I wrote a post over on AutoblogGreen about the new hydrogen filling station that opened in Taylor, MI today and my opportunity to drive the hydrogen fuel cell powered Ford Focus. Ford has a fleet of these zero emissions running around the country right now. I’d really appreciate if you could go over to Digg.com and vote for the story. If enough people digg the post it might be able to get to the front page. Even if you don’t digg it, go check out the story! This car is the future of transportation. The only thing that comes out the tail pipe is water!
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Cool! So, how much does it cost to fill the tank with hydrogen? Also, if the car gets rearended does the whole thing explode if the tank ruptures?
The construction of the H2 tnak is such that it should be safe. As for the cost of filling up, I don’t know the answer to that one. But when I asked the Ford rep when they think it might be available, his response was “The first $1.1 million takes one!” so if you can manage the current price you won’t worry about the cost of hydrogen.
The open issue with hydrogen is that currently it is produced from ng (non- renewable) and electrolizing water. In order to provide enough h2 fuel we would either build huge new nuclear plants, burn enormous amounts of coal or further deplete a resource already in terminal decline (ng) in North America.
Until we have a better source for electricity, hydrogen vehicles are a horse pushing a cart (IMHO). If we had a new technology that produced enormous amounts of electricity, why not just build electric vehicles? That way, avoid the energy losses….
– All of which assumes the “other” issues around this technology will be resolved
– One vote logged
First thanks for the vote. The production and distribution of Hydrogen does remain the biggest stumbling block. Electrolysis does take energy, but there are options beyond nuclear. Solar and wind power in coastal areas could generate a lot of electricity for electrolysis. The problem with running vehicles on batteries, is that chemical batteries remain a lousy way of storing energy. The batteries themselves are made out nasty toxic materials.
Even the most advanced batteries today, lithium-ion batteries have a lot of problems. If they’re not manufactured properly, they tend to have rather nasty uncontrolled thermal events (google for “dell laptop battery fires” if you’re not familiar with this one). These batteries also have a limited number of charge cycles. If you have owned an ipod, cell phone or laptop for more than about 18 months you will be familiar with the problem of batteries that will no longer hold a charge.
The other issue with electrics is the power grid. If you experienced the blackout in August 03 you know that the US grid is marginal at best. Large scale use of electrics would put a lot of strain on the grid that would require a lot of investment too.
There is no perfect solution. Manufacturers are all working on multiple parallel development paths. This takes time and money, but it is happening. The fuel cell Focus and others from GM, Honda and others have a lot of potential. I’m not trying to shoot down any of the paths, just trying to highlight what’s being worked on and what is possible.
My dell was affected….
And I remember ’03 very well.
Many nano technologies are making batteries better every day. Some of the new Bosch power tools are very impressive.
IMHO, it just seems an easier jump to “fix” the battery issues than to overcome the “issues” around h2.
Either way I would miss crusin’ down the road in my V-8 Ford…..
How about a hydrogen powered Shelby GT500 mustang? Ford’s also building a fleet of hydrogen powered E450 shuttle buses. These use the 6.8L V10 that Ford uses in the big trucks. They use similar injectors to the natural gas powered cars. Having driven the GT500, and loving the acceleration the idea of having one that puts out nothing but water vapor is very appealing.
I also got two new batteries for my work laptop.
A Ford Mustang is cool, however it’s powered.