# Canadian University Students Develop Hydrogen Fuel Chevy Equinox



## Coley (Jul 26, 2007)

What is disgusting to me, is that the automotive world has kept fuel cell production limited for all of these years.

In 1948, a Popular Machanics ( or similar) book had an article in it about a fuel cell that was put into an Allis Chalmers tractor.

This converted tractor was shown pulling a 3 bottom plow and doing it well.

Now why hasn't this been followed up, in all of these years, as a power plant for cars and trucks???

Because, as we are finding out, electric vehicles require so little maintanence, that dealer repair techs ( read that parts changers), wouldn't have much to do.

Charging, adding water, wiping the windows and checking tire pressure are not items that would cost a lot.

Gee, the consumer might even get his monies worth out of a new car.....

Course, this is just my opine.....


----------



## david85 (Nov 12, 2007)

Fuel cells are the wrong solution. Canada has tried, and failed to place it self on the world stage as pioneer of the technology. They have all but abandoned the prospect of a fuel cell small enough and cheap enough to run a car, and are looking to th eoverpriced aerospace industry to solve their problems. Ballard power is a joke, and will probably not last the decade because they are either incapable or unwilling to drive the cost of their technology down.

Unfortunately, fuel cells are politically correct because they are low emission, they are NOT however, high efficiency.


----------



## xrotaryguy (Jul 26, 2007)

david85 said:


> Fuel cells are the wrong solution. Canada has tried, and failed to place it self on the world stage as pioneer of the technology. They have all but abandoned the prospect of a fuel cell small enough and cheap enough to run a car, and are looking to th eoverpriced aerospace industry to solve their problems. Ballard power is a joke, and will probably not last the decade because they are either incapable or unwilling to drive the cost of their technology down.
> 
> Unfortunately, fuel cells are politically correct because they are low emission, they are NOT however, high efficiency.


Even if Ballard could or would drive the cost of its product down, their product is only about 50 to 55% efficient. Granted, that's much better than an IC motor, but hydrogen production still stinks. We can make it from natural gas, but that isn't even close to sustainable because natural gas peaked in 2004 and is getting pretty stinkin' expensive as of late. Electrolosys of water is only about 40% efficient (this is according to my own calculations. I researched this about a year and don't have references readily available. Sorry). Honda's fuel cell is actually about 60% efficient, but even at 60% efficiency, the car can only hope to use energy from the grid at 24% efficiency due to the energy intensive nature of hydrogen production via electrolysis. This number doesn't even take into account the inefficiencies of compressing the hydrogen to thousands of psi or chilling it to a liquid or compressing it into a temperature-controlled solid state storage device. Hydrogen is a real stinker in my opinion.

I have yet to see any definitive evidence one way or the other on the viability and efficiency of direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). If DMFCs are as efficient as hydrogen fuel cells, and methanol can be produced reliably, then this could be a contender. I really don't know if this is viable though.


----------



## david85 (Nov 12, 2007)

xrotaryguy said:


> Even if Ballard could or would drive the cost of its product down, their product is only about 50 to 55% efficient. Granted, that's much better than an IC motor, but hydrogen production still stinks. We can make it from natural gas, but that isn't even close to sustainable because natural gas peaked in 2004 and is getting pretty stinkin' expensive as of late. Electrolosys of water is only about 40% efficient (this is according to my own calculations. I researched this about a year and don't have references readily available. Sorry). Honda's fuel cell is actually about 60% efficient, but even at 60% efficiency, the car can only hope to use energy from the grid at 24% efficiency due to the energy intensive nature of hydrogen production via electrolysis. This number doesn't even take into account the inefficiencies of compressing the hydrogen to thousands of psi or chilling it to a liquid or compressing it into a temperature-controlled solid state storage device. Hydrogen is a real stinker in my opinion.
> 
> I have yet to see any definitive evidence one way or the other on the viability and efficiency of direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). If DMFCs are as efficient as hydrogen fuel cells, and methanol can be produced reliably, then this could be a contender. I really don't know if this is viable though.


All true. I stopped learning about fuel cells a long time ago, I just tune it all out by now. I like simple solutions, and that is what the electric car is, a simple solution. I also wonder what would happen if a terrorist were to get his hands on a tank of liquid hydrogen, and put that in a car, oh wait, thats what a hydrogen powered car is, a pre-assembled car bomb!

Not saying it can't be made safely, but if you make such a neat little package like that, what do you think is going to happen when these wack-jobs catch wind of it?


----------

