Diesels now... Hydrogen later?

ikendu

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 30, 2001
Messages
1,853
Location
Iowa
My experience with my 2003 VW Golf continues to be very positive! I'm getting 46 mpg in "real world" driving with a combined cycle of highway/city. I've also started using 100% American produced, completely renewable biodiesel with great success!

Here is a nice, short article about how automakers are excited about new diesel technologies.

Diesels: The Smoke is Clearing

A brief quote:

"...Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) World Congress held in Detroit recently was diesel. It was the most talked-about technology at the annual global gathering of companies, organizations and individuals on the cutting edge of automotive R&D.

Hydrogen fuel cells for practical use in vehicles are bogged down in a mire of patent rights, technical difficulties and the extremely high cost of producing a reasonably priced system..."
 

NightStorm

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Joined
Jun 16, 2002
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1,090
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Between a rock & a hard place.
Seems to me that these boys never heard of hydrogen embrittlement.This is the process in which hydrogen is asorbed into metals, effectively weakening them. i.e. If you want something to break, chrome it! The hydrogen is supplied by the sufluric acid used in the electroplating process and may penetrate the metal to a depth of several thousandths of a inch. More on hydrogen embrittlement here.

Dan
 

Lurker

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Joined
Nov 6, 2002
Messages
1,457
Location
The South
I am glad to hear of your success with the TDI. Thanks for keeping us posted.

I heard today that UPS is buying a couple of fuel cell delivery trucks to experiment with and Federal Express is in the process of acquiring about 20 hybrid diesel-electric delivery trucks that are ultra-clean and go about 50% further on a gallon of diesel. Depending on how they work out, FedEx may transition it's entire fleet to hybrid.
 
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