Sunday, December 8, 2013

Wondering if Santa will upgrade his sleigh?

In this day and age, maybe old Saint Nick should think about updating his sleigh.  For one thing, he needs all the money he can get to acquire supplies for toy making and if he could save a little on fuel costs for the sleigh, with all the miles he travels, it would be a significant amount.  Let's take a look at the options he has opened to him.

We will look at these options and then compare the costs of operation to his "old school" reindeer powered sleigh, or should I say his sleigh pulled by reindeer.

1)   The rage today is for electric powered cars, so lets look at that option first.  American electric cars use liquid-cooled lithium-ion batteries.  Since the sleigh flies through the air and there is no road friction or such, we will estimate that he would get the equivalent of 105 mpg and at a cost of $0.125 per kilowatt-hour, doing the math, it would cost him four cents per mile.  Not bad, but where will he find a charging station?

2)   Since we are on the topic of electric powered, how about solar.  To fit up the sleigh with solar panels that would do the job, it would cost from a hundred grand up to a million.  But then Santa would have to fly in the day time.  Not a good option for him.

3)   So now, lets look at the good old internal combustion engine.  Well, let us say he would get 50 mpg and would require 92,000 gallons (magical sleighs have huge fuel tanks) at $3.75 per gallon, that would be 7.5 cents per mile.  Of course, that depends on the fluctuating cost of crude oil.

4)   OK, let's go nuclear.  Cost of fuel used per mile would be negligible, BUT, the weight of the shielding required would make this choice of fuel impractical.

5)   Let me see, oh yes, how about a balloon?  The balloon would be expensive and you would be totally controlled by the wind direction.  I have heard that sometimes it is best to go with the wind, but not for Santa.

6)   I can't forget coal power, since both my grandpas worked on the railroad back in the steam days.  Anyway, Santa already carries coal on board for all the bad boys and girls, and he just wouldn't have room for any additional coal to use as fuel.

7)   As promised, here is the cost of a reindeer powered sleigh.  The fuel is basically just vegetation which comes to about 0.006 cents per mile.  But, they also have to be fed and cared for all year long.

Well, which fuel do you think would be the best and which one do you think would be the worse choice?  BTW, this blog was based on an article in Discover by Jim Sullivan.  Now you all be good boys and girls and let Santa save the coal for someone else, you hear?

16 comments:

  1. Hey, please don't mess with tradition.

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    1. OK, I will not mess with tradition, but can't I wonder why and wonder if?

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  2. I guess Santa should stick with good old rendeer, but I wish I could afford to get an electric car!

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    1. Yep, I agree. They give the best mileage. So, if you got an electric car, where along the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Sky Line Drive can you plug it in if the charge gets low? I will stick with fossil fuels. Don't want all that ancient vegetation and dinosaurs to have died in vein. . .

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  3. Well, those same reindeer have been pulling that sleigh around for many, many years... how many vehicles are still in operation after that many years and that many miles?

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    1. None that I know of, and it also sits around doing nothing 364 days each year. If he traded the reindeer in on a car or truck, it would probably rust solid for sitting that long.

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  4. I think he should stick to his old traditional way...it does not really matter...he has snubbed me for years ( me, with a tear rolling down my eye) ...:-(

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    1. Being snubbed by Santa is better than getting dirty old coal.

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  5. Perhaps Santa could work a trade; sleigh and reindeer for a magic carpet. A magic carpet would cost nothing to operate and is capable of flight, or instant movement of passengers from one place to another.

    The only downside I can think of is that no one will want to trade.

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    1. Yep, and on cold nights you can wrap up in the blanket, but you may wake up somewhere else in the morning.

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  6. If it's not broke, don't fix it!

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    1. You are right. In fact, a lot of times I don't even fix the things that are broke.

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  7. DD you CAN'T take away Rudolph!!! What would all the kids think, without the reindeer team?

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  8. dang, Dizzy.... reindeer power is the only way for Santa... besides, it's magic propulsion ... you can't mess with magic... well, you can but y'ought not to... you going to wonder about the tooth fairy next? or what about the Easter damn Bunny... it's all magic ... and whether it's fairy wings or bunny feet or reindeer paw propulsion ...

    some things ought to just be...

    Have you considered wondering why human feet get callouses? I mean our feet are made to be used ... why do they protest so much ... maybe it's our choice of shoes ... but we can't go barefoot ~ too many rocks and stickers and duck poop...

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    1. You are listing a lot of magical stuff. You could use them as future blog material.

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