BryanS Posted July 3, 2008 Share Posted July 3, 2008 I just saw a news report and they mentioned the depressing car sales. They did a short piece on the Volt, but said it will be another 2 years (minimum) before we see that car in production.WTF?!?!http://gm-volt.com/chevy-volt-faqs/This web site says production to begin in 2008. Close to 40K.Only the first 40 miles are driven on battery. After that, it has to use a gasoline engine to run a generator to recharge the batteries/supply electricity to its electric drive train. When that happens, they say the MPG is around 50 MPG. Approx same as a 1996 Geo Metro, high fuel efficiency model, 4 to 7K, from e-bay. From a total cost of ownership viewpoint, the Volt (and Prius) are losers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BryanS Posted July 3, 2008 Share Posted July 3, 2008 FCX EvolutionFuel cells are not the answer everyone thinks they are. NASA has been using fuel cells on space vehicles since the 1960's. They are use on the Space Shuttle today, and have been headache, on many occasions.From a "fair and balanced" news source:http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,212459,00.htmlWhen the shuttle's fuel cells were powered up, a low voltage reading came from one of the units, and the other two spiked up to compensate.Fuel cells have forced launch delays before and even ended missions early.The second flight of Columbia in 1981 was delayed because of a low pressure reading on an oxygen tank that fueled a cell, and the 5-day mission was cut short when the cell failed.In 1995, an Endeavour launch was delayed eight days so workers could remove and replace a bad fuel cell that was registering higher than allowable temperatures.A 1997 flight of Columbia returned to Earth four days after launch when a cell failed in orbit. The cell had shown some erratic readings before the launch but the shuttle was cleared to fly. The mission was rescheduled and Columbia launched again a few months later.Bottom line is that fuel cells require near-perfect conditions to operate, and have almost no tolerance for contamination, out of balance chemistry, etc. Whereas your internal combustion engine can just burn contaminates with no harm to the engine. That's also why fuel cells are so expensive.An all electric car that you can recharge over night, that has a top speed of 100 mph, and 300 mile range is what we need NOW. Fuel cell technology, which has been in use since the 1960's, still needs to be improved to drive down cost, improve reliability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDeb Posted July 3, 2008 Share Posted July 3, 2008 Bottom line is that fuel cells require near-perfect conditions to operate, and have almost no tolerance for contamination, out of balance chemistry, etc. Whereas your internal combustion engine can just burn contaminates with no harm to the engine. That's also why fuel cells are so expensive.Another problem with fuel cells vehicles is that they are still energy hogs. The hydrogen used to power them doesn't just exist in the air, it must be produced from either natural gas or coal, or from water through electrolysis (an energy intensive process). Unless we are going to be throwing up a bunch of nuke plants to feed a vast hydrogen infrastrucutre (which, by the way, does not exist), these are merely going to be a novelty for the uber-rich and those who want to feel good about themselves.An all electric car that you can recharge over night, that has a top speed of 100 mph, and 300 mile range is what we needI believe this is the long-term answer, provided people overcome their objection to nuclear/coal power and natural gas drilling in the OCS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJones Posted July 3, 2008 Share Posted July 3, 2008 Gosh, what happened to Puma ? Hello....lo.....lo.... Puma.....ma......ma ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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