Harleyman Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 That is interesting. I thought that Honda had trialled the car there and that there was a network of hydrogen filling staions. That's the big claim of the Clarity, it generates its own electricity using hydrogen. You simply fill the car with hydrogen every 200 miles and the fuel cell does the rest. If it isn't on the radar of a driving Californian, I guess that the trial isn't going so well. To be honest I haven't I haven't heard about the car you mentioned or about hydrogen filling stations although I watch the news three times a day usually. Personally, I would find it inconvenient to have to stop every two hundred miles for for hydrogen. I own a Honda Accord with a standard all gas engine for road trips. I can get around 475 miles before the fuel gauge gets near the red mark. One has to also consider that even if there is a network of hydrogen filling stations they would only be in specific locations and the driver would have to know exactly where they were located or spend valuable time driving around unfamiliar towns trying to find such a place. Another problem would be the vast open space issue. There are stretches of Arizona and New Mexico where there are no filling stations for 150 miles or more and these small pokey isolated desert towns wouldn't have anything as up to date as hydrogen filling stations and are highly unlikely to have any time in the foreseeable future However hydrogen powered cars would be succesful in the eastern part of the US where the close proximity of cities and urban development make them a very viable alternative Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harleyman Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 Just get a small diesel car, its miles more effective cost wise, also it is free road tax but no free parking or congestion zone A price per gallon of diesel fuel costs the same as a gallon of petrol where I live. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sibon Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 To be honest I haven't I haven't heard about the car you mentioned or about hydrogen filling stations although I watch the news three times a day usually. Personally, I would find it inconvenient to have to stop every two hundred miles for for hydrogen. You might find this article interesting. It is in a more experimental phase than I thought. I'd rather stop every couple of hundred miles for hydrogen, than every hundred miles for a recharge:) Fuel cell technology is about to go big though. Apple have just patented a new alloy that will allow them to build miniature fuel cells to power iphones and laptops. They claim that this will allow an iphone to run for up to a month on a single charge. That will be game changing if they pull it off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danny11 Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 A price per gallon of diesel fuel costs the same as a gallon of petrol where I live. But adiesel engine is around 20% more efficent then petrol engine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phanerothyme Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 One single technological leap in electrical energy storage will change the face of personal transportation. Electricity doesn't take up any space, and doesn't weigh a significant amount. We should be able to store enough electricity in something the size of a thimble to drive a car from Madrid to Vienna, or New York to Seattle without recharging or refuelling. In air conditioned comfort, by day and by night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vague_Boy Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 The Nissan-LEAF is like £25,000 how are we supposed to afford these? Probably won't help but there's a government scheme whereby you can claim back 25% of the cost of a new electric car, up to a maximum of £5000 (link). Electric cars take to long to recharge and that's just not practical when you are on a long road trip. Charging times are limited by the capacity of the grid connection and can range from a matter of minutes to achieve charges of around 80 per cent, to upwards of eight hours for a full recharge. LINK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harleyman Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 You might find this article interesting. It is in a more experimental phase than I thought. I'd rather stop every couple of hundred miles for hydrogen, than every hundred miles for a recharge:) Fuel cell technology is about to go big though. Apple have just patented a new alloy that will allow them to build miniature fuel cells to power iphones and laptops. They claim that this will allow an iphone to run for up to a month on a single charge. That will be game changing if they pull it off. I see public agencies as being the main customers for this type of vehicle over the next few years. They are always the vanguard for technology that will improve the air quality. America will probably be one of the last, if not the last to be weaned off the all petrol powered internal combustion engine for the main reason that although petrol prices are slowly increasing the price is still easily affordable by the great majority of Americans in the west and mid-west. On the eastern seaboard public transport has been developed to the extent that cars are not in most cases needed for driving to and from work. On the other hand if petrol prices were to suddenly skyrocket tenforld (which I doubt) that would be a whole different story for us out west I'm curious how this hydrogen technology will work on the big long distance commercial freight trucks. There are thousands and thousands of them on the interstate highways every day of the week. City buses are increasingly switching over to propane gas power. Being at the age that I am I will stick to the good old internal combustion engine for the rest of my driving days. I'm familiar enough with them to be my own mechanic when needed and not have to pay the high labour charges that the professionals love to stick the public with Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harleyman Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Probably won't help but there's a government scheme whereby you can claim back 25% of the cost of a new electric car, up to a maximum of £5000 (link). LINK The stuff shown on your link will work well enough in urban areas but it's a dead end for recreational driving where I live. If I were to drive to Redding, in the far north of California close to the Oregon border from the Los Angeles area I'd be looking at a distance of around 600 miles which is usually one day's driving for me. I leave with a full tank which will get me around 475 miles and stop once for a refill before reaching Redding. In between a stop off for an hour for food and a break. Time is of the essence on long road trips. The longer you're behind the wheel the more the fatigue and the less the ability to concentrate. Under the circumstances a hydrogen car just wouldn't cut it for any drivers like me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harleyman Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 One single technological leap in electrical energy storage will change the face of personal transportation. Electricity doesn't take up any space, and doesn't weigh a significant amount. We should be able to store enough electricity in something the size of a thimble to drive a car from Madrid to Vienna, or New York to Seattle without recharging or refuelling. In air conditioned comfort, by day and by night. Ah if only ! Millions would be out of work though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritPat Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Ok so I'm hearing and seeing a lot of adverts for the 'new' Electric cars, which are 100% green and are better on the environment. Yeh that sounds good so we wont have the high fuel costs, a quiet drive, being environmentally friendly. BUT have you seen the price of these cars? The Nissan-LEAF is like £25,000 how are we supposed to afford these? This helping the world idea they have, wont work with prices like this. I'm still swaying more to the petrol/diesel cars for 2 reasons. 1 being there a lot cheaper to buy and 2 they look attractive. Whats your views on these new cars? Personally they need to hurry up and make hover cars wont need to be worried about flat tyres then. :hihi: Worry not, I'm sure the price will come down when the Government subsidises them, a warmist tax inflicted on us all. On a more positive note I am busy developing a windymill that you will be able to retrofit to your electric car, you wont have to stop for a day and a half to recharge before going 2 hrs down the road. You will also get the benefit that thus far has been nothing but a sci fi fantasy. Retrofit my windymill and the further you drive the further you will be able to drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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