I'll take the Hybrid...
So, finally, concept cars with fuel cell capability are becoming less of a "concept" and more of a "car." I have been waiting for something realistic and approachable (although price-wise, I'm sure it is anything but approachable) to appear on the car and driver scene. Ford unveiled its Edge with HySeries Drive (registered trademark). I don't care what a car looks like so long as it can drive up to 400 miles with zero emissions! Don't act like you are not impressed! Just go ahead and wish you had one.
No doubt there are drawbacks, like running out of electricity on the side of the road, or ending up someplace where you have to plug it in for four hours before you can drive again (is that really true? how annoying!), but, still, gasoline is such a brutal taskmaster that I'd love to see the human race get out from under its thumb.
Mmmm, efficiency!
Labels: car, news, science, technology, website
posted by k_sra at 1/23/2007 10:52:00 AM
4 Comments:
//ending up someplace where you have to plug it in for four hours before you can drive again (is that really true? how annoying)//
No! That's the really exciting thing about true hybrids. Here's how it works.
1. You plug it in. The battery charges.
2. You drive to work and home, using only energy from the battery.
3. Weeks go by... vacation time!
4. You drive to Florida. About an hour into the drive your battery starts running low, so the motor kicks in. The motor is only used to charge your low batteries.
5. You run low on gas, so you stop by a gas station. You keep driving.
6. If there's a place to plug the thing in at the hotel, it'll save you some fuel on the way back. Otherwise, just hop in and drive.
The nice bit is that except for your trip to Florida, you didn't ever need to go to a gas station. Just plug your car in every night, and you're set!
The fuel cell thing is a bit different - it can convert certain fuels (most can't use gasoline - and what all of them really convert is hydrogen) directly into electricity without even needing a gas engine and without spewing out fumes (except water vapor).
Yeah, I want a fuel cell car that ignores gasoline completely. SWEEEET! : )
but, remember, electricity isn't for free at all
What most people don't know is that Tom Ogle invented a carburetor in the 70s that made old gas-eating clunkers get greater than 100 miles to the gallon, and put out exhaust that was almost completely pure since the gas was burned more efficiently. He did this by combusting gasoline vapors rather than a fuel-air mixture after noticing that his lawn mower ran for quite a while after he knocked a hole in the gas tank and all the gas leaked out. And what was his reward? He was pursued by the oil companies, the IRS and the SEC, shot by an unknown perpetrator, and finally was poisoned to death, though it was ruled a suicide. Hybrid technology has nothing on what he invented, but it may never see the light of day.
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