Anybody think this Hydrogen car will work?? - Smart Car of America Forums : Smart Car Forum

Dunerunner · 02-21-2010, 10:07 AM

YouTube - Water Fuel Car

**jimvw57** · 02-21-2010, 11:22 AM

that technology has been around for some time now. it still needs some more work until it is something that can be used every dau, like what happens in the winter? Rust in the motor and exhaust, etc. there are solutuions to all this but it won't be cheap.

Then there is the whole oil cartel end.. You think they'll let this get by?? Look into Stan Myers.. He had a working unit and suddenly he vanished...

donnyonee · 02-21-2010, 11:29 AM

certainly it works, ive made hydrogen gas and tried to feed it to my ford ranger, but couldnt make enough volume. isnt bmw also working on a car?
and ive heard of a fellow who blew his garage door off and lost his hearing for a few days. r & d can be hazardous.
this has been brought up on the board here before, but the non-belivers make it a waste of time for the others.
and can you imagine the loss of revenue for the govt and taxes or how about ALL the gasolene industry jobs that would be lost?
we'd, society would have to be ready for a complete whole new way of life.
example- look how poorly the hi mpg smart car has recently done, people dont usually except change and would rather keep moving along like lost sheep. even gm is retooling for more big suvs, oh boy maybe 15 - 20 mpg. a hybryd.

i think the govt will squash this, especially todays govt.

as its been noted in other posts of mine, im not a engineer. but i think this one is obvious. unfortunately.

http://www.hydrogencarsnow.com/blog2...with-hydrogen/

**JPaul** · 02-21-2010, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimvw57

that technology has been around for some time now. it still needs some more work until it is something that can be used every dau, like what happens in the winter? Rust in the motor and exhaust, etc. there are solutuions to all this but it won't be cheap.

Then there is the whole oil cartel end.. You think they'll let this get by?? Look into Stan Myers.. He had a working unit and suddenly he vanished...

I vaguely remember a TV story about the introduction of this technology in Iceland and the fact that public transportation there will soon be totally hydrogen powered. If it works in "frigid" Iceland... Granted, public vehicles run every single day of their life.

**jwight** · 02-21-2010, 01:56 PM

Doesn't the Honda FCX count? Honda FCX Clarity - Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle - Official Web Site

Granted, you don't have to DIY the hydrogen (a good thing IMHO) but it's still hydrogen powered.

**jimvw57** · 02-21-2010, 03:46 PM

The only problem with storing a fuel tank of Hydrogen is... well, storing a tank full of Hydrogen.. They made things that go boom out of Hydrogen..... Making hydrogen on an as needed basis elimonates that problem.

I have been experimenting with a cell for a few years now and it is unable to make the quantity I need to run a car motor solely on Hydrogen from electralysis. Advancements are being made all the time so time will tell.

John_H · 02-21-2010, 04:40 PM

I've said this before in different words:

I can see how augmenting a standard Internal Combustion Engine with "HHO gas" could boost efficiency.

I can't buy the idea of generating enough hydrogen locally to have a car that runs only on water, generating the electricity needed to electrolyze the HHO from the water.

But then I'm an engineer.

To produce 1 watt-hour of electricity (through an alternator) to electrolyze water into approximately 1 watt-hour of HHO would require much more than 1 watt-hour of combustion (heat) energy stored in the form of HHO gas. Combustion just isn't near 100% efficient or an "over unity" form of energy.

Terry Stibal · 02-21-2010, 04:50 PM

I have been about sixty feet from a gasometer (small one, mind you) full of hydrogen that blew up, and it was quite a show. Not the sort of thing you want to have happen in your garage.

The main problems with hydrogen are on board storage (the successful storage means are refrigerated down to just above absolute zero) in a small volume of space, and the infrastructure to store it when not in the vehicle. Both are problems that need to be solved by industry, not by vehicle owners.

The gasoline car had similar problems when it was introduced. Gasoline was sold through druggists and other such retailers before the kerosine refining industry (which was the main use of petroleum spirits back then) realized that there was enough money in it for them to build specialized storage and sales facilities (which we now call filling stations). Once that point is reached with hydrogen powered vehicles, we will be home free.

Unfortunately, when you consider how little acceptance natural gas powered vehicles have received, that day is a long way away.

Hydrogen, like natural gas, will continue to be "pie in the sky" until that day arrives.

packetandy · 02-21-2010, 06:34 PM

there is a safer alternative - manure!

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Green-Transporation/1971-07-01/The-Marvelous-Chicken-Powered-Motorcar.aspx

The Brit's actually ran some buses during the war with huge gas bags on the roof filled with biogas - gives you a new appreciation of not being dependent on foreign oil

Terry Stibal · 02-21-2010, 09:49 PM

Well, both the Germans and the Japanese ran vehicles on the off-gas products of charcoal heated up by a small fire under same. The Germans even went so far as to power the older armored vehicles that they used for driver training with gas generators, thereby saving gasoline.

However, to use such a thing, first you have to convert the wood to charcoal, thereby burning more fuel in the process.

At least with manure, the raw material comes ready to ferment...