Posted on 11/19/2014 2:35:31 PM PST by ckilmer
Audi announced it has mastered hydrogen fuel cell technology at the LA Auto Show Wednesday, where the company unveiled its new sustainable model — the A7 Sportback h-tron quattro.
The German auto giant’s new entry into the plug-in hybrid market features a hydrogen fuel cell and twin electric motor drivetrain in the front and rear of the vehicle, which can carry the car some 341 miles between three-minute refuelings. The electric battery alone can carry the car about 31 miles on a single two to four-hour charge, depending on the connection.
Altogether the h-tron’s all-green drivetrain cranks out 228 horsepower and separates the front and rear axels entirely for full electronically managed torque distribution. According to Audi, the A7 Sportback h-tron quattro can do 0-62 m.p.h. in 7.9 seconds and hit a top speed of 112 m.p.h.
“The A7 Sportback h‑tron quattro is a genuine Audi – at once sporty and efficient. Conceived as an e‑quattro, its two electric motors drive all four wheels,” Audi technical development leader Ulrich Hackenberg said. “The h‑tron concept car shows that we have also mastered fuel cell technology. We are in a position to launch the production process as soon as the market and infrastructure are ready.”
I don’t see electric cars charging time as a problem. You need to rethink how you use your car, similar to how you use a iphone. You don’t wait til its empty before you charge it, its constantly charging
Regardless, I would hesitate to take an Audi if given one.
I take it you haven't tried to purchase a late-model used car recently! (Except Jaguar).
I'm astounded at the prices of beautiful looking 10 yr old Jag roadsters on eBay. So cheap you could almost use them as decorations in your yard. They must be total poison for reliability.
Maybe they're looking more at their domestic market initially. As of 2012 Germany had 50 hydrogen refueling stations while the entire U.S. had only 83.
That’s a car I could really envision owning if the price is somewhat reasonable. My work commute is within the all-electric range and from home to my Arizona place is less than 300 miles so it’s within the hydrogen range.
I’ll take one, please. To go.
You and two others discovered what I did.
I was wrong. I appreciate the mention.
Oops!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3228850/posts?page=50#50
http://abcnews.go.com/US/las-vegas-strip-shooting-leads-dead-taxi-blowing/story?id=18556451
http://stevengoddard.wordpress.com/2013/03/15/your-next-obamacar/
New Catalyst for Electrolysis Reduces Costs by 97% and Increases Hydrogen Production Fourfold
http://www.greenoptimistic.com/2010/05/19/gridshift-electrolysis-catalyst/#.VG1vDYvF8jE
Could Hydrogen Replace Fossil Fuels? New Catalyst Will Help
http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/8092/20140716/hydrogen-replace-fossil-fuels-new-catalyst-will-help.htm
Why would it need dual exhaust?
Sunfire, which had to spend “seven figures” to design and build the rig, says the process is able to achieve an efficiency rate of 70 percent by using excess heat to create more steam, CNET reported.
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about 8 years ago there was an interesting story about John Kanzius who got salt water to burn. Kanzius’ concept is simple: expose salt water to 13.56 MHz radio waves and light a match. Hydrogen separates from the water mixture and burns for as long as it’s exposed to the frequency. (I think the significance of 13.56 is that it is the nuclear magnetic resonance nmr of oxygen.that plus the heat absorbed by the sodium —which in salt water — is a heat sink when bombarded by radio waves — caused the H2O molecules to break up and released the hydrogen for burning.)
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/4271398
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhqldxU_cvA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNvLwDX2WW0
http://nick2.wordpress.com/2007/09/14/kanzius-and-penn-state-chemist-rostum-roy/
I don’t know if this is more efficient than electrolysis. maybe not but it does eliminate the problem of electrodes that wear out.
Kanzius has proposed that the flame is produced by radio waves “forcing together” the “normally separated” hydrogen and oxygen in the water, a process he calls “reunification.”[13] In water (H2O), hydrogen is covalently bonded to oxygen, and thus the process must “reunite” pairs of hydrogen atoms and pairs of oxygen atoms, releasing dihydrogen (H2) and dioxygen (O2).
Here’s an interesting physorg article that may provide some back up for kanzius’ contention.
http://www.physorg.com/news129471213.html
Researchers Observe Hydrogen-Bond Exchange
According to the article:
image of the H20 and D20 dimers. The H20 dimer appears to fluctuate in the image because they exchange hydrogen bonds 60 times faster than the D20 dimers. The rate difference implies that the interchange proceeds via quantum tunneling.
simple ignition puts hydrogen and oxygen together with a tremendous release of stored energy.
No. We banned the export of Helium (inert gas) to Germany in the 1930’s. Hydrogen, is a powerful energy storehouse which when combining with oxygen causes a very rapid release of energy. That is why the Hindenburg went up so quickly.
The Audi engineers reading this thread just went "AHA!"
Jimmy, I realize you’re right. I caught it just after I posted it. Didn’t seem right to me.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3228850/posts?page=50#50
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