.me

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

131–140 of 207 posts

Re: Mazda has tested a synthetic fuel in an unmodified MX5 on a 1000-mile road trip

#131

Post by phpisthebest »

ianai wrote: post #128
phpisthebest wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As more and more people switch to Electric Heat (heat pumps i.e AC run backwards) off of NatGas more and more energy companies are pleading with people to turn down their heat in the winter and up in the summer as the grid can not handle it For the first time I can remember, my power company was sending out Texts here in the midwest during that last Arctic blast telling people to use less electricity because the grid…

Texas has its own electrical grid separate from the rest of the US.

Why is every commenting about texas? No where in my comment did I mention texas, the closest was "texts" i.e SMS messages, not texas.

I do not live in texas.

Re: Mazda has tested a synthetic fuel in an unmodified MX5 on a 1000-mile road trip

#132

Post by ianai »

adql wrote: post #22
kuschku wrote: post #15

> it’s safe to assume that it’ll likely charge a hefty premium over traditional gasoline. > Also worth noting is that while, yes, this synthetic fuel appears to make vehicles slightly more efficient, it still greatly trails the efficiency of EVs. Consequently, vehicles using this fuel will likely always be more expensive to drive per mile than their electric equivalents. So why are we doing this again?

Alternative for cases where electrification is hard (long haul trucks) or impossible (cargo hauling via planes)

This is Mazda. They have yet to get serious about electrification. Worse than Toyota in that regard. I am beyond giving them the benefit of the doubt that this was anything but “hey we don’t have to make BeVs!!”

Re: Mazda has tested a synthetic fuel in an unmodified MX5 on a 1000-mile road trip

#133

Post by pornel »

tmpburning wrote: post #125
pornel wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's the worst EV on the market. It's only a compliance car, not something they expect anyone to drive. Toyota/Subaru aren't much better. Japanese carmakers seem to hope that BEVs are only a fad.

Why do you think it is the worst on the market?

It’s Doug DeMuro’s Worst Car of the Year. Every other review I’ve seen is also overwhelmingly negative.

It has a range of a “city car”, but a price of EVs with double the range.

It has max 50kW DC charging, while the competition has >100kW speeds. This makes the short range even more limiting.

It’s not even powerful, even though high torque is the one easy trick for EVs.

It’s a conversion of a gas car, not a dedicated platform, which wastes cabin and storage space. Mazda failed to keep the same front/rear weight balance making the car reportedly handle poorly.

It’s technically at the level of 2009 Renault Zoe or the old Leaf, but for a price of 2019 eNiro or the current Kona and Cupra Born.

Re: Mazda has tested a synthetic fuel in an unmodified MX5 on a 1000-mile road trip

#134

Post by megaman821 »

phpisthebest wrote: post #118
megaman821 wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it is only 20% more generation, that seems pretty feasible. The widespread usage of air conditioners caused a greater increase in electricity usage than that.

As more and more people switch to Electric Heat (heat pumps i.e AC run backwards) off of NatGas more and more energy companies are pleading with people to turn down their heat in the winter and up in the summer as the grid can not handle it For the first time I can remember, my power company was sending out Texts here in the midwest during that last Arctic blast telling people to use less electricity because the grid…

I read Texts as Texas.

Anyways in areas where it regularly goes below 0F, the transition will not be smooth (but probably still necessary). Heat pumps that operate efficiently down -20F are just coming out and will be even more expensive than normal heat pumps. Also most residential energy usage in really cold areas are from burning natural gas, so electricity generation is quite low compared to warmer parts of the country.

Re: Mazda has tested a synthetic fuel in an unmodified MX5 on a 1000-mile road trip

#135

Post by jacquesm »

PaulHoule wrote: post #126
themitigating wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Synthetic fuels are potentially valuable because they allow existing capital assets (internal combustion engines and the industry that produces them, fuel distribution infrastructure) to continue to be used. Won't engines have to be modified and reprogrammed?

For alcohol, DME and other single entity fuels you may need to change the engine, but synthetic hydrocarbons really are a drop in replacement.

Most engines that run on gasoline will run unmodified on LNG and many other combustibles besides, alcohol would work but the way in which it and ethanol attack various materials found in the fuel systems of vehicles means that your problem is likely not going to be the engine but further upstream towards the tank (seals, membranes).

Re: Mazda has tested a synthetic fuel in an unmodified MX5 on a 1000-mile road trip

#136

Post by scoopertrooper »

kuschku wrote: post #15

> it’s safe to assume that it’ll likely charge a hefty premium over traditional gasoline. > Also worth noting is that while, yes, this synthetic fuel appears to make vehicles slightly more efficient, it still greatly trails the efficiency of EVs. Consequently, vehicles using this fuel will likely always be more expensive to drive per mile than their electric equivalents. So why are we doing this again?

Because we could move the entire current stock of cars over to less carbon intensive fuel without having to build an entirely new fleet.

Keeping in mind that manufacturing new cars (and the associated resource extraction) is extremely carbon intensive, then a carbon neutral-ish fuel might actually be the best option overall on a meaningful timescale.

Re: Mazda has tested a synthetic fuel in an unmodified MX5 on a 1000-mile road trip

#137

Post by Orangeair »

Does anyone know what ever happened to Mazda's skyactiv thing? Was supposedly going to help ICEs be more fuel efficient by adding an extra stroke cycle with water? Seemed very promising, but I haven't heard anything about it in years.

Re: Mazda has tested a synthetic fuel in an unmodified MX5 on a 1000-mile road trip

#138

Post by ozzydave »

ajross wrote: post #57
mfer wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The cost to transition away from fossil fuels isn’t really talked about much. For example, our electric grid can’t handle everyone using electric cars. Everything from electricity production to distribution needs to be upgraded. There is a massive cost to that.

> For example, our electric grid can’t handle everyone using electric cars. Everything from electricity production to distribution needs to be upgraded. There is a massive cost to that. Cite for that? That's simply not true. In fact of all major infrastructure media in modern society, electrical transmission is by far the cheapest to upgrade. Even discounting industrial electricity and adding on DC charging of the EV…

And the majority of people will charge when power is cheapest, meaning peak power won’t increase nearly as much.

Re: Mazda has tested a synthetic fuel in an unmodified MX5 on a 1000-mile road trip

#139

Post by readthenotes1 »

phpisthebest wrote: post #131
ianai wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Texas has its own electrical grid separate from the rest of the US.

Why is every commenting about texas? No where in my comment did I mention texas, the closest was "texts" i.e SMS messages, not texas. I do not live in texas.

it makes for a funny read. people are very passionate about your Texas errr Texts

Re: Mazda has tested a synthetic fuel in an unmodified MX5 on a 1000-mile road trip

#140

Post by jayavanth »

Orangeair wrote: post #137

Does anyone know what ever happened to Mazda's skyactiv thing? Was supposedly going to help ICEs be more fuel efficient by adding an extra stroke cycle with water? Seemed very promising, but I haven't heard anything about it in years.

It's out there but not in the US. It doesn't deliver as much torque/HP and apparently US market prefers the torque over fuel efficiency
Post reply on HN