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manchego

I'm just waiting for flywheel powered buses to make a return: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyrobus

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Wow I had no idea this existed

>Disadvantages

>Weight: a bus which can carry 20 persons and has a range of 2 km (1.2 mi) requires a flywheel weighing about 3 tons.

>The flywheel, which turns at 3000 revolutions per minute, requires special attachment and security—because the external speed of the disk is 900 km/h (560 mph).

It's truly a mystery why they never caught on

You missed the last and most funny one

>Driving a gyrobus has the added complexity that the flywheel acts as a gyroscope that will resist changes in orientation, for example when a bus tilts while making a turn, assuming that the flywheel has a horizontal rotation axis.

So you have a giant blender than can travel one mile in a straight line before needing to be recharged

Shouldn't it still be able to turn, just not tilt?

It depends what orientation you mount the gyroscope in, but yeah the "correct" way would be to make it axis vertical to limit pitch and roll

There once was a train that made clever use of that effect: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyro_monorail

Cool :) but reminds me that all energy storage is scary and an accident waiting to happen.

Flows > stocks, overhead wire for the win!

I personally think Battery buses with SAE J3105 'docking' points at key stops (basically, the stops that are used to loiter to set timing, rather than leaving as soon as possible) is a better solution than the cost of stringing OHL through every major road in a city.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battery_electric_bus#Chargin...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAE_J3105

Reading about this and matching it up with what I see in some more recent electric truck and ferry charging videos I feel this is almost historic tech.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megawatt_Charging_System

Think that’s bad? Look at this thing! https://www.en-former.com/en/mammoth-flywheel-for-irelands-g...

4GJ of stored energy, dischargeable in eight seconds.

Trains in operation:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_139

I'm currently reading "The Windup Girl" set in a mostly-post-fossil-fuel future, where most energy storage is springs.

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