hydrogen
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Internal-combustion engines typically convert only one-third of the energy stored in gasoline or diesel fuel into usable power. The rest is wasted as heat, noise, or even goes unburnt. So the question for designers of range-extended electric vehicles becomes: How can onboard liquid fuel most efficiently be used to provide power to electric drive motors once the battery pack is depleted? Turn gasoline into hydrogen Volvo's answer is research into onboard reformers that turn gasoline into hydrogen, which would power a fuel cell to generate that electricity at much higher overall efficiency...
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First Hydrogen Filling Station In U.S. Opens For Fuel-Cell CarsDid you notice? Us either. Nonetheless, last week, the first commercial hydrogen filling station in the country was opened in Wallingford, Connecticut, by startup firm SunHydro. The company generates hydrogen onsite using electricity from an array of photovoltaic solar cells that splits apart water...
John Voelcker -
Honda Remains Unconvinced of EV Future.
Its official! Honda doesn't trust EVs. A week after Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn reiterated the company's support for electric cars along with plans to bring four EV models to market, Honda remain uncommitted about the future of Honda EVs. Honda's president of research and development, Tomohiko Kawanabe...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
GM Testing Hydrogen Fuel Infrastructure In Sunny Hawaii
Electric powered vehicles are widely perceived to be the way forward for personal transport. Fuel cell vehicles, which create electricity by combining hydrogen with oxygen, offer many advantages over traditional battery-based systems thanks to the relatively energy-dense storage of hydrogen in...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Toyota Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Car To Come In 2015, For $50,000
Toyota's first production vehicle powered by a hydrogen fuel cell will be a sedan model with the range of a gasoline model, said a company executive last week. It will be priced at roughly $50,000, and go on sale in 2015. That's more expensive than upcoming electric vehicles like the 2011 Nissan...
John Voelcker -
BMW's New Hydrogen Hybrid Mini: Hydrogen, Huh? Oh, REALLY?
Perhaps we're a little cranky this morning, still being on Greenwich Mean Time while the clock says Eastern Daylight. Or maybe we're just cynical. But could everyone please take a deep breath and consider reality before getting all hot and bothered over news that BMW seems to be working on a...
John Voelcker -
Mercedes-Benz rarely creates concept cars just for fun. Whether they're the "Vision" models that show up at the Frankurt Motor Show every other year, or lesser concepts for other shows, they always hold clues to what's coming down the pike with a three-pointed star. For the 2010 Geneva Motor Show, the company's latest concept is the F800 Style, to be formally unveiled on March 2. It's a four-door coupe, the same style as the current 2010 Mercedes-Benz CLS, with five seats and a range of efficient drive technologies. Plug-in previews production S-Class On the green side of the ledger is a...
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Toyota Greens a Dealership, Honda Makes Hydrogen With Solar Power
For automakers, being green can extend well beyond the vehicles themselves. This week, hybrid pioneers Toyota and Honda each showed off new infrastructure projects that burnish their green credentials beyond well beyond the vehicles they sell. Honda started producing hydrogen to power its fuel-cell...
John Voelcker -
Green Tires From Orange Peels Use Less Oil, Bring Better MPGs
Sadly, they're not actually orange. Nor do they smell like citrus when they get hot. But by infusing orange oil into natural rubber, a new line of tires from Yokohama cuts four-fifths of the petroleum needed to manufacture a tire. They lower rolling resistance too, meaning better fuel efficiency...
John Voelcker -
Greenest Car Company, Honda, Goes Greener Yet, Harder and Faster
Honda has the highest average fleet mileage of any volume carmaker selling in the U.S. market today. And it's had that distinction for many years. But in the face of the car-market meltdown, oil prices that have risen from $30 to $80 a barrel within months, and growing global environmental...
John Voelcker -
The Few, The Proud...The Green? Marines Clean Up Camp Pendleton Wheels
Every time we make a joke involving the US Marine Corps, first we check it with our friend Cap'n Connors, a former Marine. With multiple deployments under his belt, and much multicolored art under his skin, the cap'n is our source for all things having to do with the most profane of the armed...
John Voelcker -
Mazda's Hydrogen Rotary Hybrid Van, A Different Approach to Green
Unlike all the other Asian automakers, Mazda's green strategy focuses on hydrogen fuel for its rotary engine--and now they've made it a hybrid
John Voelcker
