Posted on 06/28/2005 10:18:21 PM PDT by calcowgirl
TORRANCE -- No-pollution cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells are at least a decade away for most people -- but not one California family.
In a long-term road test, John Spallino, his wife and two daughters will begin leasing a silver-and-blue, four-seat Honda FCX on Wednesday to get them to work, school and anywhere else they want to roam.
The Spallinos will provide reports about the car's performance to Honda as part of the auto industry's first private test of the promising technology that produces only one byproduct -- water clean enough to drink.
"Maybe this is the technology of the future. Maybe it isn't," said the easygoing Spallino, a financial officer who plans to use the FCX for his 80-mile roundtrip commute from his home in Redondo Beach to Irvine.
"But if I can be part of the evolution of this technology, that would be a lot of fun," he said.
The test could give a push to pollution-free cars, said Lindsay Brooke, a senior analyst for CSM Worldwide, an automotive forecasting company.
"It's impact really is in being one small but very meaningful step in the road toward these vehicles being a production reality," Brooke said.
Honda, however, won't say when it might mass market the FCX, which is now built one by one without the economic efficiency of an assembly line.
Honda chose the Spallinos for the test in part because they already own a Honda Civic GX powered by natural gas and are accustomed to the inconvenience of finding fueling stations that provide alternatives to gasoline.
The family will pay $500 a month to lease the FCX. That includes maintenance and insurance on the car that cost Honda more than $1 million to design and build using technology that turns hydrogen and oxygen into electricity.
Government agencies and universities have tested hydrogen vehicles for Honda and other automakers in the past, but the FCX will be the first hydrogen fuel cell car in private hands.
It meets all government safety standards and drives like a regular car, though its electric hum is quieter than a gas engine. The FCX accelerates and maintains speeds comparable to gasoline-powered vehicles.
One difference can be found in the trunk. The Spallinos will have to pack light because their new car has less than a third of the trunk space of a typical car.
But the biggest difference is in the fuel tank. The FCX uses hydrogen gas instead of gasoline and can only go about 190 miles on a tank of fuel.
There are now about 30 hydrogen fueling stations across the country, with more than half of them in California. But Spallino counts at least four on his way to work, including one at Honda's U.S. headquarters in Torrance and another at Los Angeles International Airport.
The LAX station won't open to the public for at least five years but can be used by government vehicles and now the Spallinos.
President Bush, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and others say cars run by converting hydrogen to electricity will one day wean the nation of its oil dependence while reducing air pollution.
Environmentalists counter that some automakers are using that promise to avoid improving fuel efficiency in current models. But Honda's record of making gas-electric hybrid cars suggests it's as interested in research and development as in public relations, environmentalists said.
"If they are handing over the keys to a working car that they are planning on commercially producing, then we'll be very excited," said Gail Ruderman Feuer, senior attorney for the environmental group the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Spallino said his concern for the environment led him to buy his natural gas-powered Honda GX and to agree to road test the FCX.
"I like to set an example where I can in showing that individuals make a difference," he said.
•...There are now about 30 hydrogen fueling stations across the country ... But Spallino counts at least four on his way to work, including one at Honda's U.S. headquarters in Torrance and another at Los Angeles International Airport.
Hey, John! FYI, LAX is not on the way from Redondo Beach to Irvine.
Pray that you're not around when a large SUV or truck rams the FCX and you have a hydrogen containment failure.
Bridge! We have a Warp core breach in progress!
Actually, hydrogen gas (which is what you'd get if you have a breach) is notably more flammable than propane, and it's just a bit more flammable than gasoline vapors. A warm piece of metal can set off H2 gas.
Propane is a known quantity, and it is carried in large, heavily constructed tanks *inside* a vehicle. They are not allowed to be mounted under the vehicle for obvious reasons. That said, at least once a year here in Texas, some cowboy's truck or city vehicle that's been converted to natural gas gets in an accident and there's a relatively large explosion. The latest one was a Dallas cop car, IIRC.
Nuclear reactors would solve that problem. You still wouldn't get out more than you put in, but then you could take the energy produced by the reactor and convert it to a storable, portable form that does not involve batteries and can be refilled on demand.
On the road again...
http://www.wnbiodiesel.com/
So basically he has to fillup everyday?
Yeah woeks until the hydrogen mines run out.
By the way I know that hydrogen gas escapes if you get a breach. I am not an idiot.
There is a new way to store hydrogen, one company has come up with it. It uses a metal hydrides that absorb hydrogen and solves two problems. The first is the problem of not being able to get enough hydrogen inside a tank of reasonable size. The second is the volatility of the gas as you have pointed out, this method will not release hydrogen upon a breach of the container. It takes a heat source to release it, such as an electric heater on the tank, which is designed in such a way as to preclude large amounts of hydrogen escaping.
Here is the link to an article about it.Hydrogen storage
Nah... he can just have his assistant do it. All for the cause of promoting the Hydrogen Highway.
(His boss was on Arnie's Economic Advisory committee).
Isn't biodiesel "ethanol"? I hear it's much more expensive than gasoline and is only used as a supplement mixed into gasoline.
It wouldn't be a very big explosion. A wet one if it maintained density. A propane car is way more dangerous.
Biodiesel is not ethanol. Ethanol is pure grain alcohol (think Everclear).
Biodiesel is vegetable oil that has been treated with caustic soda, methanol and a bit of heat and agitation to convert it into a fuel that can be burned in a DIESEL engine.
The exhaust smells like french fries.
It works well according to many sources, but has gumming problems at lower temperatures.
But there isn't a oil shortage, and oil doesn't come from dinosaurs or fishy things that decay. The suggestion that petroleum might have arisen from some transformation of squashed fish or biological detritus is surely the silliest notion to have been entertained by substantial numbers of persons over an extended period of time.
It defies the laws of physics; the laws of thermodynamics prohibit spontaneous evolution of liquid hydrocarbons in the regime of temperature and pressure characteristic of the crust of the Earth, one should not expect there to exist legitimate scientific evidence that might suggest that such could occur, there exists no such evidence.
Petrolium is a renewable resource that begins it's formation deep within the earth via an abiotic process.
http://www.gasresources.net/DisposalBioClaims.htm
http://www.gasresources.net/ThrmcCnstrnts.htm
http://www.gasresources.net/AlkaneGenesis.htm
http://www.gasresources.net/index.htm
I'll drive my v8, you can freeze in a battery car.
Gads man,
They were experimenting with metal hydrides for hydrogen storage for busses in LA in the 70's.
A van powered by hydrogen went through death valley and the storage medium was borax. It was detailed in Car and Driver, years ago.
This is not new tech, but old tech, resurfacing.
Thanks for the new stuff though.
DK
It is old tech, but the thing is it has been improved lately and is being used in several vehicles. I don't know if the honda uses it or not. They have gotten the weight of the hydrides down to a point where it is commercially feasible to use them. This will probably be the future of hydrogen development. Everthing else is impractical, or dangerous.
"If they are handing over the keys to a working car that they are planning on commercially producing, then we'll be very excited," said Gail Ruderman Feuer, senior attorney for the environmental group the Natural Resources Defense Council."
The "greenie watermellons" are so excited about this wonderful car. I wonder how excited they will get when they find out that disposal of the toxic batteries and other goodies necessary for propulson will create another huge ecological mess? Hummmmmmmmmm?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.