Posted on 09/23/2004 8:37:07 PM PDT by Mr. Mojo
PARIS (Reuters) - German luxury carmaker BMW unveiled the world's fastest hydrogen-powered car at the Paris auto show on Wednesday, dubbed the H2R, capable of exceeding 300 kilometers (185 miles) per hour.
"Our drive toward the future is called hydrogen," BMW management board member Burkhard Goeschel said before the tarp slowly slipped off the teardrop-shaped body of the sleek race car.
Goeschel, responsible for technology and development at BMW, said the streamlined rocket car sprints from 0 to 100 kmh in about six seconds and reached a top speed of 302.4 kmh on BMW's test track at Miramas, France.
"It's called the H2R -- 'R' as in record," Goeschel said, visibly proud of the company's breakthrough achievement in the field of zero emissions.
Unlike most hydrogen-powered vehicles, the H2R doesn't operate on a fuel cell but rather uses a modified 6-litre, 12-cylinder combustion engine for its propulsion that essentially emits nothing but steam.
An advantage of the higher combustion pressure of the hydrogen-air mixture is its higher degree of efficiency, BMW added.
The company cautioned, however, that while the cars don't pollute, production of hydrogen as a fuel does entail pollution.
Hydrogen is obtained either from fossil fuels such as natural gas or by applying electrical power to water molecules. Ecologically, the problem of finding a regenerating source of primary energy remains.
While BMW is developing fuel-cell driven cars as well, it says it is concentrating on the combustion engine because the sum total of its features and characteristics offers the largest number of advantages and benefits all in one.
"We had just 10 months to develop the H2R prototype," said project manager Juergen Kuebler in a statement.
Although the outer skin is made of carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic like a Formula 1 car, Goeschel said he wasn't considering registering it for next year's racing circuit.
I'll wonder what the acceleration and torque for this engine is.
See, thats a silly fear about hydrogen fueled cars. You're already driving around in a huge bomb. No difference at all.
Pathetic. Does BMW want me to go get my M5 from 'Paris." The French are incable of producing anything other than prostitutes. IMOHO.
WOW .... Sign me up ......
.... But what will I do with all the free oil / gas I just went to war for ....
Oh, nevermind, Skerry can use it in the SUV his family owns .... hahahaha
Good point. I missed that piece of latent history. Thanks.
Yeah, but we already drive around in rolling firebombs. =)
The Kerry Campaign has an unlimited supply of gas.
No difference only if your using propane.
There is a big difference between an ambient pressure liquid fuel, and a high pressure, liquified gas.
I doubt the H2 is actually liquified in this case, but you can bet it is highly pressurized to pack enough into a resonably sized tank.
While this car is cool, I thought the problem with hydrogen was ALWAYS production costs to generate an adequate supply of hydrogen. Please humor me, because I was a Fine Arts major, and I know there are some brilliant hard scientists on FR. My understanding was that the bond between the oxygen and hydrogen molecules in water was so strong that it took more power to extract the hydrogen than the hydrogen produced when used for fuel. If natural gas was the source, we're still dependent on fossil fuels.
I've read of some interesting experiments in producing methane from sewage and dead plants, but I wasn't aware of any methods that had been made commercially feasible.
Are there any Freeps who can enlighten me on this issue? Have I missed something?
So what.
An internal combustion engine can use for fuel:
propane, hydrogen, natural gas,
the vapor of gasoline, the vapor of methanol, etc.
How come I don't hear anything about alcohol-fueled cars anymore? That was "the wave of the future" during the gas shortages of the '70s.
It's a link to an explanation of the BMW hydrogen fuel system. It DOES use liquid hydrogen, which is -253 degrees F. This introduces another problem, as cryogenics have their own set of safety issues. However, they believe that they can generate hydrogen from water using solar power and that they have a prototype of a completely safe refueling station. Be pretty cool if it works.
Hydrogen is obtained either from fossil fuels such as natural gas or by applying electrical power to water molecules. Ecologically, the problem of finding a regenerating source of primary energy remains.
Nuclear power should be the hydrogen production means. Currently I believe the lowest cost method of hydrogen production is to use natural gas (remove H from it). The second lowest cost method is to use nuclear power and one of at least four (electrolysis, steam-methane reforming, thermochemical, or hybrid) processes to create hydrogen. I will argue that by using breeding technology, fuel reprocessing, and proper isolation and burn-up technique's, nuclear is environmentally benign and renewable.
That's funny
LMAO
Loser, all the way.
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