Posted: Apr 21, 2017 11:09 am
Macdoc wrote:Stupid idea.
Iron may have the energy content of hydrocarbons, but is 8 times the density.
For the same amount of energy as a 50l tank you'd need 400kg iron.
Worse is that once you burn it, you still have to carry it as spent fuel for recycling. It will weigh even more - 550kg.
added weight is not necessarily a penalty issue as it carries additional kinetic energy as long as it does not impact drag and rolling resistance it can be a plus.
It certainly is as you need more energy to get it up to speed.
In stop and go traffic weight is an issue unless there is regenerative capture. That's why a hybrid would work well and speaking of 400 kg ...isn't that what a EV battery weighs?
So you're suggesting to get over the weight problem, you add more weight?
In addition one assumes an iron fill up implies the iron oxide gets dumped.
Not environmentally friendly to dump all this iron oxide on the roadside, is it?