Steam Powered 1963 Ford Falcon

[DeSwiss]

- So when gas prices begin shooting skyward later this year (and they will), here's an alternative. Because I'm relatively certain that this guy's plans and blueprints lay buried in a corporate safe (grave) somewhere......

[Indydem]

1. So you think this could ever actually work?

Looking forward to going out and firing up the furnace every morning for 20 minutes before work to boil the water for your commute?

How about the way home? Is your employer going to grant you access to a furnace to boil your water?

What about the grocery store? They going to install boiler for you to use so you can get home?

What about when the temperature is -4 and it's so cold that your water no longer makes steam after 5 miles?

There is a reason that steam trains went out, and a reason why this technology was never adopted. It is called logic.

[DeSwiss]

2. Ha-ha, how quaint you sound.

- I'm surprised you didn't reference horses and buggies. Not only is there such a thing as superheated steam power, there's also this:

Petroleum is from for dinosaurs.....

[Indydem]

3. Apples to arrugala

The electric car is (with lithium ion technology and its successors) a viable alternative to the ICE. It may not replace all modes of transportation, but 80%+ is doable.

Boiling water and pouring it into your car, is not.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

4. You clearly don't understand steam car technology

First, there was the Stanley Motor Carriage Company, manufacturers of the "Stanley Steamer" that made steam-powered cars from 1902-1924. It failed because the cars were underpowered and overpriced, the Stanley brothers hadn't a clue about marketing, the steam plant did take about 15 minutes to get going from a cold start and the gasoline-powered internal combustion engine (with the electric starter) did become efficient. Finally, after the death of one of the Stanley brothers, the other one sold the company to a man who ran it into the ground.

There have been improvements since the 1920s. One of the major ones was the quick-starting steam engine (developed for steam ships, but easily adaptable for smaller steam engines) which reduced the starting time for the steam engine to a minute or two. So your "firing up the furnace every morning for 20 minutes before work" is no longer true.

The furnace to boil the water is an integral part of the engine (and always has been), so your "Is your employer going to grant you access to a furnace to boil your water?" is merely silly.

Does your car stop running after 5 miles on a very cold day? Well, neither will a steam powered car, unless you run out of fuel.

The main reason diesel-electric locomotives replaced steam engines was mainly due to lower costs, both initial cost of the locomotive and upkeep. It was not due to superior technology.

[Indydem]

5. Well, shit.

When I heard in the video "external combustion" and saw them pouring water into the engine, I made some assumptions.

Upon further research, I find that I was entirely fucking wrong.

Thanks for setting me straight.