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General => Open Discussion => Topic started by: KD 428 on June 16, 2008, 11:41:48 PM



Title: Honda rolls out zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell car
Post by: KD 428 on June 16, 2008, 11:41:48 PM
Honda rolls out new zero-emission car
By TOMOKO A. HOSAKA, Associated Press Writer
13 HOURS AGO

TAKANEZAWA, Japan - Honda's new zero-emission, hydrogen fuel cell car rolled off a Japanese production line Monday and is headed to Southern California, where Hollywood is already abuzz over the latest splash in green motoring.

The FCX Clarity, which runs on hydrogen and electricity, emits only water and none of the noxious fumes believed to induce global warming. It is also two times more energy efficient than a gas-electric hybrid and three times that of a standard gasoline-powered car, the company says.

Japan's third biggest automaker expects to lease out a "few dozen" units this year and about 200 units within three years. In California, a three-year lease will run $600 a month, which includes maintenance and collision coverage.

Among the first customers are actress Jamie Lee Curtis and filmmaker husband Christopher Guest, actress Laura Harris, film producer Ron Yerxa, as well as businessmen Jon Spallino and Jim Salomon.

"It's so smooth," said Harris, who played villainness Marie Warner on the hit TV show "24" and was flown over by Honda for the ceremony. "It's like a future machine, but it's not."

The FCX Clarity is an improvement of its previous-generation fuel cell vehicle, the FCX, introduced in 2002.

A breakthrough in the design of the fuel cell stack, which is the unit that powers the car's motor, allowed engineers to lighten the body, expand the interior and increase efficiency, Honda said.

The fuel cell draws on energy synthesized through a chemical reaction between hydrogen gas and oxygen in the air, and a lithium-ion battery pack provides supplemental power. The FCX Clarity has a range of about 270-miles per tank with hydrogen consumption equivalent to 74 miles per gallon, according to the carmaker.

The 3,600-pound vehicle can reach speeds up to 100 miles per hour.

John Mendel, executive vice president of America Honda Motor Co., said at a morning ceremony it was "an especially significant day for American Honda as we plant firm footsteps toward the mainstreaming of fuel cell cars."

The biggest obstacles standing in the way of wider adoption of fuel cell vehicles are cost and the dearth of hydrogen fuel stations. For the Clarity's release in California, Honda said it received 50,000 applications through its website but could only consider those living near stations in Torrance, Santa Monica and Irvine.

Initially, however, the Clarity will go only to a chosen few starting July and then launch in Japan this fall.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has called for a statewide network of hydrogen stations, but progress has been slow.

The state has also recently relaxed a mandate for the number of zero-emission cars it aims to have on roads. By 2014, automakers must now sell 7,500 electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, a reduction of 70 percent.

Spallino, who currently drives Honda's older FCX and was also flown in for the ceremony, said he will use the Clarity to drive to and from work and for destinations within the Los Angeles area. The small number of hydrogen fuel stations is the "single limiting factor" for fuel cell vehicles, he said.

"It's more comfortable, and it handles well," said Spallino of Redondo Beach. "It's got everything. You're not sacrificing anything except range."

The world's major automakers have been making heavy investments in fuel cells and other alternative fuel vehicles amid climbing oil prices and concerns about climate change.

Although Honda Motor Co. was the first Japanese automaker to launch a gas-electric hybrid vehicle in the U.S. in 1999, it has been outpaced by the dominance of Toyota's popular Prius.

Toyota announced in May that it has sold more than 1 million Prius hybrids, while both the Honda Insight and the hybrid Accord have been discontinued due to poor sales.

Honda also plans to launch a gas-electric hybrid-only model, as well as hybrid versions of the Civic, the sporty CR-Z and Fit subcompact.

Toyota has announced that it would launch a plug-in hybrid with next-generation lithium-ion batteries by 2010 and a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle later in Japan later this year.

U.S. carmaker General Motors Corp. plans to introduce a Chevrolet Volt plug-in electric vehicle in 2010. It also introduced a test-fleet of hydrogen fuel cell Equinox SUVs.

Honda has no plans for a plug-in electric vehicle. President Takeo Fukui said he does not believe current battery technology is good enough to develop a feasible car.

The company has not revealed how much each car costs to make, and it is unclear when, or if, the car will be available for mass-market sales. Takeo has set a target for 2018, but meeting that goal will depend on whether Honda can significantly lower development and assembly costs as well as market reaction to fuel cells.


http://finance.comcast.net/www/news.html?x=http://absorigins.comcast.net/data/news/2008/06/16/987182.xml


Title: Re: Honda rolls out zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell car
Post by: mrbones on June 17, 2008, 08:16:38 PM
This is great news. I think its the future of automobiles. Too bad it's really going to be a slow transition to alternative fuel cars. It's probably 15 years out at least.


Title: Re: Honda rolls out zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell car
Post by: exrider on June 17, 2008, 08:54:22 PM
How much is a gallon of hydrogen. :dunno.gif


Title: Re: Honda rolls out zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell car
Post by: digginfool on June 17, 2008, 09:28:33 PM
How much is a gallon of hydrogen. :dunno.gif

Good question.  Whenever you try to research that subject they always use terms like 'gasoline equivalence' when talking of energy extraction or cost of the fuel.  One article released by the Department of Energy stated a hydrogen economy would not be viable unless the gasoline equivalence was $4.50/gal.  Seems like we're already there.  The term zero-emission is actually a misnomer; the vehicle spews out water vapor, which is a green house gas but less objectionable to others.  The other misleading fact is that there is huge amounts of energy consumed in the production of hydrogen so unless the process involves solar or nuclear energy, the exhaust emissions are just displaced to a petroleum fired power plant near you, which in the grand scheme of things, works out to a larger release of emissions because of the inherent losses in the process.  I believe the future involves hydrogen but we have a long way to go before anybody can truly proclaim 'zero emissions.'


Title: Re: Honda rolls out zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell car
Post by: trx#9 on June 17, 2008, 09:38:31 PM
magnetic energy  ;)


Title: Re: Honda rolls out zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell car
Post by: Chevy1500z71 on June 17, 2008, 10:20:40 PM
ok so what is all of our farm equipment and 18 wheelers going to run on? we need oil...


Title: Re: Honda rolls out zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell car
Post by: JackL on June 17, 2008, 11:31:37 PM


One gallon of hydrogen gas compressed into a liquid weighs 0.59 pounds, and contains the “energy equivalent” of 0.279 gallons of gasoline. Although it’s not easy to compare hydrogen costs in terms of gasoline costs due to this difference in weights and energy equivalents, it takes about $4.33 of electricity to produce one gallon of hydrogen using the water electrolysis method, (the process requires almost 33 kWh of electricity to produce a gallon equivalent of hydrogen.) Since it takes 3.584 gallons of hydrogen to equal the energy contained in one gallon of gasoline, this means it would cost over $15.52 (3.584 gallon x $4.33), not to mention a fuel tank almost four times normal size, to contain the same energy content in a gallon of gasoline.


Good read: http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/yago103.html


Title: Re: Honda rolls out zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell car
Post by: 94Hardbody4x4 on June 17, 2008, 11:51:29 PM
Wow, I bet a hydrogen powered dragster would sound awsome!  :banghead.gif


Title: Re: Honda rolls out zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell car
Post by: tropics2003 on June 18, 2008, 12:36:25 AM
Call 904-487-7991 & ask about the new "HYDROBOOST" systems we are installing on vehicles here in Jacksonville Florida. It is incredible the gas mileage increase on the vehicles & the Horsepower!!! Go to www.water4fuelsite.com & check it out. Best System on the market!!! The inventor put it on a 1966 GTO V-8 & the car went from getting only 7 miles per gallon to now getting 27 miles per gallon!!! Installed on a Chevy S-10 & getting 40-45 miles pergallon instead of 22 & Increase of horsepower from 80 to 118 horsepower have Dyno Reading from the truck!!! Call Craig 904-487-7991 Only $399 Installed on most vehciles & only takes about an hour! INCREDIBLE RESULTS!!!!! Can't afford not to get one!!!   


Title: Re: Honda rolls out zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell car
Post by: big-daddy on June 18, 2008, 07:23:09 AM
This is great news. I think its the future of automobiles. Too bad it's really going to be a slow transition to alternative fuel cars. It's probably 15 years out at least.


Very true......... with only 2 fill stations in Florida and the car only goes 270 miles between fill ups.
http://www.hydrogenassociation.org/general/fuelingResults.asp  but you can buy the home fill station for $20,000.  ???

Long time in coming 


Title: Re: Honda rolls out zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell car
Post by: Chevy1500z71 on June 18, 2008, 09:30:45 AM

Very true......... with only 2 fill stations in Florida and the car only goes 270 miles between fill ups.


... i only get 200 miles out of a tank in my truck... a 23 gallon tank :o lol


Title: Re: Honda rolls out zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell car
Post by: trx#9 on June 18, 2008, 12:59:28 PM
Call 904-487-7991 & ask about the new "HYDROBOOST" systems we are installing on vehicles here in Jacksonville Florida. It is incredible the gas mileage increase on the vehicles & the Horsepower!!! Go to www.water4fuelsite.com & check it out. Best System on the market!!! The inventor put it on a 1966 GTO V-8 & the car went from getting only 7 miles per gallon to now getting 27 miles per gallon!!! Installed on a Chevy S-10 & getting 40-45 miles pergallon instead of 22 & Increase of horsepower from 80 to 118 horsepower have Dyno Reading from the truck!!! Call Craig 904-487-7991 Only $399 Installed on most vehciles & only takes about an hour! INCREDIBLE RESULTS!!!!! Can't afford not to get one!!!   
Is this the guy from clearwater, that has been on the news.