Some sections of motorway are patrolled by fuel tankers - preferably filled with LPG - with a boom at the back.
You have a retractable nozzle fitted to the front of your car.
If you are low on fuel you come up behind the tanker and dock the nozzle with the boom. This also makes an optical connection. The electronics on the tanker take over control of your steering, brakes and throttle. Yur credit is verified and if OK your tank is refilled. A bleeper sounds and you press an accept button, you then are undocked and get control back.
Obviously the fuel would be charged at a premium price for the convenience.
LPG would be used so any spills would instantly evaporate , quickly dispersing any fire risk.-- 8th of 7, Jun 13 2002 Ah, but it's good to pull over and stretch your legs.-- waugsqueke, Jun 13 2002 Translation: I can't find anything wrong with this, but i don't particularly like it either. Yet, i feel i must comment...-- [ sctld ], Jun 13 2002 no for good, read healthy.-- po, Jun 13 2002 How do the chocolate bars get delivered?-- drew, Jun 13 2002 pigeon post - they have their uses.-- po, Jun 13 2002 Only if it can be bi-directional to dispose of 'waste products.'
'Hurry up and hook up, dad. I gotta go...'-- RayfordSteele, Jun 13 2002 [Ray] So any gases going out are recycled and you get a rebate.
[waugs] What stretch your legs? He's pulling them.
How does one refuel the refueller?-- FarmerJohn, Jun 13 2002 drew: A robot arm drops them though your sunroof.
RayfordSteele: No reason why not, for RV's. You need never park ..... water, propane in, waste out. Food though a roof hatch. 4 drivers, 6 hour shifts. But why ?
FarmerJohn: You have a tanker driving along the inside lane. The empty tanker docks with the full tanker. The empty tanker then refules from the one ahead. The empty tanker then refuels from the one ahead ....
I guess one of the tankers needs to be a Klein Tanker ...-- 8th of 7, Jun 13 2002 This wouldn't do much good for most cars, but is an interesting idea anyway.
An old boss once had an inflight refueling system for his cycle gang...a beer keg in a styrofoam treasure chest on a tricycle. Put the hose in the tank and the guy on the trike pumps the tap, and away you go.-- StarChaser, Jun 14 2002 scuttled... what I found wrong with the idea is the notion of abandoning 'gas' stops.-- waugsqueke, Jun 14 2002 Can't see the point of this. I can do almost 500 miles on a tank of petrol. I need to stop for other reasons before refuelling.-- angel, Jun 14 2002 // The electronics on the tanker take over control of your steering, brakes and throttle. //
So we'd all need to get new cars to use this?
Wouldn't it be cooler to have like in the old Spyhunter video game a truck you drive into the back of to get refilled and refitted with cool new weaponry.-- pottedstu, Jun 14 2002 I can't support any idea that makes it easier for people to drive their cars, stay in their cars, or focus their lives on cars in any way. However, if this idea dealt with in-drive recharging for people with electric cars, I would grant my croissant. As it is, I think there's something stuck in the retractable nozzle... It feels like a bone of some type...-- earl, Jun 14 2002 Good Idea. My co-workers and I modified this to be a 5-mile "pit" area parallel to the highway that you would pull over into. 15 gallon tanks would be mounted on elevated rails, riding carriages that match your speed, and refuel you in a couple minutes before you merge back into the main highway. All totally automated of course.-- riromero, Jan 07 2003 Could you put a "JP5" sticker on the tank so I would get to feel like a fighter pilot?-- rapid transit, May 20 2003 Never understood the title of that game, "Spyhunter." Seems to me that I was always the one hunted.-- WordUp, Jun 21 2004 // The electronics on the tanker take over control of your steering, brakes and throttle. //
// you press an accept button, you then are undocked and get control back//
I would stop at a tank, request 4 gallons and not let go of the tanker for a long time. Saves a lot of time for me!
A better solution is, The truck could just rent out "Pull time". Saves fuel, and you also get to enjoy like a passenger instead of taking all the strain of driving.
The same truck could probably pull up to 5 or 7 cars depending on weight, thus making more money.-- kamathln, Nov 22 2008 random, halfbakery