Fuel cell

I don't think it's a question of how long gas is going to be produced, but how long we can afford to buy it. We're at the mercy of the oil companies, we have to pay what they charge if we want it, something like electricity. By the way, pump is junk!

Joe

 

Gas goes up 50 a gal then comes down 30 cents the then up 50 then down 30, etc. ... Sooner or later it will stop coming down at all ... :anim_25:
Cowboy :flag6:
:gba:
bowtie-trifive

 

Problem is the oil companies will have all the rights to produce and sell Hydrogen.....and we will still pay toooooooo much

Mikey

 

not buying an electric car and won't be buying one of those, I hope. 3:

 

Probably a more practical question than when they're going to stop selling gasoline is when will they stop making new cars that use it? As oldchey57 said, it will get unaffordable (for most) well before they quit making it.

Also, what alternative fuel will be the one?

 

Very glad I will never own one of those things. Pretty sure I can put Smiley Miles as long as I am here. BIL's, not my home., but we make it look Good :congrats: :shakehands: :gba: :bowtier:

 

darn It. Sorry again.

 

When I see new technology, I often wonder, how we might be able apply it to our loved '55, '56 & '57s.

Think about the future possibilities of another type of swap or......?

 

Hydrogen

If I live long enough, maybe I'll have to take the 283 out of my 57 and put an electric motor into it.

Joe

 

Reminds me of our friend and member "HYDROCARBON ROCKET" RIP Buddy.3:

 

I think there will more than likely be a way to retrofit our internal combustion engines to run on Hydrogen. Similar to the natural gas conversions that can be done. I am in more favor of hydrogen powered cars than I am electric.

It could be the answer to polar caps melting and ocean levels rising. Hydrogen powered cars is nothing new in fact it was done as far back as 1807.

http://www.hydrogencarsnow.com/hydrogencars1807-1986.htm

I have been fascinated with hydrogen powered vehicles. Have any of you ever heard of Stan Meyers? Here is a link about him. There are many things about him on the internet.

http://waterpoweredcar.com/stanmeyer.html

 

It could be the answer to polar caps melting and ocean levels rising. Hydrogen powered cars is nothing new in fact it was done as far back as 1807.

Oh, brother..:sign0020::sign0020:.I won't even address what I think of that politically correct statement....if I did, it would be too political for this forum....just sayin'
:gba:bowtie-trifive

 

I thought Hyundai had made a few at a cost of something like $200K. Not going to sell many at that rate.

 

Was $200000 a retail price? Cost of a prototype could be much more than that.

Obviously whatever succeeds will be a favorable economic choice. Unless the socialists do away with cars for everyone but the wealthy. But that won't work out either, to have roads to drive them on, you have to have drivers. Hopefully a free market place works all that out.

 

I love the fuel cell concept... It is a much more realistic solution than hybrids and batteries. It is also possible to use solar power to convert natural gas into hydrogen for fuel... But it is definitely not for everyone.

Would I put a fuel cell into the '56? Only as a last resort. I would and might get one for a daily driver.

 

Pretty much exactly what I was thinking. I kinda like the fact that Toyota put the battery idea to bed, and is going all in with the hydrogen for fuel for this exact reasons you outlined...those batteries will become a bigger problem later on.

Thanks for the link Stewart!! I had not seen the Honda solar stations...pretty cool!!

 

Honda unveils a Solar Hydrogen Station:

http://world.honda.com/FuelCell/SolarHydrogenStation/

 

Here in Quebec, it is all Hydro Electric. In fact, they started shutting down the last nuclear station a year or two ago. Hydro Quebec also sells some power to some provinces and states around Quebec.

While I do like/appreciate nature, and think about the impact I/we are having, and having clean air, and do believe in leaving areas I visit cleaner than the way I found them, I don't know if I'd consider myself a true "treehugger". That said, I can see where big cities like Montreal, NY, LA,...etc., would really benefit from having hydrogen vehicles becoming more common and affordable. Whether or not the ice caps are melting due to man kind, there is NO WAY of ignoring the increasing smog/pollution alerts over these big cities...these are a direct result of how we are living today.

 

I'm with roger1 here, just like with an electric vehicle, hydrogen has advantage at the point of use, but neither is a true clean solution. Both just shift the impact/energy use.

With the electric, there's also the battery acid safety situation and the battery disposal problems.

With hydrogen, there's a safety aspect too. Uncontrolled hydrogen explosions are deadly. I see little in the "feel good" press about how this subject is addressed.

Not that these can't be overcome - just that there's a lot to do.

 

First off, nobody has an exclusive on producing Hydrogen, or selling it for that matter. You can make it in your own garage. The big problem with Hydrogen, is that is still is not inexpensive to produce. The real future for Hydrogen will not come until such time as fusion reaction becomes a reality. This will give huge, cheap sources of electricity, and consequently, Hydrogen.

Hydrogen is the ideal fuel, as it produces nothing but water vapor as a byproduct of combustion. It is an inexhaustible source of fuel, as splitting a water molecule will yield both oxygen and hydrogen, and burning it it, just turns it back into water. It does not matter if it is being used in a fuel cell or an internal combustion engine, it will be a great fuel, if it can be produced at a reasonable cost.

If it became economically viable tomorrow, you would see a huge industry spring up overnight to convert older cars to run on Hydrogen.

I think that it is a great idea to use fuel cell cars instead of plug-in electrics for commuter cars. No more range anxiety, you simply add more hydrogen to the tank rather than sit at a charger for hours waiting for the batteries to charge. I would buy one for a daily driver in a heartbeat if it made sense, but my hot rods would still stay and I would be fueling them with Hydrogen!

Regards, John McGraw

 

The real future for Hydrogen will not come until such time as fusion reaction becomes a reality. This will give huge, cheap sources of electricity, and consequently, Hydrogen.

Yes, fusion would be a game changer. But, there doesn't seem to be a time-frame for that to happen. Not that I've seen. But, I agree that hydrogen will take over as our fuel of choice if fusion does come along.
In the mean time, it still makes some sense but there isn't enough incentive to do it. A whole infrastructure would need to be built for producing it and transporting it. Cars, trucks, trains and planes would all run cleaner but we would have to burn more fossil fuels to produce all that hydrogen and the infrastructure would have a huge cost to it. So with no net reduction in carbon emissions, I don't see huge strides in this area in the near future. Just small ones. For the next several years, natural gas will be on the increase to generate our power. It helps but doesn't get us to where we need to go. But solar, wind, nuclear and geothermal do.

 

Very good piece on the large automakers direction:

http://qz.com/186432/why-hydrogen-powered-cars-will-drive-elon-musk-crazy/#/h/54172,4/

 

I have put into prospective the same thought as many others here on how much energy we would have to produce in order to make hydro readily available for vehicles. If everyone switched over, I will still motor around in my old 265 .

 

I retired from a company that worked endlessly with fuel cell technology with several different companies. The industry whisper was that "fuel cells are the energy source of the future ....and always will be."
..And the day Nascar or NHRA starts featuring electric cars or anything similar (even if they are faster) is they day they can start locking the gates due to empty grandstands.

 

I`ll stick to my smelly scent of gasoline for as long as I can afford it