Posts on Hacker News related to LiquidPiston go back 11(!) years. The most comments are on this post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25450477
If this was going to revolutionize anything, it would've happened by now.
If this was going to revolutionize anything, it would've happened by now.
There’s a big INVEST NOW button with a very low dollar amount, and I like how they even threw in the line about being an immigrant from Ukraine as if to capitalize on current events.
I’m sure they’re not a “scam” though, just a poor investment.
I mean I still don't believe Tesla's primary business model is cars; the competition is outselling them left right and center. Theirs is batteries and charging infrastructure. That's a huge market that can fuel the company for a century if they play their cards right.
apples? well he's just learning about agriculture, which we will need on Mars
toilets? well, people poop on Mars, too
overpriced AV cables? well, obviously Mars will need high end cables for stuff
https://cleantechnica.com/2020/09/22/everything-you-need-to-...
https://electrek.co/2023/04/21/tesla-update-4680-battery-cel...
Honestly, Tesla Energy is looking to eclipse Tesla as the main source of recurring revenue.
Seven-ish years ago while working on a hybrid-powered UAV I was checking out high power/weight engine platforms. I found a significant variety of regular Wankel engines that had MUCH better power/weight ratios and were available for purchase (not "real soon now").
Since power/weight is Liquid Piston's main claim to fame, this is rather important.
Today, a quick DDG search similarly returns many Wankel-based engines that definitely have better powr-weight ratios than Liquid Piston. The primary markets seem to be lightweight aircraft and some motorbikes.
The first one is AIE 80S [0]. It puts out 15BHP/11.2kW at 5kg/11 Lbs.
AIE's 225CS puts out 40BHP/30kW at 10kg [1].
In contrast, Liquid Piston's XS-210 weighs 21kg/46.7 Lbs to produce 19kW/26HP (third page of PDF spec sheet in button on [2]).
The net power/weight for these Wankels is 2.24kW/kg and 3.0 kW/kg. Compare this to the Liquid Piston XS210 0.9kW/kg. Liquid Pistoin's main advertised performance is between 1/2 and 1/3 of an already available Wankel. And there are many more Wankel options.
Plus, despite power/weight being Liquid Piston's main claim to fame, I have to wade through multiple pages, multiple "Invest Now!" popups, to finally dig down to their PDF spec sheet to even find an actual weight figure. In contrast, whereas the Wankel's pages post it right up front.
It is quite obvious that the Liquid Piston people know that they are not even close on their main claim to fame, yet are willing to just act as if they are the best available and count on people not actually doing their due diligence.
They literally look like they are in the same position as 7-8 years ago, "ohh we have this great lightweight new technology, shipping real soon now -- get in on the ground floor!!" I used to look at it as "maybe they'll get better". But at this point, it is pretty clear that they know they have nothing groundbreaking and are just trying to ride it as long as possible.
TBF, they MAY have a possible market using JP-8 fuel which is widely used and available in military contexts. But Wankels have been adapted to many different fuels and it would only be a temporary advantage if someone wants to get into this market.
Don't be parted from your money here....
[0] https://www.aieuk.com/80s-15bhp-wankel-rotary-engine/
Um, I haven't seen them significantly promote that even rhetorically, much less with data backup. Replacing Wankel's ordinary tip seals with ceramic tip seals (yes, more expensive) and proper lubrication both improves performance and very much extends inter-rebuild time.
I'm definitely interested if you can point me to any data showing LP extended life. Their previous comparisons have been so bogus as to be laughable, such as comparing their weight vs some old military diesel generator-set (and not to the much more relevant Wankel).
>>LP doesn't seem to execute well. Agree - that is the understatement of the year!