News Disneyland to Electrify Autopia: Are Tomorrowland Speedway's gas cars next?

freedogshampoo

freedogshampoo

Member
I wish they'd take Autopia a step further. Don't just electrify the vehicles, but remove the tracks and retrofit the cars with AI, LIDAR, or some other software so kids can safely maneuver the vehicles like a real car. The software can also prevent the cars from bumping into one another, thus saving on maintenance.
 
donaldtoo

donaldtoo

Well-Known Member
EricsBiscuit said:
What’s ironic is that gas powered cars will still dominate the future, barring some massive improvements in battery technology. There simply isn’t enough global lithium and copper production. Not even mentioning the inconvenient fact that the US grid can’t handle a massive increase in EVs.
Click to expand...

Also, EVs are heavier (because of the batteries required), which will cause accelerated road damage. Most road surfaces are still produced using petroleum products. The tires for EVs are produced using petroleum products. The plastics in EVs are produced using petroleum products. Roughly 95% of electrical power in the USA is generated by petroleum products. The base material for even synthetic oil is almost always distilled crude oil. All friction parts on an EV are going to need a lubricant that involves a petroleum product. Even the friction parts on a hydroelectric turbine will need to be lubricated by something involving petroleum, etc., etc., etc.
And, the other thing with EVs…how to constantly be disposing of those giant, poisonous used batteries…?! 🤔
 
Mark Dunne

Mark Dunne

Well-Known Member
Cant believe its taken this long to be honest , this should of happened in m.k whilst Tron was being constructed, would of been more of a flowing experience in Tomorrowland , o well I'm sure once this gets completed , solar cars will be the new norm.
 
D

DisneyCane

Well-Known Member
Why bother dealing with recharging? I don't think it would be that difficult to design a system to connect to a power rail on the ground that allows for the slight lateral movement of the cars. A DC system with the "hot" connection inside some kind of a slot so it can't be easily touched shouldn't be all that difficult to implement.

It would be more expensive but they could probably figure out some kind of induction system as well.
 
D

DisneyCane

Well-Known Member
donaldtoo said:
Also, EVs are heavier (because of the batteries required), which will cause accelerated road damage. Most road surfaces are still produced using petroleum products. The tires for EVs are produced using petroleum products. The plastics in EVs are produced using petroleum products. Roughly 95% of electrical power in the USA is generated by petroleum products. The base material for even synthetic oil is almost always distilled crude oil. All friction parts on an EV are going to need a lubricant that involves a petroleum product. Even the friction parts on a hydroelectric turbine will need to be lubricated by something involving petroleum, etc., etc., etc.
And, the other thing with EVs…how to constantly be disposing of those giant, poisonous used batteries…?! 🤔
Click to expand...
The other thing about the weight issue is I wonder how it effects the loading on bridges and parking structures. Were they designed with enough margin to handle the same number of vehicles but 50%+ more average weight?
 
Tha Realest

Tha Realest

Well-Known Member
DisneyCane said:
The other thing about the weight issue is I wonder how it effects the loading on bridges and parking structures. Were they designed with enough margin to handle the same number of vehicles but 50%+ more average weight?
Click to expand...
Shhhh…that just means we’ll get our third “infrastructure” bill in a ten year span
 
donaldtoo

donaldtoo

Well-Known Member
DisneyCane said:
The other thing about the weight issue is I wonder how it effects the loading on bridges and parking structures. Were they designed with enough margin to handle the same number of vehicles but 50%+ more average weight?
Click to expand...

For comparison sake, a Tesla Model 3 weighs about 270 lbs. more than a Toyota Camry. Although not insignificant, it’s nowhere near 50% heavier.
An example of a much more significant weight difference is that the Ford F-150 Lightning weighs about 2,000-3,000 lbs. more than the same combustion engine model.
Also, it currently takes about 5-7 gallons of crude oil to produce one average car tire.
The tires for the aforementioned pickups are about twice as heavy/large as the car tire, overall.
The F-150 EV would lead to quicker road and tire deterioration, and more tire “dust” left on road surfaces.
And then there’s all the discarded old tires to be factored in.
About 280 million tires are discarded every year in the US. Granted, about 30 million are retreaded or reused, many are used in the production of road surfaces, etc., but it is also estimated that about 45% of discarded tires go to landfills, stockpiles and illegal dumps.
Even if all tires in the future were produced using something like BioIsoprene, there’s still the issue of dealing with all the discarded tires.
And all that is just the tire factor, alone.
My point has been that EVs aren’t, currently, the panacea that some think. We, of course, would be stupid not to pursue cleaner, greener technologies (that I’m sure will continue to improve as the years pass), but it isn’t going to happen overnight. IMO anyway, the transitions all need to happen in a common sense, balanced manner, and not in an emotional, knee jerk manner.

When we were at MK last October, I sat out while the rest of the family rode the Speedway, simply because getting my old, fat beeeeehind in and out of one of those cars would have been a real chore, and I wasn’t willing to provide any bystanders with that much comedy…!!!!! :hilarious:
But, as I sat there on a bench between the Speedway and Cosmic Ray’s, I too again pondered why those cars hadn’t already been modified to EVs.
I wonder how much more the new EV cars may weigh than the current model…?! 🤔;)

I also saw in another post that it was suggested they electrify the rail. If that can be made as safe as my old slot car track, I’m all for it…!!! ;):)

On a side note…
My first job when I was in HS was at a local go-kart track. As I sat there outside the Speedway, the memories came flooding back…the smell, the sound of the acceleration with the centrifugal clutches and all, etc.
Good times…!!!!! :happy:
 
cookiee_munster

cookiee_munster

Well-Known Member
I'll die on this hill, but the Walt Disney World version really needs to be replaced with Aquatopia.

11035879164_1b4bc1660d_b.jpg


Saying that though, electric vehicles is a step up.
 
D

doctornick

Well-Known Member
cookiee_munster said:
I'll die on this hill, but the Walt Disney World version really needs to be replaced with Aquatopia.

View attachment 776938

Saying that though, electric vehicles is a step up.
Click to expand...
I really feel like Aquatopia would have been a nice addition to the Epcot hub area. Adding some kinetics to the area and a new ride. Could have even been incorporated into the new hall and gone around part of it.
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom