The hydrogen car of the 70's

...and Jack Nicholson was a salesman for them! Check out this you tube video from a news report in the 1970's about a "revolutionary" new fuel for cars...hydrogen! It's funny how some ideas seem to be new, but they've been around for a while.

The solution to the oil crisis?

What I like about this video is that T. Boone Pickens is very practicaly about HOW to swap out oil for other alternatives.  You can go to http://www.pickensplan.com for more info.




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$4/gal Gas Makes Hybrids Worth the Money (Finally)

The link below takes you to an article that shows the break-even points of several hybrids.

via EcoGeek.org by Jaymi Heimbuch on 6/16/08

How quickly you realize your gas savings is the ubiquitous debate over buying a hybrid versus gas-powered vehicle – among the average consumer, that is. With the price tag of hybrids higher than gas vehicles, it can take quite awhile. However, when you factor in the high prices we’re paying at the pump, hybrids are quickly becoming the better deal.

 

The Wall Street Journal posted an article analyzing hybrids against their gas-powered counterparts, and declared hybrids the winner for financial efficiency. For example, the Prius beat out the Camry after only 3 years of ownership, though the Camry has a few selling points the Prius doesn’t have in that it is a larger and somewhat more luxurious car. But still.

 

Quick-payback hybrids are in the 4-5 year range for seeing the fuel savings pay off the premium spent on the hybrid version versus the gas powered version. They include the Nissan Altima (taking about four years), GM Yukon, and the Mercury Mariner (each taking about five years), according to Edmunds.com.

 

Conversely, the Toyota Highlander, Chevy Malibu, Saturn Aura and Lexus LS60H have big price tags with relatively low mileage improvements. In fact, Edmunds calculated the Highlander takes about 18 years to see a payback, and – I about choked on this one – the Lexus LS600H would take about a century to break even! And because the gas-powered versions of the Malibu and Aura already have decent mileage, the hybrid versions only get drivers a couple miles per gallon farther – not much of a fuel savings.

 

Edmunds uses the sticker prices of the vehicles, a $4.02 average gas price per gallon (which is ridiculously cheap gas for my neck of the woods), and federal tax credits to make the comparison calculations. Not factored in are insurance costs, repair costs, and replacement part costs. Those are some significant features that need to be weighed in when doing your own comparisons, along with how and where you’ll drive your car.

 

With how rapidly gas prices are rising, improved technology, and wider selection thanks to the growing competition among hybrid makers to make affordable vehicles, hybrids are sure to have nearly instant payback rates in the next few years. But until that point, and probably long after, I’ll stick with my zero emissions bike that costs me $0.00 0/10 per mile.

 

 

 

 

Via WSJ; Header photo via CanadaCow

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650 Miles Per Tank

And continuing with our hydrogen thread...

This car gets 650 miles per tank!

via EcoGeek.org by Andrew Williams on 6/6/08

Scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have revealed that they have driven a car 650 miles on one tank of liquid hydrogen. In a recent test, the team installed a super-insulated hydrogen gas tank in a standard Prius hybrid that was able to keep a full load of the liquid without evaporating for six days, setting a new world record.

The 300-pound tank removes a lot of obstacles to the development of hydrogen-powered cars. Current versions, such as the fleet of hydrogen-electric Toyota Prius’s used by various city governments across Southern California, run on compressed hydrogen gas, and have a limited range of around 80 miles between fill-ups. Even a fairly modest three-gallon tank fills the entire trunk of a Prius, but still only allows a range of around 200 miles, not really enough to compete with gasoline-only vehicles. One way to overcome this limitation is by using liquid hydrogen, which takes up around a third of the volume of compressed gas. However, it is much more difficult to handle, mainly because it must be kept at very low temperatures (around -420oF) and extremely high pressure to prevent it from evaporating as the engine heats up.

Speaking about the breakthrough, Livermore Lab engineer Salvador Alceves said, “We think if you have the cars, and the technology for the cars, the infrastructure will follow. The cars are the hard part.”

The tank can also hold less expensive compressed hydrogen, enabling users to use it for shorter journeys with the option of switching to liquid to triple their range for longer drives. It can also withstand crashes and fires without exploding. The team apparently even shot one tank with a gun without blowing it up – that must have been an exciting day at the office!

Livermore Lab estimates that we could see prototype cars in 2012. Lead technician Tim Ross said, “We will get there, I truly believe I will see this in my lifetime.”

See the full press release and video

Via Mercury News

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Toyota Unveils Fuel Cell Hybrid with 500+ Mile Range

A thought came to me as I read this. If fuel cells can deliver 500+ mile ranges then trips to the "gas" station would decrease. Would this mean we would need as large an infrastructure of hydrogen stations because of fill-up frequency?

via EcoGeek.org by Andrew Williams on 6/9/08

 

Toyota has unveiled its new FCHV-adv, which it says can travel 515 miles between refuels, more than double the previous record for this type of vehicle. In tests, the car, which has just received vehicle-type certification from Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, smashed the 205 mile range achieved by its predecessor.

The FCHV-adv (standing for Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle-advanced), combines on-board high-pressure hydrogen tanks with advanced fuel-cell stack technology. According to the Toyota researchers behind the breakthrough, 25% of the advance in range was achieved through a combination of improving fuel cell performance, playing around with the regenerative braking system and minimizing energy consumed by the auxiliary assemblage.

Ignition performance, an issue that has often plagued fuel cell development, has also been tested successfully by the Toyota team. The new core fuel-cell stack has an improved membrane electrode assembly (MEA), which means that the FCHV-adv can turn over in temperatures as low as -30 degrees C. This was achieved by preventing internally produced water interfering with electrical generation within the MEA at low temperatures.

There is no news yet on a potential release date or price for the FCHV-adv. However, Toyota is said to be working closely with governments and energy companies to see how it could best bring the vehicle to mass production. For now, if you want a fuel cell car, you'll want to look towards Honda.

Via Motortorque and Automotive Business Review

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2008 Toyota Prius

Yep, we went ahead and did it.  There are many reasons why we bought a Toyota Prius

• Gas stations around our house are charging $3.50/gallon for regular unleaded.  Factor in all of the driving we do to the north and south and we're talking a budge-busting line item for gasoline every month
• Easy to maintain - They say that the Prius doesn't require as much maintenance as a traditional car because it has less moving parts.  I'm still skeptical about this one.
• "Hackability" - There are many 3rd party kits around to increase your MPG to 100 or more by swapping out the NiH with Li-ion and the ability to plug in the Prius every night for more charge.  Although I'm not going to touch this until the Toyota warranty is up for the hybrid system and hopefully by then the prices will come down.
  
• Track record - The Prius has been out quite a bit and has improved over the years.
  
• The environment - Sure why not.

We're on our second tank of gas.  We'll be happy if we can get at least 45 MPG out of it and we're at around 48 MPG right now.  We're not going to count the first tank because it was from the dealer and don't know what the driving conditions were.  I'll be tracking the MPGs with every fill-up using MessageDance so stay tuned if you're interested.


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