ELECTRIC CARS COME OF AGE

Fiedor Report On the News #283 ^ | 8-18-02 | Doug Fiedor

[forest]

There are neither hyrodgen nor borax stations here yet.

An onboard reformer to produce hydrogen from gasoline for the fuel cell stacks will be the type of technology probably used in all electric fuel cell vehicles for the foreseeable future.

Apparently they call it a "skateboard" design because most of the working parts are in the a 6-inch thick chassis, stuffed with electronic components. That chassis, in this case, is also a platform frame and apparently holds most of the vehicle's weight. Everything -- the brake and accelerator controls and the steering -- operates with a hand - held unit called an X-Drive, which is moved from side to side like a video game joystick.

[Husker24]

Im not driveing a car with a joystick, wait untill your on the interstate going 75mph and some tiny piece of plastic breaks undernieth the joystick and you can no longer turn right.

[PoorMuttly]

Muttly like low center of gravity vehicles. Last month, he was driving around Chicago on a highway, swerved to miss an object in the lane, in a brand new Mercedes 4x4, and it felt like the thing was going to flip over.

[PoorMuttly]

Here comes the end of the Moslem Oil Empire. Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch. Hello beloved 8th. century, which I hope they enjoy to the fullest. They earned it. Let's take our ball and go home.

[John Jamieson]

"onboard reformer to produce hydrogen from gasoline"

since half the energy in gasoline comes from burning carbon, producing that nasty plant food CO2, just what does this reformer do with all that carbon?

Wishfull thinking car design number 389,543.

[Free the USA]

Index Bump

[sigSEGV]

Pictures...

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?art_id=iol1029480022328H600

[BJungNan]

The oil companies will buy up the technology, just like they have many other potentially viable alternatives to what they produce and have invested in.

[Hugin]

The oil companies will buy up the technology, just like they have many other potentially viable alternatives to what they produce and have invested in.

Where do you get that? Give us an example of technology the oil companies have "bought up"?

Those supposed replacements for the internal combustion engine either exist only in minds of econuts, have major practical technological problems, or are economically unviable in comparison to the internal combustion engine. When something is actually practical and economically competetive it will be produced. A good example is hybrid cars.

[John Jamieson]

Why would oil companies buy up something that doubled the requirement for oil? (by throwing half of it away?)

[balrog666]

Here comes the end of the Moslem Oil Empire. Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch. Hello beloved 8th. century, which I hope they enjoy to the fullest. They earned it. Let's take our ball and go home.

Did you miss the obvious?

1) It runs on gasoline and it scores low on energy effiency because it uses only the hydrogen atoms.

2) Where's the gas tank?

3) Where's the room for a family of four and some groceries/cargo?

4) It is *NOT* zero emission. It will produce water and some kind of carbon droppings.

5) How much will it cost above ordinary (and more efficient) vehicles?

6) How long will the "fuel cell" last and who is going to work on it when it breaks down?

7) How much in out tax dollars went into producing this monstrosity and how many will be used to subsidize it and it's siblings in the other car companies?

[John Jamieson]

Hybrid cars are soon to have a resale value of nil. Get yours in time to buy that new $7,000 battery at 80,000 miles.

[doug from upland]

"Fuel Cells will finally end the 100 year reign of the internal combustion engine." .....William Ford Jr. Chairman Ford Motor Co.

[ozzymandus]

Blah, blah, blah. Let me know when they make an electric car that actually works and can go more than a few miles in the real world. Meanwhile, what's wrong with internal combustion engines burning alcohol? Other than the fact that the Arabs and the oil companies wouldn't control the world, I mean.

[luckystarmom]

I'll keep our Toyota Prius hybrid. As far as the driver goes, you treat it just like a regular car.

[Howie]

"A day will come when we produce the fuel for our cars from the plants that grow along the road", Henry Ford. (as close as I can remember)

Actually we could use soybean oil or alcohol from corn or some other plant today if we had to. The Germans did it during ww2. They had trucks that ran on cow manure (No sh__.)

[PoorMuttly]

This is only the beginning.

I'll have some answers for you later.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Industrial Hemp

The best of all viable fuel sources.

[doug from upland]

Indeed, there are some states pushing hard for biodiesel. I write for GREEN CAR JOURNAL, an industry newsletter, and have been exposed to all of this technology. Almost two years ago I was in Stutgart driving fuel cell protypes on the Mercedes test track. The technology has significantly advanced in the last 8 years.

[mamelukesabre]

THat's a good question. You got me scratching my head now. Do you know the answer? What DOES it do with carbon? Something sure doesn't seem to add up here.