Re: was Car Craft Ramblings, now Alky fuel

[Matt Haas <mhaas@xxxxxxx>]

At 09:15 AM 5/2/2005 -0400, you wrote:
> John, the US auto industry has decided to "wait and see" how hydrogen 
> power turns out. I'm sure they are doing a bit of research, but other than 
> hybrids they aren't real interested in anyhting else. I don't know if 
> hydrogen is going to be the real answer, but that's what Detroit is betting on.
<snip>

I actually saw something recently that said GM is investing heavily in fuel 
cell technology (actually, it was more along the lines of they think it's 
going to save them). The current platform they've been showing a lot of is 
interesting (to say the least). It's basically a universal chassis that you 
can swap bodies on. One of the possibilities they're exploring with it is 
making bodies available separately from the chassis so the owner can change 
them out as needed. Also, they are now doing an evaluation with the Army 
where they're looking into using the trucks to produce potable water.

Also, D-C did something recently with fuel cell trucks in one of the Nordic 
countries. Of course, the Nordic countries have a huge advantage in that 
they can use plentiful geothermal energy to aid in splitting hydrogen off 
from water. This is typically done elsewhere using electricity which, to 
the best of my knowledge, results in a net loss of energy. Availability of 
hydrogen is one of the two big problems that fuel cell technology faces 
(the other is a lack of refueling infrastructure).

GM also does a lot now with hybrids (and has for a long time -- much longer 
than the term hybrid was being used) but it's mostly in the commercial 
sector (buses, trains, and such). Last I heard, they plan to bring hybrids 
down through the truck lines first. This makes sense to me since most of 
their technology is truck sized.

I personally like the idea of hydrogen fuel cells since the exhaust is 
mostly water but I'm really holding out for a decent warp drive or, at the 
very least, Mr. Fission.

Matt

PS - There are already Ion drives that have actually been used in real 
vehicles. NASA launched a small probe several years ago. You can find a 
bunch of information on it (the probe was called DS1) starting at this 
search: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=nasa+ion+propulsion.

mhaas@xxxxxxx
Cincinnati, OH
http://www.mattsoldcars.com
1967 Rambler American wagon
1968 Rambler American sedan
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