UCLA Now Has the First Zero-Emission, All-Electric Mobile Surgical Instrument Lab 26
UCLA's new mobile surgical lab is a zero-emission, all-electric vehicle that will move back and forth between two UCLA campuses, collecting, sterilizing and repairing surgical instruments for the medical staff there. TechCrunch reports: Why is that even needed? The usual process is sending out surgical instruments for this kind of service by a third-party, and it's handled in a dedicated facility at a significant annual cost. UCLA Health Center estimates that it can save as much as $750,000 per year using the EV lab from Winnebago instead. The traveling lab can operate for around eight hours, including round-trips between the two hospital campuses, or for a total distance traveled of between 85 and 125 miles on a single charge of its battery, depending on usage. It also offers "the same level of performance, productivity and compliance" as a lab in a fixed-location building, according to Winnebago.
I'm surprised it's a 'bago (Score:4, Interesting)
I would have got it from IC Bus, Blue Bird, or Thomas (Freightliner). Buses are built much more durably than RVs. Blue Bird built the first modern full-EV school bus back in the nineties (with a 100 mile range) and has another prototype out in service now with a 300-400 mile range. In a collision, buses usually demolish other vehicles, and hold up even in a rollover, but RVs generally disintegrate at the least provocation.
Re:I'm surprised it's a 'bago (Score:4, Informative)
That's because they transport everybody's precious little progeny.
School buses are definitely held to the highest standard, but transit buses are also built better than RVs. I do have a pic around here somewhere of a full size school bus perched atop a short bus, though. The bus I'm RV converting is a transit bus whose passenger box is built exactly like a school bus, but on an even heavier chassis. There's a steel rib every 24-33 inches, and where it's interrupted by a window they put a steel header across above and below the window for the rib to connect to. There's a heavy, folded rail along that runs the full length except where interrupted by a doorway, that all the rails tie into. It's built seriously. RVs are made out of sticks and tinder. But the RVs tend to actually have higher output versions of the same engines used in school buses, even though they're less safe. It's completely bananas.
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I'm guessing the pop out sides were the primary drive.
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You can get various companies to retrofit slides, and I've even seen a few skoolies with them. Normally they have roof raises, but you would have room in a low floor transit bus. No doubt you're correct, though.
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Now, don't confuse everyone. Just cal lit "zero".
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Recycle them to eliminate the mining?
But we still need... (Score:4, Insightful)
More Zero Emission Electric energy sources.
Like solar, wind, hydro, geothermal and nuclear.
There's no point in an electric vehicle that is charged by burning carbon based fuels.
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There's no point in an electric vehicle that is charged by burning carbon based fuels.
Of course there is a point. Or would you consider it a better idea to postpone building EVs until the entire infrastructure has been built first ?
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Charging infrastructure is everywhere right now. There aren't many places you can go where there's no electricity. In fact, it's pretty much assumed that other than preppers or roughing it style camping, your destination will have electricity.
What we lack is fast charging infrastructure - we have slow charge infrastructure (it's everywhere) and it works quite well
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"There's no point in an electric vehicle that is charged by burning carbon based fuels."
Yes, there is. The internal combustion engine in an average car is obscenely inefficient. I think even the best commercial ICE vehicle is 30% efficient, usually its closer to 20-25%. Your average combined cycle power plant is well over 50%, even old coal plants top 37%. Even accounting for the transmission, charging and vehicle losses (60-80% efficiency) you'd have to use 100% power from an old coal plant to see an o
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we need more EV's with smaller battery packs and range extenders
I believe we call those hybrids, I am shopping for one now. The cost premium is a whopping $1000 or so on the models I am looking at.
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There's no point in an electric vehicle that is charged by burning carbon based fuels.
Sure there is: marketing hype
It technology in medicine give very good results (Score:1)
2 UCLA campuses? (Score:1)
No solar panels on the roof? (Score:2)
On-Site (Score:2)
not to be pedantic (Score:2)
Zero *point* emission, meaning the vehicle itself doesn't generate emissions (except perhaps a little ozone but we'll ignore that for the purpose of this discussion).
The electricity it runs on, if it comes from the LA grid, is 34% natural gas, 19% coal, 9% nuclear, 5% hydro, the rest from other sources. The label "zero emission" is usually more marketing than science. But whatever. I guess it works for people who believe that electricity is magically created at the plug, just like meat is somehow made at