I have driven the future - and it sounds like a Magimix

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://blogs.motortrend.com/6221176/editorial/i-have-driven-the-future-and-it-sounds-like-a-magimix/index.html

I have driven the future - and it sounds like a Magimix

Posted Today 05:41 PM by Angus MacKenzie
Filed under: Editorial, Honda

I pulled the swoopy dark sedan out of pit lane, on to the main straightaway, and nailed it. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! No charismatic V-8 rumble. No silky straight-six hum. Not even the cammy rasp of a highly tuned four. Nope, at full throttle Honda's FCX fuel cell car sounded like my mom and her Magimix doing battle with the fixings for a sponge cake.

Welcome to the automotive sound track of the future.

...

Honda is already developing small co-generation power stations that are designed for individual homes and apartment blocks. These units use a small single cylinder four stroke engine running on natural gas or liquid petroleum gas to provide heat and power, reducing each household's CO2 emissions by about 30 percent by reducing their load on the utility grid.

Fukui's vision is for these co-generation plants to become solar powered fuel cell units with a hydrogen accumulation system to store any excess hydrogen. It's this hydrogen accumulation system, says Fukui, which could provide the breakthrough in establishing the fuelling infrastructure needed to made fuel cell powered automobiles a viable alternative to conventional gas and diesel-powered vehicles.

The FCX amply demonstrates the benefits of a fuel cell powertrain. Not only is it clean, it's quick -- as a fuel cell vehicle is basically an electric car with a battery you can refill rather than have to recharge, you get maximum torque from the moment you squeeze the throttle. The FCX is driven by an electric motor mounted between the front wheels with 127 horsepower and 189 lb-ft of torque. Claimed top speed is 100 mph, but more importantly, Honda claims the FCX has a range of 355 miles on the Japanese city cycle driving mode.

The latest generation Honda fuel cell stack in the FCX is about a quarter the size of the 1999 version and offers 50 percent better power/volume density and 67 percent power/weight density than the 2003 version it replaces. The compact stack now fits in the center tunnel of the car, freeing up space for passengers. Although low and swoopy, the FCX offers amazing room for four inside.

My stint behind the wheel was restricted to a couple of laps of the oval track at Honda's giant Motegi Twin-Ring circuit in Japan, but the FCX's throttle responsiveness and acceleration, and its smoothness and refinement impressed. With the right suspension and steering tuning, it could be a lot of fun to drive. I just wish it didn't sound like a Magimix.

[razzleberry]

1. Fraud. Twenty FCXs have been built over several years. n/t

[OKIsItJustMe]

2. Yeah you know Motor Trend

It's really a lefty magazine. Nothin' but eco-nuts writin' there.

[OKIsItJustMe]

3. Honda creating home system for drivers to make hydrogen

More of the conspiracy...

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/11/08/bloomberg/sxhonda.php

Honda creating home system for drivers to make hydrogen

By Alan Ohnsman
Bloomberg News
Thursday, November 8, 2007

TOKYO: Honda Motor, aiming to start mass production of fuel-cell cars by about 2015, is developing a system using solar energy for drivers to make hydrogen at home to fuel such vehicles.

Individual production of hydrogen would let people refuel their cars without waiting for a network of stations to be set up, the company's president, Takeo Fukui, said.

Automakers, under pressure to cut carbon dioxide emissions tied to global warming and tailpipe exhaust, are seeking alternatives to oil as prices approach $100 a barrel.

Honda, Toyota Motor and General Motors have all said hydrogen powered autos are a long-term option, though they are costly to build and lack a refueling infrastructure.

"Our ultimate goal is to use a renewable source of energy as a source of fuel," Masaaki Kato, the president of research and development at Honda, said. "So we use solar panels to generate electricity and we use the electricity to produce hydrogen."

Honda, the second-largest automaker in Japan, plans Wednesday to unveil a fuel-cell vehicle based on its prototype FCX sports car at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

In 2008, the new car initially will be leased "to fewer than 100" people, most in California, Fukui said Oct. 23.

While producing hydrogen from solar-powered electrolysis would cut carbon dioxide emissions, it is not yet possible to do it cheaply or in sufficient quantity, said a chemistry professor, Nate Lewis, who is also an energy researcher at the California Institute of Technology.

"You need to do that cheaply and scalably - neither of which we are even close to being able to do technically now," Lewis said.

Honda began selling solar panels in Japan earlier this year to make electricity for homes.

The panels, priced at ¥57,500, or $509, each, substitute a thin metal layer for silicone typically used in photovoltaic panels to reduce production costs and lower the energy needed to make them, Honda said.

Honda has no "specific" plan to commercialize a home-based hydrogen-generation system, Kato said. Still, it could be ready for consumers within 10 years, according to Fukui.

"We believe this should bring a breakthrough in providing infrastructure for fuel-cell vehicles," Fukui said.

...

[phantom power]

4. Last week, I drove the future, and it sounded like this:

[OKIsItJustMe]

5. Sure... but...

I love my bicycle, but today's roads are structured around automobile traffic. In my area, we have a growing number of (nominal) bicycle lanes, but not nearly what we should have.

Bicycles are not good for hauling groceries for example. Panniers are good for moderate loads but not for many loads.

I, for one, would not look forward to climbing my hill carrying 30 pounds of cargo. (It's hard enough with no cargo!)


As "Americans" we are used to having the freedom to travel hundreds of miles in a single day. Our society will not give this up. So, we need to be pragmatic, and ask, "How can people's established habits have the least effect on the environment?"

[phantom power]

6. I'm pretty sure that economics will trump our established habits.

Predicting the future may be a fool's game, but my reading of the goat entrails is that personal automobiles of any kind will eventually be unaffordable, except for the very wealthy. In fact, I'm not real sure about the affordability of food and shelter, but I'm optimistic enough to hope for a future when people can afford bicycles. In other words, an economy resembling something like pre-boom China.

I can always hope I'm wrong. I like my car too. But I don't see a lot of hard evidence to support that hope.

That aside, I don't see the point of using hydrogen or fuel cells for automobiles. If we can afford to fuel our cars at all, there are more practical ways to do it.

[OKIsItJustMe]

7. Economics -vs- habits

The era of cheap energy (as we currently define "cheap") may have passed.

However, as oil becomes more expensive, alternative forms of energy become more attractive. I honestly believe the great roadblock for alternative energy to date has been up-front cost.

Electric vehicles should become fairly popular, fairly quickly. The associated boost in efficiency will help somewhat. If an affordable electric vehicle can be given a long enough range, with short enough recharge times, that would be ideal.

Cars like the Chevy Volt address this range limitation in a somewhat cumbersome fashion, but it's a much more affordable solution than the Tesla all-battery solution.

Until this equation is adjusted somewhat (high battery cost -vs- relatively short operating range) hydrogen serves as a reasonably good storage medium for electricity. Its chief advantages (with today's technology) are that a hydrogen tank can be refilled relatively quickly, and the associated weight for energy storage is less than for batteries.

Should ultracapacitors like EEStor's pan out, all bets may be off for hydrogen fuel cell cars.