Comments on: BMW abandons internal combustion hydrogen technology

By: lazybones

lazybones — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 04:11:24 +0000

Snaez, i’ve done a lot of research on the technology and clearly your clueless. GM Fuelcell stack for less that 3K, your dreaming mate. The cheapest stack i’ve see costs $500USD per KW so 50K USD for a 100Kw Fuelcell Stack. Compared to 30K USD for a Tesla replacement ESS. Remember the Tesla is 185Kw motor. Show me where you got your price!!!

“The newest fuel cell stack from GM is designed to last 200.000 miles”

The Nanotech battery being used in the Lightning GT will last 3 Million Kms. This car will be onsale next year. When will the GM Stack be available. 2015, 2020 ,2030.

“All the other applications with higher power demand (SUV, Sports cars,trucks) will have a combination of batteries and fuel cells, this is because of the high power demand, which makes it impossible to propel them with batteries”

Yup, you don’t understand the technology to make a statement like that.

Since I provide facts and you don’t, why don’t you read about these products:-

Tesla Roadster (A Battery Sports Car),
Killacycle (A Battery Super Bike),
Ford Focus BEV (A Normal non City Car),
Nissan Leaf (A Normal non City Car),
Smith Electric Truck (Yes a Truck)

And saving the best til last (An SUV), there’s this famous guy who owns an electic RAV 4. His name is Tom Hanks, you may of heard of him.

Name me one FC car that has a power output of more than 100kw.

By: Snaez

Snaez — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 09:28:49 +0000

lazybones

“fuel cells are very expensive and don’t last the lifetime of the car, not to mention they are far more expensive than batteries”
- NOT True, how about you do some research before you start talking about something you clearly now nothing about. The newest fuel cell stack from GM is designed to last 200.000 miles, and has a price of $30/kW, on the other hand, the best Li-ion batteries on the market(Tesla) cost about $200/kW, and are designed to last about 3-5 years.

“Most of the current fuel cells available are limited to 100Kw of power”
-Are you joking? stop talking about Fuel Cells, you just don’t know a thing about them.

It’s actually the low power applications (small city cars) that have power outputs of 100kW and under that will be powered by batteries. All the other applications with higher power demand (SUV, Sports cars,trucks) will have a combination of batteries and fuel cells, this is because of the high power demand, which makes it impossible to propel them with batteries only due to range.

it is obvious that you have some misguided fascination with battery powered vehicles, i suggest you start thinking outside the box and do some real reseach.

By: Devil666

Devil666 — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 05:05:02 +0000

Yes, Toyota tech REALLY IS as good as German tech. Thats why the whitegoods manufacturer has reliable N/A engines putting out over 100hp/litre of displacement into production, and not trying to pump 240kw of stupidity through the front wheels without the aid of a tricky diff to stop it understeering into the nearest *insert (pole, tree, car, wall, house, garage, Segway, pedestrian, hampster) here*. (Funny how it always comes back to TuRD)

Sure, BMW have the answer to a question no-one asked with H2 ICE, but they gave it a good crack. Could T have done better?

By: lazybones

lazybones — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:31:50 +0000

Not that simple, the auto companies are dependant on the oil companies to provide the H2 infrastructure. Shell is the most proactive of all the majors to do this. Even then you can’t hide the lack of efficiency of a fuel cell compared to a simple battery. Thats why in the next 5 years almost all the majors will have a production EV of some kind. But none will have a Fuel Cell car to sell.

Then comes the problem of cost, fuel cells are very expensive and don’t last the lifetime of the car, not to mention they are far more expensive than batteries. Most of the current fuel cells available are limited to 100Kw of power. Doesn’t really ignite the passion of driving with just 100kw to play with does it.

By: JTak

JTak — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 23:58:06 +0000

Fortunately it’s the auto companies that will decide when and where they will sell fuel cell electric cars fueled by hydrogen. 90% of the major automakers are continuing to invest and making good progress in refining the technology (cost down, size down, performance up). It’s these experts that are showing us this is viable technology. They’ll sell consumers a 100% electric vehicle with the driving range, fueling convenience, and performance they demand.

By: lazybones

lazybones — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 22:25:07 +0000

Well 3 things there.

1) Producing a new renewable fuel from a fossil fuel is pointless. We need something totally renewable. But this is the main reason the oil companies love H2.

2) What is the point of turning Natural gas into H2 then H2 into electricity to power a car. You might as well just run a Natural Gas powered car. Everytime you convert energy you lose something

3) What do we do when there is no more gas?

By: Devil's Advocate

Devil's Advocate — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 21:36:36 +0000

I wouldn’t say firm springs and shocks on evey BMW, blame those run flat tyres!!

LOL. Anti spam = BMW

By: AAA

AAA — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 08:59:13 +0000

It’s a secret that Toyota technology > BMW technology. But BMW like to muck around with big alloys, low profile tyres, firm springs and shocks.

By: The Real Car Fanatic

The Real Car Fanatic — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 08:54:35 +0000

Nuclear thermal prodcution of H2 will be the future, cheap and plentiful, we just need to replace coal fired powerstation with nuclear plants.

By: The Real Car Fanatic

The Real Car Fanatic — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 08:51:07 +0000

Correction, it takes alot of energy to produce it from water, if produced from natural gas it is far more energy efficient but costs in the region of U$2 a kilogram, which means to be a profitable fuel it would have to sell for more than 3 dollars a litre. Fossil fuels are cheaper to produce and sell, hence Hydrogen is to expensive to make in our current time.