On 7/1/2009 12:02 AM, James Scott Taylor wrote:
>
>
>
> * Here's something I am skeptical about http://tinyurl.com/452dmu
> <http://tinyurl.com/452dmu>
>
> This car probably uses water derived hydrogen created by a chemical reaction
> in the form of a hydrogen fuel cell in order to convert the input water
> eventually into electrical current.

They aren't saying how it's done, so it's basically impossible to tell
which version of nonsense it is.


> Nothing new there or to be skeptical
> about really

They claim that the range is limited only by how much water you have.
That's something to be skeptical about, since whatever they are doing
must be consuming something else, perhaps some other chemical onboard.

They admit that the car is not cheap, but they imply (almost certainly
incorrectly) that nothing is consumed except water.

[snip]

> I always thought a hydrogen gas powered car would be interesting. You'd
> plug your car into a home plug for an electrical source at night during off
> peak hours and use the electrolysis method to convert some water into
> hydrogen gas for fuel the next day. Then burn that hydrogen gas in the car
> pistons for short there and back again trips. But I don't know how
> expensive the electrolysis process would be (along with the electrolysis
> support chemicals and hydrogen collection mechanism).

My impression is that this isn't efficient. You are starting with
electricity, making hydrogen, and then using that hydrogen to move the
car. You could more easily (and more efficiently) simply charge up your
electric car. Electric cars have limited range, but so do present day
hydrogen cars, so there isn't any clear advantage of a hydrogen car over
an electric car. With likely improvements in the next couple of decades
. . . electric cars still win.

Eric Carlson