Honda’s New Hydrogen Cars
by Lewis DerkinsJune 16th, 2008, 5:21 pm
Today, Honda announced that it will begin production of a hydrogen powered car with zero emissions. To Judd’s everlasting pleasure, this thing actually doesn’t look like a complete weenie-mobile, as most environmentally conscious cars do.
I recently lambasted GM for their amateur attempt to cash in on the demand for gas alternatives with their moronic SUV hybrid, and here once again to stomp American auto manufacturers comes Honda.
At least we have someone trying to figure this mess out. Now I commend Honda for their efforts, but there are still several problems that plague hydrogen vehicles, so we’re not out of the woods yet.
Hydrogen fuel cells are expensive, vulnerable to freezing, have limited service life and are inefficient. They’re only about 40% efficient in terms of the energy that has to be put in to them for the energy that you get in return, and they still require fossil fuels to make the hydrogen in the first place, so put away all the confetti and party favors you were breaking out to celebrate V-O Day (Victory over OPEC). We’ve still got a little way to go.
Honda is working on a home energy station that could alleviate this problem, but we aren’t there yet. Now, I’d very much like to see this vehicle succeed. You may remember the RAV4-EV, Toyota’s first mass produced electric car. It did some very good things, but it fell victim to some of the very same technological hurdles facing the hydrogen car.
I don’t know why Honda didn’t perfect the home fuel system before rolling these cars out, but I’ll be interested to see what happens to the ones they’re able to sell in California, currently the only state where you will be able to buy one.
Regardless, kudos to Honda for trying, and shame on our domestic car companies for continuing to pawn SUV hybrids off on us.
What is the problem with America’s auto industry? Why can’t we put something like this on the road? Why is the best we can do something that Homer Simpson would design?
Now let’s talk about how to expand the fuel station infrastructure for these things and get them on the roads.
Posted in Environmentalism, Oil, Technology |
Derk, fine. Not as bad as a smart car or Prius. However, it still looks like a melting cheese wedge.
Why can’t there be more front and back-end definition, and a little more clearance on the bottom?
For instance, like this car.
Here’s my prediction:
The auto manufacturer that produces the first non-futuristic looking, fuel efficient car will have the highest sales revenue over the next 10 years.