Ford Goes For Hydrogen
April 2, 2007 by Alborz Fallah
Its 2007, and all the major car manufacturers have realized that in order to survive, the need for a more efficient and environmentally friendlier approach to combustion engines is required. The Japanese have gone to Hybrid technology with Toyota and Honda leading the way with the Prius and Civic Hybrid.
The Europeans have stuck with Diesel and the Germans, well, they’ve probably already found a way to power a car using nothing but air, but they won’t share their secrets.
However here in Australia, not much is being done. Holden still refuses to confirm whether or not a Diesel variant of the Commodore will ever come out whilst they work harder trying to sell vehicles like the Hummer H3.
Meanwhile the petrol companies are milking the “Ethanol Blend” fuels as being the environmentally friendly fuel, when in reality they are just as harmful if not worse for the environment than standard fuel (the comic below explains it better than we could).
Nonetheless, one manufacturer in Australia has a long term vision, Ford.
Ford Australia last week confirmed its support for a long-term research project initiated by the University of Melbourne that will seek to find a mass-production friendly hydrogen fueled vehicle engine.
To kick start proceedings, researchers at University of Melbourne will start with a hydrogen assisted jet ignition technology incorporated into Ford’s XR-6 (and territory) turbocharged 6-cylinder engines.
“This project will use cutting-edge research into low/zero emissions technology, it will also tackle the important energy issues of hydrogen generation from renewable energy and its high density storage requirements.” said University of Melbourne Senior Lecturer, Dr Michael Brear.
To be fair, the project is getting a $1.2 million grant from the Victorian State Government (a move which we strongly applaud). Ford’s participation is mainly via the engine donations and resources critical to the develpment of a hydrogen power unit. Its hard to imagine why Holden did not jump on this opportunity? After all this is sure to give Ford a massive head start into creating the environmentally friendly cars of the next decade.
Much like Toyota which is happy to sell as many polluting Land Cruisers as it can, whilst keeping the green and friendly image with the Prius for its propoganda purposes, Ford is no stranger to trying to clean up its image of Fuel Guzzling tanks (mainly from the F series trucks). In late 2006, Ford signed up alongside the University of Melbourne and the Victorian State Government to form the Advanced Centre for Automotive Research Technology (ACART).
The idea of the whole thing being to focus on designing car engines which are not simply focused on todays tried and tested engines. It will be interesting to see when Holden and Ford will both announce the Diesel versions of the Commodore and Falcon, we have a feeling that it can’t be too far off.
Print it: 
Both Ford and GM in America have their fair share of hybrids. You can go to a dealer now and buy a hybrid pick-up if you think it is going to save the world. For example, GM currently offer the following hybrids;
2006 Chevrolet Silverado Classic
2006 GMC Sierra Classic
2007 Saturn Vue Green Line
2008 Chevrolet Tahoe
2008 GMC Yukon
Mass Transit Buses
There is every possibility that you could see a hybrid on the VE Commodore platform at some point in the future. GM have the platform and the technology. Both on sale now just not combined.
Two issues come to mind;
1/. Instead of trying to stop or slow climate change we should be working out how we are going to deal with the inevitability of it. The world is shaking off the current ice-age and its going to do it, with or without our human generated pollutants. We need to stop listening to the Prius driving pot smoking hippies and start to plan for the change. The Toyota/GM/Ford hybrid ’snake oil’ that so many seem to think is the answer is just a clever marketing ploy. As usual we are being cleverly manipulated and controlled by fear.
2/. Will Ford be in Australia long enough to see the outcome of their Hydrogen research? Will they still exist as Ford in America? You can’t keep tearing up billions of greenbacks and just keep on going…forever.
My thoughts:
1. Climate change is an issue. I agree things have to be doen to cope with the change, but the severity of it can be reduced if people act now. Your logic is to let everything stay how it is, well we would really be screwed then. Not to mention, petrol isnt going to be around forever, so its common sense not just for emmissions etc reasons but also becuase the thing running our cars is a scarce resource (and one which is controlled by the middle east… more reason to wean ourselves off it).
2. Its nice ford are doing this, but hydrogen cell cars are already out… I think this is soley for PR more than anything, especially when Im sure Fords U.S operations would be the one investing into alternative fuels, not in Aus. Honda I would say is leading the way, they have a hybrid civic and a hydrogen car which will be out in the market very soon. Even toyota is doing well, Lexus have some hybrids out with great performance out of a electric/petrol engine combination, showing that hybrids can be more then just a whitegood.
2.
1/. The world has been going through climate change cycles ie ice-ages for millions of years. We have no-doubt added to the speed with which it is all taking place but its naive to think we are the main cause or can do anything to change it. IT WILL HAPPEN and we cant change the severity of it. So many people think that we can somehow stop it or lessen the impact. We can’t. We did not start it and we can’t stop it or lessen the impact. It doesnt matter how many hybrids are driven or factories are closed. The world will warm up and what happens will happen. Its done it all before. It will go through the cycle again and again if we dont blow the place up first.
Just steer clear of seaside real-estate and start buying up plenty of shorts, thongs and Hawaiian shirts. It will be like taking a long holiday in the tropics and you won’t have to drive so far to get to the beach (save fuel!). The good news is that we should get plenty of rain.
2/. Don’t tell BMW that Hydrogen has come and gone. Hydrogen cells may be down for the count but Hydrogen as an ‘alternative fuel’ certainly isn’t and IMO makes far more sense than hybrids from a world wide implementation of a non-fossil fuel for motor vehicles point of view. BMW are spending the money looking for a real solution. Hybrids are just around to make their tight-arse manufacturers look greener and we are buying into the bull-shite by the bucket load.
Yeah thats spot on Steane we cant stop climate change people forget that millions of years ago the earth was covered in water but where did it go?? Well the antartic froze and sucked it all up so guess what when the ice age finishes (it hasnt yet) i wonder where all the water will go? Drive what you like people as im going to drive as far in land as possible hey who knows in 100 years maybe boats will be blamed because the water has started to diminish or just maybe its another cycle Hmmmmmmmmm.
“There is every possibility that you could see a hybrid on the VE Commodore platform at some point in the future”
I doubt it very much, Holden are still in denial that there is a fuel problem. Even after spending 1Bn on the VE, we only see a 0.1 improvement on fuel consumption, which seems a dodgy claim at best. I’m guessing the Commodore would disappear long before we see any kind of Holden locally made Hybrid.
I’m very surprised Ford are talking Hydrogen, its was only last week there we’re saying LPG was the was the way to go.
As for global warming as caused by mankind’s burning of fossil fuels. The argument isn’t about the historical changes in climate. Its about how the climate is changing recently (ie the last hundred years) because of carbon emissions.
If we don’t act now, we’ll all be fine, no worries for us. But for our kids it will be a very different future. For them HSV will be a Reva with a bodykit!
Act or don’t act on global warming and it will still happen. We can’t stop it. So get your kids ready, corner the market in boats and move to the mountains.
It’s out of our hands.
I disagree steane,
the temperature and the climate has changed so dramatically in the last 100 years, more so than any other time in history.
there has to be a reason for that, its not just cars, its our whole way of society, we simply pollute, and in a not so distant future we are going to be paying for it big time.
Your right Alborz. It has changed dramatically. My point is that its also a naturally occurring phenomenon and we have just sped it along a little. It is also a phenomenon that speeds up all by itself without our help.
The Earth has been a ‘white globe’ (snow and ice covered) in the past, the seas have also been higher than they are now. Its just a long drawn out cycle. Either way stopping pollution or not it finishes with the end of the current ice age. We can’t stop that from happening.
We need to work out how to deal with it not try and prevent it cos thats impossible. If anyone is interested check out this link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_age
Hmm I can see your point of view, but I think we are still far from the stage of “give up trying to prevent” and go for “how to deal”
the natural progression of global warming is as I said.. natural, but we have really sped it up, and I think we can slow it down too, and if that buys us another few hundred years (imagine how much different the world will be in 200 years! – just think back to 1900 and today)
A few more hundred years can mean the difference between the human racing surviving or having to start again.
“My point is that its also a naturally occurring phenomenon”
Correct it is, but whats happened in the last 100 years is not natural. So we might not be able to stop the next ice age. But you’ve got 40,000-100,000+ years to worry about that. Thats almost enough time for Holden to make a Hybrid :)
The kind of climate change we’re seeing with carbon emissions will hit us hard in the next 50-100 years, if not sooner.
http://www.sciencepoles.org/in.....ategory=19
the is nothing guzzleing about my F2504wd.It has the 6cyl 4.4ltr motor and has averaged 31-32 mpg since day one and has been a flawless pleasure to own and drive.but not everyone should own one.they are designed to do certain jobs.When are we getting the the new model again.
i totally see what steane is saying and with some of his thoughts i am the same.the funny thing that gets me is when they say like “the hottest day on record!!” SINCE LIKE 1960!!!!!
so this does suggest we are in some part of a cycle
i dont feel we should give up and i dont think steane is saying this either, yes if we can buy another 100yrs we can prepared better
as for hybrids…… what a joke. manufacturers that have them are just cashing in on blatent scare mungering.
they are no more efficient nor greener thana diesel. well actually they are worse than a diesel
Paul, how do you know honda are leading the way?? just because they have had ads going for 3yrs sprooking about it doesnt mean they are the ones on top
DONT BELIEVE EVERY THING YOU READ especially when it is commercial
oh yeah and toyota is doing no better than others on this topic if anything they are a bit behind
From what I hear hydrogen is a waste. There is no hydrogen on the earth. In order to produce hydrogen water needs to be electrolyzed, which requires burning fossil fuels to power coal power plants. Some people say that nuclear power is best to produce electricity to electrolyze water to produce hydrogen to put in our cars. But transferring electricity straight from the plant into a plug-in hybrid leads to less energy loss than via hydrogen, which will require massive loss of energy because of the need to compress the gas and transport it using heavy trucks. Transferring electricity from plant to hybrid car however only requires a wire.
Leah
Hey I just did a similar post to “explode” the Hydrogen myth myself on the Sonata Diesel article – 100% agree with you.