Honda FCX, first production car with Zero Pollution?

[THE_dAY]

Just saw a commercial on tv about the Honda WFX.
(correction it is actually the FCX not WFX)

They say it's takes hydrogen and the only pollution coming out is WATER.

Sounds great, the only concerns I can see so far are:

1) Where do we get the hydrogen?
2) How safe will it be driving with a tank of hydrogen?
3) What will be the price of filling up a tank?

Does anyone have any insights?

 

[StanTeate]

Re: Honda WFX, first production car with Zero Pollution?

Hydrogen gas stations are a project the governor of California is working on right now.
Hydrogen is probably safer than gasoline, it is lighter than air so when it leaks it floats away, unlike gasoline that pools nearby.
I've heard Honda say that its system is much more efficient than todays gas cars.
Mazda has made RX8 hydrogen/gas cars for several years, and Greenland bought several and is installing hydrogen filling stations along its coast. The RX8 engine uses either fuel. Apparently the Greenlanders make hydrogen by splitting H2O using Geothermal energy so they get a double whammy savings, using the earths own heat to make Hydrogen. Since hydrogen is the MOST abundant element in the universe, I find it hard to believe that we as a race can not find a cheap way to make it available for energy usage. The powers that be want to milk the current system for as long as they can so they can maintain their profits, their expensive lifestyles, and let the next generation worry about their own survival.

 

[paulr]

Re: Honda WFX, first production car with Zero Pollution?

1) Where do we get the hydrogen?
2) How safe will it be driving with a tank of hydrogen?
3) What will be the price of filling up a tank?

Does anyone have any insights?

Hydrogen is made from water (H2O) by electrically separating the hydrogen and oxygen. The process is called electrolysis. You put in electrical energy to separate the hydrogen from the oxygen and then you later get recover the energy by burning the hydrogen back into H2O in the car. That means that the real power source for the car is whatever generates the electricity. In the US that basically means that the car is indirectly powered by burning coal (much more electricity comes from coal than nuclear, hydro, wind, etc). So, there is still a significant amount of pollution involved, but it reduces the use of imported oil and the political hazards that come with it, and the cost is a lot lower. In the electric car threads they estimate the cost of charging the car at the wall socket as equivalent to paying about $1.25/gallon for gas. For H2 fuel cells my guess is it would end up roughly similar. As for safety, it doesn't seem worse than gasoline and might be better; however, the safer versions seem to store much less energy per unit volume. So the "gas tank" needed to run 300 miles would be a lot larger, or else you might have to fill up every 100 miles.

 

[rodfran]

Re: Honda WFX, first production car with Zero Pollution?

This subject has already been discussed at length in the EV and alternate fuel thread.

 

[Marduke]

Re: Honda WFX, first production car with Zero Pollution?

Currently, the our hydrogen production comes primarily from natural gas. In the long term, it will be created using electrolysis from renewable energy sources.

 

[e2x2e]

Re: Honda WFX, first production car with Zero Pollution?

I'm waiting for Toyota's competing product, the Toyota WTF.:thumbsup:

 

[THE_dAY]

Re: Honda WFX, first production car with Zero Pollution?

My mistake, it is not called the WFX but FCX.
I'll try and change the thread title accordingly.

The FCX will have 68/miles to the gallon(of hydrogen).

Also 1 gallon of hydrogen will cost ~$5.00

I'm impressed that California is working on having hydrogen fuel stations.
Also Honda is working on having hydrogen fuel stations as in-home units but this is years away..

 

[monkeyboy]

It's not the first production car with zero pollution, battery powered electric vehicles (EV) have been available for a while. The advantages of the FCX over pure EV are:

1) the fuel cell car's range is much better than current li-ion technology can hope to achieve.

2) No expensive battery to replace after a few years (well there is a small battery)

3) faster refueling.

There is a lot of debate as to whether or not improving battery technology for EV's may make this technology obsolete in the future.