old man emu

No mass transport system for the carriage of humans makes a profit. It is freight that makes the profit because the costs of transport can be forwarded onto the end consumer of the freight.

Nev, You're the greatest bloody naysayer of all times! When anyone posts anything, you misread it and then bag it. Did you even watch the video? I bet not! All I was saying was that the video explained the concept underpining the hybrid design. I said nothing about power output comparisons. Of course energy cannot be created from nothing. It can be converted from one form to another - with losses as was stated in the video.

This video gives a good explanation of how a hybrid EV works. What I found interesting was at teh end when the presenter explained the differeence between a parallel and a series hybrid. Apparently in a the parallel the vehicle has a low power output ICE and the battery boosts the available power when needed for beginning to roll; hill climbing or overtaking. In a series system, the engine is in fact a generator which continually tops up the battery as the battery discharges to power the electric motors. So a Toyota Hybrid uses the parallel system and BYD Shark uses the series system. That's why the Toyota has better fuel economy than the Shark.

Som of the kids might have been born in Syria, but some of them were Australian born and taken there as young 'uns. I'm concrened about how ISIS indoctrination might have done to those kids.

Well that's one positive thing. And they don't desribe it as a home-built ultra-light.

For what it is worth: https://time.com/article/2026/05/07/trump-xi-china-meeting-what-to-expect/

No. I am not assuming the weight is mostly the prime mover. All I meant was that a road train of a prime mover and two trailers has one less prime mover than if each of the two trailers was pulled by a prime mover. In other words, a two trailer combination halves the amount of weight of two prime movers. These are the legal axle weights:

Who do you think sets the price of fuel? I bet the oil companies are partying over the sitution Trump has created. I bet the party is being held in the East Wing Ballroom.

Well, we do have compulsory voting, and that's good. Everyone gets to make a choice. That's good. First past the post? Dunno, Just look at the primary votes in recent elections. It is very rare that a candidate gets more than 50% +1. At least with preferential voting one can indicate that which candidate you really don't want, and which candidates one thinks are better than the others.

Short road trains are very commonly seen running up and down the Newell. I suppose that with a train of two trailers at least the rod is spared the weight of one prime mover.

That may be correct, but building the infrastructure to run them on is where the cost is. Also, railways need a higher level of maintenance than roads. Trains don't like potholes and other sorts of irregularities that trucks can accept from the roads they travel over.

You are pretty spot on about business owners. My son's business is fitting all those extra bits and pieces to 4WDs. Regarding the legality of driving an over-GVM vehicle, I can recall a case a few year ago in which a driver of a towing and over-GVM vehicle/caravan combination was convicted of causing the death of a passenger when the unit crashed.

Do you reckon that was the preliminary step towards launching the attack on Iran?

Dangerously exceeding load capacity. Rig out one of these big vehcles, not matter what the power source is, and you are overweight, or need to be a fly-weight to drive them.

Unintended consequences. Prior to Trump's excursion into Iran, tankers were sailing from the Gulf countries through the Strait of Hurmuz to the oil refineries of the United States. These tankers are slow. It takes them weeks to make the journey. This week, the last tanker out of the Gulf arrived in the USA. The ones that had been filled after it are stuck in the Persian Gulf because of the closure of the Strait. Think of this. If the Strait was opened today, it would take six or more weeks before the first tanker arrived at a US port to unload. Then thee is the time it takes to refine the oil and distribute it. In the meantime, fuel becomes scarce and economic knowledge tells us that the price will skyrocket to somethng around $US7.00 per US gallon for rteh American consumer. Experts predict that if teh Strait opened today, oil prices would remain at these very high prices until the middle of 2027. Even if the Democrats sweep the mid-term elections and oust Trump, Americans will be out of fuel well into 2028.

My son has a BYD Shark PHEV. I've been looking at some Australian-made videos on Youtube made by 4WD influencers, and most of what they present is positive. However there are a few things that have got me thinking that the design concept of the vehicle is wrong. First, the vehicle is a 3-tonne dual cab. It is a tall vehicle, meaning that one has to climb up into it. Why so big? It has a Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) of 3,500 kg and a payload of approximately 790 kg. That 750 kg paylod has to include the weight of five persons plus luggage and other junk. Don't forget that if the vehicle is used to tow a caravan or other type of trailer, the towball weight has to be taken from the 750 kg. I wonder how useful it would be as a tradie's ute. How much do a tradie's tools weigh? And how often do five tradies travel in the one vehicle? Next I don't see it as an off-road vehicle. A lot of the videos show it being used off-raod, but I think this is a mistake. I think people might not understand that although each wheel of the vehicle is driven by its own motor, it does not, to my mind, equate to the traditional 4WD. While each motor delivers maximum torque immediately, off-road driving requires that the torque from an ICE or EV power plant should be controlled. I think that the correct application of an EV motor is through a gearbox if one wants to drive through mud, sand and climb mountains. BYD has been honest in stating that the battery-only range is 100 km. That is sufficient for daily running around the local area. They have been honest to say that for longer distances, the 1.5 litre ICE engine must be used. This engine is basically an onborad electrical generator which uses about 7.5 litres/100 km at highway speed without towing. Towing a medium sized caravan or horse float can blow that out to about 20 litres/100km. One advantage of teh BYD battery system is that it has outlest which can provide 240 volts. That would be useful for a tradie to run chargers for cordless tools. Why do I think the design concept is wrong? Around my way, the most popular style of work vehicle is the Toyota Hillux in single or dual cab. The vehicle weighs about 2 tonnes with a load capacity of about 900 kg. This design suits the needs of farmers and tradies. It is available in 2 or 4WD configuration. Why couldn't a model with an EV power system be made to this design? Toyota has a Hilux EV, but it is a big monster like the Shark.

The Federal Government has just announced that work on the inland rail route between Melbourne and Brisbane will cease when the track reaches Parkes in Central NSW. The given reason is that to complete the trtack from Parkes to Brisbane would cost $46 billion dollars. The purpose of the route was to reduce reliance on road transport between Queensland and Victoria along the Newell Highway which is the inland route. Already millions have been spent on preliminary geophysical investigations along the proposed route north of Parkes. Rural properties have been purchased. The Gilgandra Shire created a residential estate will all the road and water infrastructure for the building of housing to rent to the construction workers employed on the nearby section. Once the work was completed those houses would be placed on the public market for sale. However, demand for housing follows demand for employment, and there is not much locally. There was nothing wrong with the concept of a dedicated freight line between these two States. The problem, no doubt, is that the ability to generate the funding for the project, amongst all the other demands on government, is beyond the capacity of a Nation with such a small population compared to its area. Perhaps if our natural resources had not been sold off at bargain basement prices, or tax concessions to foreign companies were curtailed, the Government might be able to provide the funds to finance the many demands made of it. Here's a link to the Inland Rail website: https://inlandrail.com.au/

Holy cow! GON posted something which positively promotes the discussion. Good onya, GON!

It sems that all is not doom and gloom. Trump will go down in history as the creator af a new World Order. A new World Order based on cooperation amongst Nations for the good of all peoples. That new World Order will have the USA as an orbiting satelite.

The USA has been on Israel's side since Day-1 if the State of Israel. At the birth of the State of Israel, the Middle East was territory overseen by the British and French under United Nations mandates. The USA shouldn't have had anything to do with things there.

These baby videos are so funny.

That's ironic. Isn't one of their beliefs that governments should have no control over the individual?

Ironically, $600-$700 per week would be sufficient to service a mortgage, if there was a house to purchase.

Trump's 60-day DIY war declaration power has expired. Will Congress kowtow to him, or stand up for the rights of the rest of the World?

Post here or in the AI thread? An enjoyable use of AI to make a cute video.