[GreenMonster]

So I was thinking about how to save gas and kilowatts for all drivers. I have this large hill near my house that I go up every day and use up a lot of battery. Then when I go down I get great mileage.
Have any of you ever seen those machines in Walmart by the escalators that pull the carts up the stairs in the middle of the up and down escalators?
What if there were giant car size versions of those on most of the major Hills where cars go. We could all hook up and get pulled up and the coast down. Even gas cars would be invited to participate. Think how many gallons of gas and electricity we could save ! I think they could install a bunch of those for a fraction of the price of that bullet train and it would be a lot better use of the money.

 

[SSonnentag]

I thought of this years ago. With an equal number of cars wanting to come down the hill, the weight of the downward vehicles would lift the upward vehicles, so the energy requirements would be relatively small. Now if everyone wanted to go up and nobody was headed down...; That would require a lot of energy to lift all those vehicles.

 

[srmarti]

Sounds like more trouble than it's worth. It's just transferring the energy consumption to a huge machine that will need constant servicing. How many people are going to want to play cable-car to save a bit of energy? Heck, most won't even slow down to the posted speed limit.

 

[saghost]

You're not saving any electricity overall - the energy your car would spend to pull you up is now being spent turning the conveyer to pull you up instead, plus the extra energy involved in keeping the belt turning.

It does shift some gas usage to stationary electric usage, but there are easier ways to do that - and for the cost of building this, you could probably buy a bunch of EVs.

 

[Henry_FL]

it would be a lot better use of the money.

Don't give up your day job ... unless its giving out government money for useless projects

 

[Just_Jon]

First of all, what kinda hoity-toity Walmart (granted an oxymoron) has escalators?

Second, the logistics of loading and unloading the auto-escalator brings to mind Hindenburg-esque queues. How fast would they run? How many lanes? What happens when the Governor orders it closed for lord-knows-why? People can't consistently do people-escalators properly and we aren't approaching at 55+mph.

Why not set-up a car exchange program for top-of-the-hill and bottom-of-the-hill and only move people up and down. Heck, they could use stairs and save a ton of energy.

P.S. - Didn't realize until after I posted that the O.P. is Ricky-Bobby. That explains so much. Carrying on a proud tradition of, shall we say, unconventional thinking.

 

[Bacardi]

Better idea...Just put a several rows of solar panels on the mountains SW face from top to bottom...

 

[ampera_jed]

Just do a bit of earth moving and make it down hill in both directions.

 

[Mister Dave]

Don't give up your day job ... unless its giving out government money for useless projects

In that case please give up your day job!

 

[Loboc]

Just. ..... lol.

OP must be in used car sales. No way someone that passed 8th grade science would post this.

I like the suggestion to grade the road to be downhill both directions! Much simpler and uses passive power. Gravity.

 

[Geohec]

Just. ..... lol.

OP must be in used car sales. No way someone that passed 8th grade science would post this.

Careful criticizing the GreenMonster.......HULK SMASH!

 

[llninja]

First of all, what kinda hoity-toity Walmart (granted an oxymoron) has escalators?

In Boston, there are several grocery stores that moved into older big buildings that put parking on the first floor and all the shopping on the second, because of parking space difficulties. In chicago, there's a grocery store where the parking deck is on the roof, over the groceries. I had this really ineasy feeling while shopping there that some guy's suburban was going to come crashing down into the cereal aisle.

As for the concept, I think it's crazy. The friction from the conveyor and the power needed to keep it moving when nobody is on the road is going to chobber any savings. Plus, now you've created a line and how are you going to connect cars to a moving platform at highway speeds? all sorts of recipies for disaster. OP, please don't run for president. You might get yourself elected with thinking like that (I'm going to build a wall...)

 

[Fyodor]

The OP is punking us again. Have we forgotten his scheme to save energy by drafting? The real craziness is in taking him seriously.

 

[GreenMonster]

Well, they laughed at Galileo too

 

[viking79]

First of all, what kinda hoity-toity Walmart (granted an oxymoron) has escalators?

I visited S. Korea for work (not far from Seoul) and found it interesting that pretty much any store or residence is in high rise buildings.

When you have a store like Wal-Mart in a small high rise building, it might take up 3 or 4 floors of the building. You still need a cart to shop, so there are cart escalators (angled moving ramps) in these stores. Craziest things I have seen, but being from the US in a small urban area there is no need to expand up. Just google: "home plus escalator" images and you will see them.

 

[Bacardi]

Well, they laughed at Galileo too

My friends LAUGHED AT me for buying a Volt, glad my status has been elevated to Galileo's level!

 

[Fyodor]

I visited S. Korea for work (not far from Seoul) and found it interesting that pretty much any store or residence is in high rise buildings.

When you have a store like Wal-Mart in a small high rise building, it might take up 3 or 4 floors of the building. You still need a cart to shop, so there are cart escalators (angled moving ramps) in these stores. Craziest things I have seen, but being from the US in a small urban area there is no need to expand up. Just google: "home plus escalator" images and you will see them.

The new Target store here in Brampton had these. I'd never seen them before either, and Target went out of business in months, so I guess I've missed my chance.

 

[cjaama]

So I was thinking about how to save gas and kilowatts for all drivers. I have this large hill near my house that I go up every day and use up a lot of battery. Then when I go down I get great mileage.
Have any of you ever seen those machines in Walmart by the escalators that pull the carts up the stairs in the middle of the up and down escalators?
What if there were giant car size versions of those on most of the major Hills where cars go. We could all hook up and get pulled up and the coast down. Even gas cars would be invited to participate. Think how many gallons of gas and electricity we could save ! I think they could install a bunch of those for a fraction of the price of that bullet train and it would be a lot better use of the money.

In case anyone is confused, CA legalized recreational marijuana.

 

[!arry4pyro]

It wouldn't take a lot of power if the load going up is balanced by the load going down, sort of like a funiclar train. There's a canal boat lift in Belgium that uses this principle. its capable of lifting really big river boats and barges.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strépy-Thieu_boat_lift

 

[Raymondjram]

Put up multiple threadmills with generators to power the conveyor. Then offer free treadmill use for all who need to lose weight!