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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;">While a battery can store energy, one must ask in any given application whether the cost of the battery is worth the particular advantage of being able to store energy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">   </span>In making this determination, the useful operating life of the battery must be known and accounted for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;">One must also consider the falloff in battery performance as it nears the end of its useful life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Some batteries might be rated such that the falloff begins half way through their stated operating life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>The natural limitation of batteries causes them to always be hard pressed to achieve a credible performance in the first place, so any aging falloff can be immediately problematic for performance.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;">Battery performance falls off in cold weather.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>And there is no way to create heat to warm the batteries other than using battery energy to create the heat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Recently it has been discovered that the Chevy Volt’s 40-mile range falls down into the 20-30 mile range in northern winters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>And even achieving that range, drivers are told they must “manage” the use of their cabin heaters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">    </span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;">Another problem is that batteries are heavy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>They are already hard pressed to perform, and yet their own weight adds significantly to the work that needs to be done in order to haul them around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>A significant portion of the energy is lost just in the effort to haul the batteries around.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;">What is it that NS is trying to accomplish with a battery-electric locomotive?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span></span></span></span></p>
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