From Edmunds.com:

The Explorer has the hydrogen fuel tank mounted in the center of the vehicle so the tank can be larger and deliver more miles — 350 — on a single fill-up than other fuel-cell vehicles, Ford claims. In addition, the location of the tank allows for the six-passenger seating and same cargo capacity as on today's Explorer. It is also equipped with an advanced electric all-wheel-drive system.

In the past year, the Explorer has been driven 17,000 miles at Ford's Dearborn, Michigan, test facility. Ford says the fuel-cell Explorer also set a new record for the most miles traveled in a 24-hour period in a fuel-cell vehicle — 1,556.

The fuel-cell Explorer is the first of a series of prototype vehicles to be built for the U.S. Department of Energy to determine if hydrogen propulsion is feasible. The fuel-cell Explorer is one of several vehicles with green technology that Ford will have at the show. Others will be the new 2008 Ford Escape (http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/FVDP/Preview/styleId=100704238) Hybrid, the PZEV emissions compliant Ford Fusion (http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/ViewModelDetail/make=Ford/model=Fusion) and Ford Focus (http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/ViewModelDetail/make=Ford/model=Focus) and the 2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty (http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/ViewModelDetail/make=Ford/model=F-250%20Super%20Duty) with Ford Clean Diesel Technology.

Ford's Explorer won't be the only vehicle at the show that runs on hydrogen. BMW will show the Hydrogen 7 (http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/FirstDrives/articleId=117647), a hydrogen-powered version of the 7 Series (http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/ViewModelDetail/make=BMW/model=7%20Series)

http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com//media/il/news/2006/1127/explorer.fuel.cell.500.jpg

http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com//media/il/news/2006/1127/explorer.fuel.cell.2.500.jpg

http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com//media/il/news/2006/1127/explorer.fuel.cell.3.500.jpg

It's so good that more companies are starting this ideas. They needs to be started now before we really have no oil :)

So can we Turbo the thing yet?lol

So can we Turbo the thing yet?lol

It uses a 0.0L V0, so no. lol.

But yes, this is great news. If we can mass produce these hydrogen fuel cells then the energy crisis is essentially solved.

^ Yeah.. thats right.
Scientists no need to scratch their heads anymore!

I didn't know that this era of Explorer looks this good.. I like it.

I loved Hydrogen cars from the start. I thought it was always the way to go. What i hope is that hydrogen will give more punch then petrol :) . Anyways, very goodd=

If we can mass produce these hydrogen fuel cells then the energy crisis is essentially solved.Hydrogen fuel cell technology is not super complex, new, or hard to produce.

The issue with hydrogen fuel cell vehicles is that you need hydrogen to run them. Hydrogen is not found naturally in great quantities due to it's extreme tendency for reacting violently with almost anything. So instead to create hydrogen you undergo the process of electrolysis on water, separating the two hydrogen atoms from the oxygen. Electrolysis requires large quantities of energy though, so the whole concept of hydrogen as an alternate fuel is really a misleading because creating hydrogen is an energy negative process. Hydrogen is really just a medium that can be used to transport energy as a solid state fuel. The advantage of hydrogen over using batteries and electricity is that you don't lose energy to heat over transport, and it is also more compact.

So hydrogen really won't solve any energy crisis, every. It really is just a practical solution for running cars once we do find that alternative source of energy.

Hydrogen fuel cell technology is not super complex, new, or hard to produce.

The issue with hydrogen fuel cell vehicles is that you need hydrogen to run them. Hydrogen is not found naturally in great quantities due to it's extreme tendency for reacting violently with almost anything. So instead to create hydrogen you undergo the process of electrolysis on water, separating the two hydrogen atoms from the oxygen. Electrolysis requires large quantities of energy though, so the whole concept of hydrogen as an alternate fuel is really a misleading because creating hydrogen is an energy negative process. Hydrogen is really just a medium that can be used to transport energy as a solid state fuel. The advantage of hydrogen over using batteries and electricity is that you don't lose energy to heat over transport, and it is also more compact.

So hydrogen really won't solve any energy crisis, every. It really is just a practical solution for running cars once we do find that alternative source of energy.

aha.....thanks for clarifying that up boss.

But it seems like a waste of time to transition to hydrogen in the first place. I'm not up on the alternative energy research but I'm thinking alcohol fuels (E85, methanol, etc.) is probably our best. The hybrids and these hydrogens seem to be just a marketing hype.

I'm a big fan of E85, it has the potential for us Americans to be able to grow our own fuel and buy it for less then a dollar a gallon, then export the rest to everyone else and make a killing like the oil kings in the Middle East. A win/win situation.

Yes, it does have downsides though, I made a thread about it awhile back, maybe it's time for another.

Edit: Yes, I do believe that hybrids and hydrogen is mostly just hype, Toyota and Honda have received a fair deal of good press for their two hybrids and the big three are trying not to look as if they got left behind. GM is coming out with a plug-in hybrid car, and Ford has this.

The sad thing is that the work that Ford did with ethanol and GM's major push for E85 are going unnoticed in the press, or criticized for several issues.

Definitely time for a new thread. Your old own seemed to go off topic and got locked: http://www.sportscarforums.com/f7/ace-hole-ethanol-11326.html

But I worry about the supply. We have huge, huge oil fields to serve our needs but can we make enough ethanol to feed the automotive industry?

yeah dude, make a new thread.

Good idea, I'll get started on one but if you want to make one in the meantime I can just add whatever to it.

It should be about all options for alternative fuels though just to keep the discussion broad.

It's all good and stuff, but it's gonna be the sausage of death. They will sound like sewing machines, and when these cars really breaks through somewhere in the future, I guess the government will ban petrol/diesel powered cars which means no gurgling V8's for me!

^ Yeah.. thats right.
Scientists no need to scratch their heads anymore!

I didn't know that this era of Explorer looks this good.. I like it.+

^the explorer does look great, and its an SUV

if ford did come out with an SUV that got the great mileage that would make ford a lot of $$$

ive always been a fan of hydrogen but 4 gods sake dont shove a hydrogen unit in such a plasticy and dumb car (uk point of view)

^what makes the Ford Explorer dumb? because its an SUV?

the explorer is a good SUV< it isn't dumb.

^what makes the Ford Explorer dumb? because its an SUV?

the explorer is a good SUV< it isn't dumb.

sorry mate im from the uk so my idea of SUV is land rovers and range rovers. the things that crush things like RAV 4s, Explorers.etc

^you mean your idea of an SUV is one that breaks down or has technical problems all the time?

well in the US we have monster SUV's also, like the HUMMER H1, and the Lincoln Navigator.

lol, seriously though i would take the Explorer over a range rover, range rover was rated lower than Kia with quality and problems, plus you could have an explorer and a infiniti G35 with that money.

if you compare american SUV's to you "range rover" they don't compare in size. i think a Cadillac Escalade would "crush" a Range Rover for a fraction of the price.

I think thats amazing! Now did it set that record with out recharging or refilling or w/e that new fangled thing does?


Ya know what the weirdest thing is.. Everyone is going crazy about oil supplies running out, well most studies I've read and seen (history channel) said that oil supplies will last around 300 more years...Idk.. yeah we are running out but I think we got a little more ways to go (after all we did just find more oil in the gulf..)


LOL and dont get me started... Land Rover??? Dude, thats owned by ford, go ahead check ford.com see how many UK companies we got lol...And well they may look pretty but they cant do jack, just like the H2. I gota stock 2004 Jeep Grand Cheeroke Special Edition and man i love that thing, last winter (i live in centeral ny bad snow here) i saw a H2 stuck in a snowbank, and i figured i would help him out, well the driver wasnt there and he was walkin back to his car. And so he wouldent think i was stealing his plastic i drove away but not after going through where he got stuck (high gear too not low lol) just for some fun.. Im pretty sure that a range rover would prob get stuck too. But yea those new Explorers are nice, friend just bought one, awsome styling inside and out. Now if only they would make a Hydrogen Jeep!

It's great that car manufacturers are thinking of the environment. Some other vehicles have done this, and it's good that Ford is following.

I think thats amazing! Now did it set that record with out recharging or refilling or w/e that new fangled thing does?


Ya know what the weirdest thing is.. Everyone is going crazy about oil supplies running out, well most studies I've read and seen (history channel) said that oil supplies will last around 300 more years...Idk.. yeah we are running out but I think we got a little more ways to go (after all we did just find more oil in the gulf..)


LOL and dont get me started... Land Rover??? Dude, thats owned by ford, go ahead check ford.com see how many UK companies we got lol...And well they may look pretty but they cant do jack, just like the H2. I gota stock 2004 Jeep Grand Cheeroke Special Edition and man i love that thing, last winter (i live in centeral ny bad snow here) i saw a H2 stuck in a snowbank, and i figured i would help him out, well the driver wasnt there and he was walkin back to his car. And so he wouldent think i was stealing his plastic i drove away but not after going through where he got stuck (high gear too not low lol) just for some fun.. Im pretty sure that a range rover would prob get stuck too. But yea those new Explorers are nice, friend just bought one, awsome styling inside and out. Now if only they would make a Hydrogen Jeep!

^nice post, 300 years? thats a long time, i haven't heard how long we have with oil supplies, i know we have a ton of oil but we use soo much so... i really agree with looking for new energy sources, and i think it would be even better if we didn't have to get it from the middle east, and put them out of business

Hydrogen fuel cell technology is not super complex, new, or hard to produce.

The issue with hydrogen fuel cell vehicles is that you need hydrogen to run them. Hydrogen is not found naturally in great quantities due to it's extreme tendency for reacting violently with almost anything. So instead to create hydrogen you undergo the process of electrolysis on water, separating the two hydrogen atoms from the oxygen. Electrolysis requires large quantities of energy though, so the whole concept of hydrogen as an alternate fuel is really a misleading because creating hydrogen is an energy negative process. Hydrogen is really just a medium that can be used to transport energy as a solid state fuel. The advantage of hydrogen over using batteries and electricity is that you don't lose energy to heat over transport, and it is also more compact.

So hydrogen really won't solve any energy crisis, every. It really is just a practical solution for running cars once we do find that alternative source of energy.

thats the long and short of it. to produce hydrogene takes more electricity than you get burning it. once you have hydrogene, you need to compresse or refreigerat it before it can be burned because, HYDROGEN is NOT energy.

a podcast on popular mechanics claims that the cars are underpowered and are hard to start if left in the sun. i dont think hydrogene is our savior.

neither is ethanol. although a tad off topic, ethanol is mainly alchohol, so any part of a car in contact with it needs to be specially made. pure ethanol is

moonshine
an accelerant that burns with a transparant flame