What is Digg?117 Comments
- agentb111, on 06/20/2008, -2/+31one more step in the right direction.
- ir1337, on 06/20/2008, -0/+23I'm not sure what fellating a waterbourne mammal has to do with engine repair, but different strokes!
- glawky, on 06/20/2008, -0/+22I miss my RX-7... I rebuilt the engine in my apartment parking lot after I blew a seal... I could almost lift the engine out myself... amazing engines.
- dukeochutney, on 06/20/2008, -0/+9rx8 w/ hydrogen = win
- nicktheawesome, on 06/20/2008, -0/+8You have to walk ten paces to get it started.
- pdxa4, on 06/20/2008, -0/+7Quit playing with your wankle!
- FTWmovin2canada, on 06/20/2008, -0/+7I had one too, love the tiny rotary motors.
- Rocketbird, on 06/20/2008, -1/+7Wooo! The Wankle rotary engine! Wan-kle! Wan-kle! Wan-kle!
- Wargalas, on 06/20/2008, -0/+5What about Air/gas cars? Primary engine power comes from highly compressed air, then when you run low, a small gas engine powers an onboard compressor and "refuels" the tanks.
That way, you can "fuel up" either at home through an electric outlet (to the compressor), at a service station with air or with gas.
Plus, you don't have to worry about "charge times" that comes with electrical vehicles.
With air filters in place, you could even clean the air that you're driving through. :) - PatrickJonathan, on 06/20/2008, -3/+8Hopefully it won't be too long before it's introduced here in the US
- trumpydumpy, on 06/20/2008, -3/+7Why don't the major car companies work on electric cars instead of hydrogen? Hydrogen cars are electric but they have to be refuelled. I don't want super high pressure tanks sitting under my feet. I'd rather just have a full electric car with solar skins that hardly ever needs recharging.
- xZongx, on 06/20/2008, -0/+4Extra note: The Rotary engine design will run just about anything that can be compressed and ignited (basic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wankel_engine ).
We're talking Diesel (a few quick googled examples) : http://machinedesign.com/ContentItem/60160/Rotarye ...
Kersone: http://www.azom.com/News.asp?NewsID=9420
alcohol : http://www.performancetestedseals.com/testimonal.h ...
Again, pretty much whatever can be compressed and ignited. Not as simple as just dumping the fuel and pressing the gas pedal, but still a pretty neat design to visit when exploring alternative fuel types for combustion. - bman85, on 06/20/2008, -0/+4I feel like most of these "green" technology's are just for show, you know that we will not see this for practical use anywhere in the near future, even though we could.
And if is ever does get released it will just be in like 3 city's in California, and for lease only, just like the EV1 was, and another fuel cell car that is currently "out" (Honda FCX Clarity)
Publicity Stunts if you ask me, none of these company's actually have a desire to start real change. - gquaglia, on 06/20/2008, -0/+4Never going to happen. Oil is big money and those who profit off it and control it will never let any other technology threaten that. These alternate fuel vehicles you hear about are just a smoke screen to make the people believe they are exploring other options when it reality, they have no real desire to mass produce them. Notice how every other alternate system come with a negative caveat. Hydrogen-too costly to produce, no distribution network. Electric-battery tech, low range. Ethanol-pollutes, low range, world will go hungry. None of these systems are in wide spread use and already the industry is poo-pooing them. The only thing they have built is the hybrid, guess why. It uses gasoline. Until the last drop of oil comes from the ground expect little to no change in the auto industry.
- Rikkochet, on 06/20/2008, -2/+6Oh my god. So now we have a battery that will eventually need to be replaced for some serious coin, a hydrogen engine that is unproven, a gas engine to improve it, and all wrapped up in a rotary engine that only Mazda dealers can/will service?
Great idea but likely to be a huge kick in the wallet. - FTWmovin2canada, on 06/20/2008, -0/+4We should just made a standard modular rechargeable car battery, so you can drive 200 miles, stop at a gas station, and switch it out for a charged one. Now that I think about it, it would be like those propane tank exchange deals. It would minimize the infrastructure changes needed compared to hydrogen as well.
- mecharabbit, on 06/20/2008, -1/+5Yeah, it could become your own little Hindenburg. Oh, the humanity!
- schneb, on 06/20/2008, -0/+4Because of their power per weight/size, they are now being used in Ultralite planes. I know because my brother-in-law is pushing their use for this purpose.
- BESTenemy, on 06/20/2008, -0/+4They don't want you to recharge the batteries cause you can do it yourself, sending the buck to your local electrical company, instead of emptying the wallet at the gas station. They want hydrogen, cause it forces you to get fuel from the existing oil companies (soon to become hydrogen distributors) that have influence in car manufacturing.
Also, an electric car barely requires any maintanance, and any car dealer would tell you that the real money is not at the point of sale, but in service.
I go to electric car conventions annually. What is common about most home conversions and industrial prototypes is simplicity. The engines, be they brushless or conventional, don't have oil. In fact the only liquid under the hood is in the window washer container. That's it! In all of them.
Since the efficiency of the electric engines does not change with RPM's, most electric cars either have no transmission or 2-gear system. No need to service the part that can cost as much as an engine in a gasoline powered car.
Electic cars save money on everything, not just fuel. That's money the car company doesn't get to redeem through service charges. That is why they like hydrogen cars so much. They're just as complex as their predecessors and have a short service cycle. Hyprids have been a gold mine in that aspect. They've increased the internal complexity, forcing more people to switch to professional service instead of fixing their own cars. - trumpydumpy, on 06/20/2008, -0/+4"The engine’s hybrid system increases power by 40 percent, and is said to increase hydrogen fuel range to 200 kilometers, (135 miles)."
The tesla roadster can go 220 miles on a single charge. My whole point is that if the major car companies actually put money into this and released cars that were pure electric, we could have cars that could travel 1000+ miles on a single charge in the near future. Add solar skins to the car and you could probably travel across the US without recharging. Also, solar skin is only costly as long as it is not being implemented by the major car companies. If they started releasing cars with solar, the price would drop dramatically. - shakin, on 06/20/2008, -0/+4Practically every major car model wins car of the year because manufacturers introduce updated models in each category during separate years, so they never compete for the award with each other.
- pitchblack16, on 06/20/2008, -1/+4i need me one of those, anything to not buy gas right now
- granolajoe, on 06/20/2008, -1/+4Haha I wonder if these are going to be better than Mazda's older rotary engines that everyone bitched about for eating up oil.
- zephyr42, on 06/20/2008, -0/+3the mazda3 was named economy car of the year by motor trend magazine...
- schneb, on 06/20/2008, -0/+3The issue was the seals. With todays technology, they should be revisited.
- inactive, on 06/20/2008, -0/+3Price please? I'd be willing to cut out a lot of creature comforts to own this. But like hybrid cars today, the price differential between it and a gasoline-only car does not pay for itself through gas savings over the life of the automobile. So you're really buying it as a statement. I can only afford so much of a statement.
- TheCarDude, on 06/20/2008, -6/+9never heard of a duel fuel system. pretty cool idea
- FTWmovin2canada, on 06/20/2008, -0/+3It's for range. Solar skin could help, but would be costly and not work consistently, depending on time and weather.
- gn0stik, on 06/20/2008, -0/+3And besides the newer storage mediums store it in a porous alloy, not a hollow tank. "Puncturing" it is impossible. You can break the outer shell, and it would cause a slow leak, with no burn. Not a massive outgassing like you're obviously imagining.
- Skinner72, on 06/20/2008, -0/+3Better not let PETA find out you're blowing seals.
- Origin415, on 06/20/2008, -0/+3Electric cars are fine as a station car, you can recharge them overnight. But if you want to actually go somewhere...I dont like the idea of sitting around at a recharging station for a couple hours. Hydrogen would have the same convenience of gas.
- FeloniusMonkey, on 06/20/2008, -0/+3Myth debunked: http://www.hydrogencarsnow.com/hindenburg-fallacy. ...
- bman85, on 06/20/2008, -0/+3They are just much harder to implement, they aren't *****.
- usbcd36, on 06/20/2008, -0/+32 H2 + O2 -> 2 H2O
Whether you burn hydrogen, or use it in a fuel cell, the same reaction takes place. Water is formed either way. - GeneralFault, on 06/20/2008, -0/+3Even if this were to make any real difference, it would be more like "soon we will be free of Canadian oil" since they are they supply most of our oil.
from Wikipedia:
"Over 99% of Canadian oil exports are sent to the United States, making Canada, not Saudi Arabia, the United States' largest supplier of oil." - ausfahrt, on 06/20/2008, -0/+3Gasoline is much more dangerous. In the case of a leak or rupture hydrogen escapes directly upwards whereas gasoline will pool and cause much worse fires.
- gquaglia, on 06/20/2008, -0/+2Yup, its amazing how people don't see this. If they do produce them, it will be like GMs electric car. They leased them, then take them back, claiming they were unpopular. Then go back to making gas guzzlers. The same will happen with these hydrogen cars or anything else that does rely on oil. As long as oil flows, expect little to no change.
- gahal, on 06/20/2008, -0/+2The sun is a nuclear reaction, not a chemical one.
(or did I miss some joke here?) - absolutzombie, on 06/20/2008, -0/+2I wrote this blog post in February, 2007, when the Mazda5 Tribrid was announced:
Mazda's 15 years of hydrogen development, with pictures:
http://morriesmazda.blogspot.com/2007/02/15-years- ... - RX8SaxMan, on 06/20/2008, -0/+2Right, which is a reason why the rotary is so good with hydrogen. It already injects oil directly into the combustion chamber, so lubrication isn't an issue. This is why people complain that the RX-8 burns oil, even though that is what it's designed to do.
- pr0t0, on 06/21/2008, -0/+2I believe electric is the way to go, and I think this might be a step in the wrong direction. Hydrogen keeps us slaves to a new master and forces us to pay for the infrastructure to deliver hydrogen to the end user. I think hydrogen is a way for oil companies to stay in the game by switching over to hydrogen delivery and thus guaranteeing very long-term viability.
With electric, the infrastructure is 'basically' in place, that is to say that every home and business has electricity delivered to it already. We still have a master in the electric company, but electricity can also be generated by the end user directly through solar and wind technologies which will only become more efficient, less expensive, and more readily accepted; particularly if the incentive is there by having a growing electricity-based transportation economy. And by that I mean battery-based electricity as opposed to hydrogen fuel-cell technology which really is not an improvement for the reasons listed above. - chickcomedy, on 06/20/2008, -5/+7Soon we will be free of saudi oil! hooray!
- gn0stik, on 06/20/2008, -0/+2Yay, I agree, but it's not the evil Saudis we need to be free of.. It's the evil Canucks.
- bman85, on 06/20/2008, -0/+2Yeah, ignorance is bliss huh?
- bman85, on 06/20/2008, -0/+2What is even the point of having a fast car? I mean i can see the thrill, and i went through a fast car stage myself, but its not much fun when 99 percent of my driving is regulated by other cars' speed, not to mention that the top speed you can go legaly is about 75, and any car nowdays can do that... A fast car is fun, but when can you even use it to its potential...legally?
- RX8SaxMan, on 06/20/2008, -0/+2Hmm...since burning hydrogen produces water vapor, would an exploding hydrogen tank be like a giant water balloon? That could save the firefighters a lot of work in an accident ;-)
- wonderboy010488, on 06/20/2008, -0/+2Finally, from concept to reality.
- BESTenemy, on 06/20/2008, -0/+2Hydrogen is going to come from the very same sources. Chemical recomposition is still more efficient than electrolysis, so the first hydrogen cars will be powered at the expense of fossil fuels. Electric companies consume more coal, while fuel cartels are dominant in oil and gas markets. The issue is not whether something is clean or not, but who gets to increase or keep the market share. Electrochemical technology takes the finances away from car manufacturers and fuel retailers. Hydrogen car technology allows existing oil cartels to adapt in order to become hydrogen cartels, while staying friends with the carmakers, promising them identical returns through service and the ability to preserve necessary internal complexity of the vehicles.
Fuel cell technology is the worst thing to head into at this moment. Like you said, electricity still comes primarily from fossils. While batteries retain up to 95% of energy, hydrogen conversion leaves you with efficiency of less than 40%.
I'm all for electron based economy, just not the hydrogen one. - yammy1688, on 06/20/2008, -0/+2ROTARY = SWEET!
- inactive, on 06/20/2008, -0/+2Hydrogen forms water vapor when burned.
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