OK, now where's my flying car?

[unixronin]

Also on C|Net:  Honda officially launched the world's first production fuel-cell car on Sunday.  The Honda FCX Clarity delivers a combined-cycle driving range of about 72 miles per kilogram of hydrogen, which Honda says is equivalent to 74mpg in a gasoline-fueled car.  The car has a 280-mile range, implying it can hold about four kilos of hydrogen.

The Clarity will be offered for lease in three California cities (Costa Mesa, Santa Monica, and Torrance) for about $600 a month, starting in July./p>

Of course, hydrogen cars are not going to be widely driven anytime soon.  Honda estimates it will lease only about 200 FCX Clarity vehicles over the next three years.  In order to qualify for the lease program, would-be owners will have to meet a set of criteria that includes living within range of a hydrogen filling station, according to Honda.  As part of the lease, Honda will provide any necessary service or maintenance on the vehicle.

The biggest obstacle in mass market appeal of hydrogen-powered vehicles vs. gas-electric hybrids is where owners could fill up their cars.  While the U.S. Department of Energy has been a proponent of hydrogen fuel as an alternative energy for cars, there are currently few hydrogen-fuel filling stations the U.S.

Assuming you manage to qualify in the first place, good luck finding a place to fill it up away from home.

(See also this article on the hydrogen energy chain.)

Comments

[argonel.livejournal.com]

The many issues with direct hydrogen keep me skeptical about the actual utility. I think the time and effort would be better spent looking for alternate methaods of utilizing gasoline or liquified propane (LP gas) as energy sources. They are already much more readily available and people have a firmer grasp on how they need to be handled. They also have much higher energy density than compressed H2 gas. I think the greatest potential is the possibility of a practical hydrocarbon fuel cell (methanol, propane, ethane, acetylene, gasoline). These are all technically hydrogen fueled, but use carbon to get the molecular size up high enough that they are easy to work with.

The biggest problems I see with using compressed H2 gas as a vehicle fuel are the leak rate, low energy density, and to a lesser extent hydrogen embrittlement. The hydrogen embrittlement problem can be fixed/ worked around by not useing hardened components anywhere that there is contact with hydrogen. This includes not using grade 8 bolts to hold the engine together.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

There is at least one company working on fuel cells that can be fed direct hydrocarbons, and also at least one company that is working on an in-car reformer that produces hydrogen from liquid hydrocarbons. (Presumably hydrocarbon plus oxygen in, hydrogen plus carbon dioxide out.) I'm not clear on the details or status of either.

[novel-tharkun.livejournal.com]

I seem to remember many working on this. Or are you referring to one doing so for PEM or other likely portable strategy? Most that I recall reading about that either use cracking technology from hydrocarbon chains or direct-feed are working on solid oxide or similar.

[ithildae.livejournal.com]

There was a researcher in CA that recently (12 - 15 mo) that came up with a process for commercial production of methanol. That shows lots of promise.