What do you guys think of hydrogen powered cars.
The one with fuel cells and the hydrogen combustion engines.
Here are some links
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/bmw-h2r.htm
Thats about the hydrogen combustion engine
and this one is about the fuel cell.
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-cell.htm
and a fuel cell powered car
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/hy-wire.htm

I like the hydrogen combustion engine because it is pretty much the same thing as a normal combustion engine.

Slightly Off Topic: It's a pitty we can't use pure ethanol (sp?) for fuel, as it uses more energy to produce than what it makes!

Hydrogen cars r great because u dont have to buy loads of petrol or dieseal so u will save money, but...u cant get a big noise from the exhaust like from the boxer engine and hydrogen cars look 'ugly' to a certain extent but very gd because they dont pollute and im sure they wont make as much power as petrol/dieseal car make atm...but maybe we just have to give them time :-k

The problem is, how could we produce, store and transport the hydrogen...

yay, we'll drive hydrogen bombs! theres a hydrgen pump station somewhere. it makes hydrogen on site

the braziliam way to combact petrol prices at the 80´s was a alcool project...
today Brazil produces more than 90% pretrol than it needs and alcool still as a great option to final consumer. Major of brands here offer cars bi-combustible (it works on gasoline or alcool, or both). The problem is that politics ambition to mantain the gasoline and alcool domestic prices based on international prices... bbbblllllllaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yay, we'll drive hydrogen bombs! theres a hydrgen pump station somewhere. it makes hydrogen on site

Just one possible solution. The auto manufacturers are currently trying to produce technology to convert water to hydrogen on-board. Unfortunately, they're having practicality issues.

The problem is, how could we produce, store and transport the hydrogen...

Hydrogen is made from splitting water Molecules. This requires Electricity.

Electricity is made mainly from Power Plants that run on coal. They Pollute the air. So Hydrogen will not pollute when it is burned in the car, but it will pollute when it is being produced. It is fairly simple. It does take some Electricity to split Hydrogen, but I think it is worth it. The Hydrogen Cars do not spend as much gas, they do not pollute as much, so thats good right?

As of now, the cons are that the cars are way-underpowered. Take the PAC-11, which set the world record for best-milage when it ran 25km in 1gram of Hydrogen. The top speed is 35kmh. This is certainly not what we want.

Anyhow, if all the manufacturers do work on 1 hydrogen car each, then the hydrogen cars will improve dramatically due to competition. I am sure if we give it time it will improve, making better speeds, and better looks. The looks I am not worried about but the Speed and power I am. We will see what happens.

Just one possible solution. The auto manufacturers are currently trying to produce technology to convert water to hydrogen on-board. Unfortunately, they're having practicality issues.

They do it using electricity to split the Water Molecule Like I said above. have you ever heard of an Ozone Room? This room eleminates smells. How? This is where a little device splits carbon dioxide molecules, and makes Oxygen. The oxygen then goes into reaction with the components, to eleminate smells.

Same thing with Hydrogen. The beauty is that we will never run out. Because we change it from water, to hydrogen and oxygen, and then in the engine of the car, they combine again to make Water once again. Car Water Cycle if you call it.

in europe most cars are on propaine. They lose a little bit of power but save alot!!! more money than gas.

in europe most cars are on propaine. They lose a little bit of power but save alot!!! more money than gas.

propaine? you mean the gas? that we use to cook? right?

Isn't this whole process amazingly expensive?

Isn't this whole process amazingly expensive?

For now it is, but once it is in use it will be very practical. Now we have barely any technology on splitting Water into Hydrogen and Oxygen. Later on it will be way less expensive than Petrol.

propaine? you mean the gas? that we use to cook? right?

YEs propaine the stuff used for cooking and and it cost about 300$ to get it installed but it saves alot!!!!!!! most cars in eastern europe have this beacuse the gas there is like $5 a gallon.

I wonder if a hydrogen powered car can peel out:-k

I also don't see why the hydrogen powered cars have to be so ugly, it has nothing to do with the fact that it is hydrogen powered. Maybe maunfacturers use it to promote the idea that change is good.

Hydrogen cars don't have to be ulgy.
I you use a hydrogen combustion engine instead of a petrol engine It would take the same amount of space except you would have almost no pollution and only a small power lose. Its not much power lost and hydrogen produces more power for weight than petrol the only reason that power is lost is because they have been reashaeing petrol longer than petrol.

Didn't BMW make a fleet of hydrogen powered cars?

I also don't see why the hydrogen powered cars have to be so ugly, it has nothing to do with the fact that it is hydrogen powered. Maybe maunfacturers use it to promote the idea that change is good.

because if you can only generate 10hp, you need something about 5ft long and 2 ft wide weighing less than 200lbs.

how could we safely transport hydrogen?

No clue. Thats one of the problems. But considering that Gasoilne ( petrol) is highly flammable as well, I don't think it will be too big of a problem.


and, YOU DONT NEED TO TRANSPORT HYDROGEN... I explained before, the conversion of water to Hydrogen and Oxygen will take place in a gas/hydrogen station. It is fairly simple. Get water, Get electricity, run electrodes through water, it breaks down. Its not that simple because it requires a lot of electricity in order to keep up with the demand but the thing is in case of accidents, hope they never happen but unfortunately they do and collision/auto reapair shops are happy they happen. Hydrogen is WAY more explosive/flammable than Gasoline. Will the car blow up? ?? ?? These are some of the issues..

They should develop a car that runs on salt water. we have heaps of it, its free.

but it extremly corrosive

because if you can only generate 10hp, you need something about 5ft long and 2 ft wide weighing less than 200lbs.
Are you thinking of the fuel cell powerd cars?
BMW made a concept car that uses a Hydrogen combustion engine. The engine was a V12 and the car had a top speed of over 300 kp/h.
Its one of the links that I put at the start of the thread.
They transport the hydrogen in tanks with 3 wall and are air tight. I think they did test by shooting the tanks and there was no explosion but it did chath on fire.

No, the hydrogen cars developed recently are pretty weak. Now I am sure they can make a F1 hydrogen car, but it would cost like, 1290312903?

I have the stats here.
BMW H2R Specifications
6.0-liter, V-12 liquid-hydrogen-powered engine
232 horsepower
Top speed over 187 mph (301 kph)
Aluminum space-frame chassis (generates almost no interior vibration)
Carbon-fiber-reinforced, Formula 1-style body
0 to 62 mph (100 kph) in 6 seconds
3,440 pounds (1,560 kg) with full tank and driver
5.4 meters (17.7 feet) long, 2 meters (6.6 feet) wide

It's not practical yet but it's a hell of a lot better than the first petrol engine.
I think we will be seeing cars of this type by 2010 or 2015.