Mi Form 151: Fill & Download for Free

2020 is out of the question for anyone to even compete against Tesla’s door knobs, let alone put them out of business altogether; unless VW has a secret EV and Li-ion production facility that has already produced over 100,000 super EVs ready-to-go-to-market in 2020 at a lower cost than Tesla’s Model 3s. Also, unless VW wants to move into the luxury car market, which counters to its own company name (People’s Car). The People’s Vehicle market is much bigger than the wealthier class of buyers that Tesla has already established. VW will be competing more against the Model 3 than the higher-end models at Tesla.However, I can think of one way for VW to dominate the middle and less expensive classes of EVs, which would be at least 20–30X larger than Tesla’s current buyers’ group. Then later, move into the more luxury classes if there is sufficient production capability. It will be a combination of two strategies. The technologies required are from personal experiences, so I’m comfortable in making a few forward-thinking projections, but for non-attribution, please.Since time is money, we don’t want to wait around a charging station more than 5-minutes to fully recharge your EV for another 300 miles (480 km) of driving. So, we’ll need fast-charging capabilities on both ends (vehicle and charger). The 2nd part of the Big Plan is to set up at least 50,000 fast charging points in the U.S. for VWs and others who have the VW vehicle energy storage capabilities. The U.S. currently has around 168,000 public gas stations. Each gas station can refuel 4–20 vehicles at the same time.Supercapacitors using graphene have been getting around 50–80 Wh/kg in the lab as compared to 6–8 Wh/kg in off-the-shelf supercaps. Frequently, lab data is only based on the active material (not including current collectors, electrolyte and exterior casing materials - the heavy stuff), so you might need to throw in a commercial factor of 3–4. Now, these graphene supercaps might only be 12.5–20 Wh/kg. However, a few new graphene technologies on the horizon might increase performance by a factor of ten or more. If they can develop it, then it could be 125–200 Wh/kg. One is claiming 250 Wh/kg using a super-hybrid concept.For now, let’s make believe we will have 200 Wh/kg supercaps in 3–4 years. The weight won’t be an issue for charging points, anyway.Fast Charging - VehicleAssumptions: 100 kWh powerpack, 50% supercaps + 50% Li-ion batteriesUsing the next generation supercapacitor (SC) with special graphene, 200 Wh/kg is possible. Let’s use 5-minutes as the charge time.To charge up a 50 kWh supercap pack in 5-min., the charger would need to provide:60 min./5-min. = 12C (charge rate)50 kWh/500V = 100 Ah (SC pack capacity)12C x 100 Ah = 1,200A (charging current, SCs are capable of 50-100C charging rates)To charge a 50 kWh Li-ion pack in 5-min., this is the amount of energy transferred to the Li-ion pack (using NCA, 250 Wh/kg, 1C charge rate):50 kWh/500V = 100 Ah (SC pack capacity)5-min./60-min. = 0.0833 hr.100Ah x 0.0833 = 8.33Ah (1C charge rate)8.33Ah x 500V = 4.1 kWh (in 5-min. of charging at 1C)4.1 kWh/330 Wh/mi = 12 miles (19 km) (Using Tesla Model S energy consumption)50 kWh/330 Wh/mi = 151 miles (240 km)Total miles gained in 5-min. of charging: (12 + 151)(0.9) = 146 miles (233 km) (Using 90% DOD)Depending upon your driving style and road condition, 146 miles is 2-3 hrs of driving; and many people prefer to take a quick break after 2 to 2.5 hrs of driving (esp. if you have kids in the back). If you like to drive for 4–5 hours non-stop, then the Li-ion power pack can come in after the SC pack is depleted. You can time your long drives to stay overnight after the Li-ion pack is depleted. The next day, you’ll have a full 100 kWh pack ready to go (if the hotel has 220VAC, 50A).Fast Charging - Charging PointA charging point is just a post with two charging handles (connectors) and lots of SC underground. Today, most charge points are free at shopping centers (w/o SC). To encourage more charge points to be installed, especially not at shopping centers, there need to be incentives. So, VW can get investors to install charge points all over America charging a fee for charging their EVs. This will still be less than 25–35% the cost of gasoline for the same distance driven.The buyers in the low to middle price markets may not all have private homes or have convenient power outlets at night to recharge. So, they will need occasional recharging at public charge points or at charging stations. Condo and Townhouse communities can install more outdoor power outlets or charge points to attract EV owners. Corporate parking lots can have solar panel shaded outdoor parking spaces with EV chargers.To charge a 50 kWh supercap pack:1,200A x 500V = 600 kW (charging power)100 EVs/day = 100 x 50 kWh = 5 MWh/day (most likely only 4.5 MWh stored energy will be needed each day)Each location will have different charging demands, so 5 MWh/day is just an estimate (WAG). If future new-gen supercaps will cost US$100/kWh, then 5 MWh will cost about US$500K + installation cost. Most shopping center charge points will only require 25–50% that amount of supercaps for storage; so, US$125-250K for the supercaps.Negotiate with the utilities to sell electric power to recharge these charging points at night during low-load periods at extreme low prices; since it’s all going up into the sky every night, today. In exchange, these charge points and charging stations are available to supply power to the grid during the day if needed for load-leveling. A win-win situation.ConclusionIf a large auto OEM want to dominate the low to mid-price range EV markets, then all they have to do is to use the new gen supercaps (and Li-ion batteries) in their EVs or HEVs and install a large number of charging points and stations around the country using the new-gen SCs. This way, their customers would never have any range anxiety, and can drive cross-country just like a gasoline ICE vehicle without losing any time to recharge the supercaps and batteries. Best of all, these new supercaps have over 1-million cycle-life. So, you can transfer this SC power pack to your new EVs (significant savings compared to 100% batteries), and likely can be passed down to your children and their children.1,000,000/365 = 2,739 years

One of the Nazis’ more interesting attempts to copy an Allied design was in 1943 when they tried to create their own version of the De Havilland DH-98 Mosquito. Theirs was the Focke-Wulf Ta 154, which they nicknamed "Moskito"; it's like they weren't even trying.It was a two seat, twin engined, wooden-fuselage and -winged aircraft designed for night time interception of Allied bombers. The prototype had a decent turn of speed and good range [1], but that was without the heavy radar, weapons, or the sticking up canopy they decided to put on the production model to improve visibility.What really killed their clone, however, was that shortly before the Luftwaffe could start production, an Allied bombing raid totally destroyed the one factory making the phenolic resin adhesive suitable for holding plywood panel layers together. The Germans soon cobbled a new factory together, but they got the formula slightly wrong. Their new panels weren't fully waterproof, the glue became brittle with vibration, but worst of all it tended to eat the wood it was holding together. Several of the production models crashed when wing panels delaminated in mid flight..[1] SpecificationsLength: 12.45 m (40 ft 10 in) (without radar antennae)Wingspan: 16 m (52 ft 6 in)Height: 3.5 m (11 ft 6 in)Wing area: 32.4 m2 (349 sq ft)Empty weight: 6,600 kg (14,551 lb)Engines: 2 × Junkers Jumo 213E V-12 inverted liquid-cooled piston engines for take-off. 984 kW (1,320 hp) at 10,000 m (33,000 ft)Maximum speed: 650 km/h (400 mph, 350 kn) at 7,090 m (23,260 ft). 534 km/h (332 mph; 288 kn) at sea levelRange: 1,365 km (848 mi, 737 nmi) at 7,000 m (23,000 ft). 1,860 km (1,160 mi; 1,000 nmi) with two 300 l (79 US gal; 66 imp gal)Service ceiling: 10,900 m (35,800 ft)Rate of climb: 15 m/s (3,000 ft/min)Guns: ** 2 × 20 mm (0.787 in) MG 151/20 cannon 200 rpg.2 × 30 mm (1.181 in) nose-mounted MK 108 cannon 110 rpg.2 × fuselage-mounted Schräge Musik 30 mm (1.181 in) MK 108 cannon) in one variant.Details courtesy of Wikipedia

The Great Ocean Road in Australia, 243 kilometres (151 mi) stretch of road along the south-eastern coast of Australia between the Victorian cities of Torquay and Allansford, passes through many scenic spots and is unarguably one of the best driving roads in the world.Image courtesy: Google