Creators of the Hydrogen 'Urban Car' Attempt to Crush Hydrogen Car Challenges

At first glance, a car powered by super plentiful hydrogen sounds pretty good. The newly unveiled Urban Car, for example, emits less than 30 grams per kilometer of carbon dioxide, less than one third of the carbon produced by Volkswagen's Polo Bluemotion, creators Riversimple told CNN.

Photo via The Guardian

If all goes well, this machine could roll-out in 2013. It's also rather cute with a less Jetson's-style design, when compared to some other prototypes out there. (The hydrogen Honda FC looks like it should be carrying Darth Vader.)

Photo via Missionzero.org

Although it doesn't go particularly fast--maxing out at around 50 miles per hour--the Urban Car is perfectly suitable for a jaunt around town, super light weight (350 kilos), and goes from 0 to 30 in less than six seconds.

Problems with Hydrogen-powered Cars
But there are some major problems with hydrogen cars, namely:
1. Can we afford the car?
2. Will the car (hyrdogen cars tend to die earlier) last long enough to be a practical investment?
3. Can we afford the necessary infrastructure for hydrogen fuel stations?

The Urban Car team tackles the first two questions head on. To remove the short lifespan problem and make it affordable, Riversimple would introduce the car through a leasing system, bringing the cost down to around $330 a month. Of course, a product service system doesn't actually reduce the large amount of money that goes into making these cars, meaning hydrogen cars are, at the moment, not a sustainable investments for car companies. To make this happen, we would need major demand.

Which brings us to the infrastructure. Naysayers say this is the biggest reason against hydrogen cars, but look at where we are now, with gas stations at every corner. If there is enough demand, the infrastructure will come, and investors will cash in on a major payoff in the end.

So yes, there are a lot of ifs, with hydrogen cars, something that Riversimple tackles with a brilliant plan: Open sourced licence agreements. Have a way to solve these problems or make the car suitable for your community? Let them know, and soon we could all be riding around at a fraction of the emissions, without sourcing rapidly depleting fossil fuels.

More From TreeHugger and Planet Green on Green Cars
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Obama Kills Hydrogen Car Funding
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This Hydrogen Car is a Real Toy!

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Comments

[jerocat]

Quantum Technologies (QTWW) has successfully tackled many of the issues. They have developed many full scale working prototypes for people such as the US Army, NASA, GM, Boeing, the States of California, Iceland and Norway to name a few. By prototypes I mean fleets of cars, refueling stations, drive trains and ultra light weight high strength compressed gas tanks.

http://www.qtww.com/

They are into the full range of alternative fuel vehicles. They have a joint venture with Fisker Automotive for production of their sexy new 100 mpg sports/muscle car coming out in limited edition this year and full production next year.

[Overtone]

Instead of Hydrogen, hydrinos can be used as fuel. Hydrogen is the simplest atom: one electron revolving around one proton. Imagine an atom of Hydrogen enlarged so much that the proton is as big as a golf ball and you’d find the circling electron three hundred yards away!

It has been discovered that Hydrogen’s electron orbit can be made to collapse, becoming a much smaller sphere. A tremendous amount of energy is thus released. The new atoms, which Randell Mills labeled hydrinos, do not need to burn to liberate energy. Mills claims to have “made independently validated energy cells that produce 1,000 times the energy of burning Hydrogen.”

A huge amount of Hydrogen is stored in water. The oceans contain 8 million trillion barrels of water. Think about the implications: One barrel of water can yield as much energy as hundreds of barrels of oil - just by making clever use of hydrinos.

This can safely be accomplished without releasing radiation or pollution. Hydrino systems can help accelerate independence from fossil fuels. Such systems will be inherently inexpensive.

Hydrinos have led to development of a Self Powered Internal Combustion Engine - SPICE.

To learn more about the SPICE and hydrinos, click on HOW? at www.chavaenergy.com

[ImmanuelGoldstein]

I see, hydrogen, the most studied element on the charts has a quantum energy level never before observed in the history of physics or chemistry and completely unpredicted by modern quantum physics.
A Likely Story.

[Semaj51]

Its a good thing that this proposed vehicle will have low speed limits - looking at the drawings, I would be afraid of any collisions with anything larger than a bike.

[KillTheMessenger]

It might be an OK on-campus vehicle, though. Something that gets you around in a relatively small area that is not connected to general traffic. Why it would do better than a slightly improved electric golf cart is not completely obvious, though.

[doctorkosan]

There is no good , green affordable way to make the hydrogen. The issue of emissions is a side show without looking at the emissions generated and energy used in hydrogen production.

[KillTheMessenger]

"Super plentiful hydrogen"? Here is a list of known natural hydrogen sources on Earth:

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Yes... that list is empty. Hydrogen (in its reduced form as needed as fuel) is not plentiful. In its molecular form (and in industrial quantities) it has to be generated from either hydrocarbons or by using electricity, much of which is derived from... coal. So while this looks like a great idea on its face, it falls flat once you ask the question where the fuel would come from.

Now, the 30g CO2/km is probably the result of some optimistic calculation based on electricity from coal. And that's swell, except if you happen to look at the reality, that only propels a 350kg gokart, which is one third of a real vehicle. Multiply by three and you are around 90g CO2/km, which is very compatible with what you can get right now from a turbocharged diesel or a gasoline hybrid. Actually, it seems to me that the old Honda Insight was actually doing better for the size/weight adjusted number than this contraption does. The speed limit suggests to me that this vehicle will not be able to go on highways, if it will be approved at all. So you are really doing an apples and oranges comparison between real vehicles and... a toy.