06-27-2008, 02:35 PM
Was going to post about springs and the safety thereof, but was beaten to that.:)
I've often thought about spring-powered vehicles myself, usually while playing with my kids' little pull-back-and-let-go cars. My conclusion was that, aside from safety issues (and aside from any math, it should be noted), the energy expended to "charge" the spring would probably not be efficient enough to warrant making the technology work in a full-sized vehicle. In the case of my kids' cars, you pull the car backwards a few feet to charge it up, and it will go maybe 20 feet. That seems pretty good but then you consider that the car accelerates very slowly and has little to no ability to overcome obstacles or go up any sort of incline.
I'm sure there is a workable solution to those problems, but the ultimate question is: "Do I really want to drive backwards for a mile or two just to make my commute to work?":)
I've often thought about spring-powered vehicles myself, usually while playing with my kids' little pull-back-and-let-go cars. My conclusion was that, aside from safety issues (and aside from any math, it should be noted), the energy expended to "charge" the spring would probably not be efficient enough to warrant making the technology work in a full-sized vehicle. In the case of my kids' cars, you pull the car backwards a few feet to charge it up, and it will go maybe 20 feet. That seems pretty good but then you consider that the car accelerates very slowly and has little to no ability to overcome obstacles or go up any sort of incline.
I'm sure there is a workable solution to those problems, but the ultimate question is: "Do I really want to drive backwards for a mile or two just to make my commute to work?":)