unkillsam

I found this and I thought it would be neat to post. If they can translate technology like this to a small car like the cobalt so that the performance aspect of it could be improved then I would definately purchase one

autoextremist-GM Sequel and other News

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GM Sequel. Publisher's Note: I had the pleasure of driving the latest version of GM's Hydrogen fuel-cell-powered electric technology last week at Camp Pendleton, California, and I came away very impressed. The previous version of GM's technological "moon shot" was the Hy-Wire concept, which had a joy stick playing a prominent role in controlling the vehicle. This time around, GM Vice Chairman and chief product guru Bob Lutz gave clear marching orders to the Sequel development team lead by Larry Burns, VP of research, development and strategic planning: Make the new car an effortless transition for any driver - in other words, you shouldn't be challenged by the technology in some off-putting way. And they succeeded with flying colors. The Sequel (branded a Chevrolet, by the way) is a 4,700 lb. crossover that meets all current vehicle safety standards, while featuring GM's latest iteration of its most advanced technological systems, including its highly regarded hydrogen fuel-cell technology, lithium-ion batteries, and "by-wire" electronic steering and braking controls. GM says the Sequel represents the most advanced and sophisticated technology ever applied to an automobile, and I don't doubt them for a moment. There may be other companies with advanced fuel-cell programs, including Honda and Toyota (BMW has focused their efforts on "transitional" technology - burning hydrogen in internal combustion engines), but no automobile manufacturer in the world has ever combined and integrated this technology in such seamless fashion in an automobile that could easily thrive on the highways in any real-world driving situation. The Sequel delivers a 0-60 mph acceleration time in the neighborhood of 10 seconds - not great, but for a crossover vehicle of its size it's certainly adequate. But the range is what's most impressive - a full 300 miles between "fill-ups" of hydrogen. And it delivers zero emissions in the process. What is it like to drive? It's a non-event, and that's exactly the point. In a matter of moments, you're going down the road as if you're in any car - a highly agile and nicely responsive one at that. There are no weird tendencies and no jarring compromises necessary that would suggest to you that you're having to make some sort of sacrifice to achieve zero emissions. Anyone with a driver's license could step into the Sequel and go about their daily business with no effort or thought whatsoever. And for GM to get to this point with this vehicle is an incredible technical achievement. Yes, there are still two major issues hanging over the hydrogen economy - establishing a basic infrastructure (see below) and the cost of the hydrogen storage tanks is still prohibitive for all but niche production - but GM has emphatically demonstrated that this could be the game-changing technology we've all been looking for. The Sequel is a glittering showcase of advanced technology and proof positive that General Motors is at the leading edge of a technological breakthrough that will fundamentally alter the automobile industry as we know it - and dramatically reduce our dependance on foreign oil in the process. I for one, can't wait. - Peter M. DeLorenzo

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HunterKiller89

iTrader: (1)

Arnolds new H2 Hummer is a Hydrogen car

YSUsteven

Hydrogen fuel cell cars are currently being experimented with by car manufactors, and may be ready for the market in only a few more years. But how are you supposed to fill it up? In order to get fuel stations, there needs to be a demand for them, otherwise they are not profitable(the fuel station). If there are no fuel stations, why would anyone be willing to buy one? Its a kind of wait and see when it actually happens.

FLCobalt

Bp has a contract with ford since 2005 , they are in the process of adding a hydrogen pump to ALL of there gas stations. Beyonce i believe was the first one to buy one of their hydrogen power cars.

Tomtwtwtw

That's what Wal-Mart is for!

Really, though, when the time comes, I expect hydrogen stations to start popping up in high-traffic areas, like being attached to the aforementioned Wal-Mart, or the discount warehouse stores like Costco and Sam's Club, and offered in conjunction with regular gas. I'm interested in seeing what the sports car potential is of this technology as we get further into it.

Halfcent

I have followed this entire possibility quite closely. There real challenge is not is the infrastructure, but in the fuel tank.

E85 is presently the "new" thing. And now that GM has a lot of E85 cars, there are E85 pumps all over Chicagoland at least. Trust me, "if you build it, they will come". The gas stations will put in Hydrogen delivery systems the instant there's a demand. Basic economics proves that.

The tank is the problem. Gasoline is stable. If you crash a car and rupture the fuel tank, the car doesn't explode like in the movies. It just spills. Gas must be in a vapor state to burn. It won't burn in liquid form. Hydrogen however is basically a big bomb just waiting to go BOOM. The tanks have to be built like, well, Tanks. They must be able to survive impact forces and contain emormous explosive pressure.

You could also take this conversation to a completely different direction and discuss the implications of making Hydrogen readily and easily availble to the public. There are people that will try to use it for stuff other then fueling their cars.

Another possibility is end-user storage of Hydrogen. Indivdual consumers could make and store their own hydrogen, eliminating the need for going to the gas station. Its actually pretty easy to do. Anybody with electricity and water can make it.

RaineMan

I don't like the idea of E85... the USA can't produce enough corn to feed people and animals... and now we start using it for gasoline as well... so it drives the prices of anything with corn... corn oil... or fed by corn (read chicken and beef) up. So... let's go over a list of things you will be paying more for because of this "savior" E85.

1: Corn itself, corn chips, corn meal, corn oil.
2: Milk
3: Sodas/Colas (corn syrup)
4: Chicken & Eggs
5: Beef

and I could go on... E85 is not a solution to America's fuel problem... and I encourage everyone to stick with regular gasoline.

As far as Hydrogen fuel cells go... yeah... there's a great idea... I have to worry enough about someone rear ending me and puncturing the fuel tank... now we worry about Hyrdogen being in there too... can we say Hindenburg? BMW has a new Hydrogen powered car... some 6.0L V12 that has 200 or so horsepower and does 0-60 in 7.5 seconds or some crap like that. I read it in Popular Mechanics. I can tell ya' that is exactly the kind of performance I want out of my $100k luxury car.

AlbertanCobalt

The USA can produce enough corn to feed itself, thats why they've been dumping cheap feed corn into Canada for the feed market. Don't try to dispute me, the WTO and NAFTA have ruled in favor of Canada on it numerous times (although notice that I spelled 'favor' the American way!).

The real 'savior' could possibly be biodiesel made from canola. 40% of it becomes oil in crushing vs. 20% in soybeans. also, canola based biodiesel is much better in the winter than soybean oil, and the most expensive part of making biodiesel is the feedstock, not the processing.

Ethanol is very energy intensive (though not a net loss as some studies have said, which is only 2 out of 15 or so studies, but these are the ones reported all the time). Biodisel does not require the energy and is on par energywise with regular diesel. Ethanol is not, because it does not have the same amount of BTU's that gasoline does. However, it looks as if the greens are going to keep diesel passenger vehicles out of North America almost indefinately due to emissions, even though we can grow much of our own fuel.

Anyone can make hydrogen, its true. But the amount of energy required to split the water into H and O is phenomenal and not economical. Why not just have an electric car instead of using power to make hydrogen? It is a well known fact that most of the hydrogen of today comes from natural gas, which is really not helping to reduce fossil fuel consumption in any way.

StinkBOMB

I was under the impression that we still paid farmers to not grow corn.

HunterKiller89

iTrader: (1)

what you would need is something akin to a nuclear reactor to generate the electricity to separate enough H from O2 to power a city...so one power plant per city...course theres always those anti-nuclear power people....if you think about it...nuclear incidents have killed a LOT less people than coal burning pollution...especially if you take in the environment...and lets not forget safety has come a long way since chernobyl and the 3 mile island incidents
people just dont like it when a bunch of people die at once...they dont care as much if its spread out over time.

Drakonen2000

The only downside to the whole Hydrogen movement is the process taken to obtain hydrogen in a pure state. most of our hydrogen will be coming from natural gas....yet again a non-renewabel resource. so really it just buys us a little time...eventually when we learn more about some of the other alternate fuel options out there we will be able to actually free ourselves from fossil fuels. Now on the up- side of things...the hydrogen fuel cell is a great idea, and the fact that its only bi-products are water and heat are awesome..and the process to extract hydrogen from natural gas is way cleaner than burning gasoline. I dont know what the future holds, but i bet when whatever will be the new wave actually gets here...it will blow our minds.

unkillsam

I threw this out there because this is going to be the first car on the road (at least in North America) with a fuel cell.

GM will be testing 100 Sequel based Chevy SUV's fitted with fuel cells that will run for 300 miles and haul around a 4,700 lb vehicle.

I think that accomplishment is truely amazing, and comparing it to vehicles equipped with internal combustion engines is comparing apples to oranges.

tiny

the idea is good an all, but with such advanced technology, the price tag will be huge

eirhed

I am actually working on the Ford Supercharged 6.8L V10 that runs on compressed Hydrogen......take it this way the gas version of this engine with the same components (minus fuel delivery system) makes 750+ horsepower, while the H2ICE (Hydrogen Internal combustion Engine) makes a whopping 200 hp. It may be clean and relieve us from the ties of oil, but with that engine I would stick to the 750+ hp.

AlbertanCobalt

The internal combustion engine and hydrogen are not going to be what go together. its going to be the fuel cell generating electricity. The talk about ethanol having less BTU's than gasoline is also the same as hydrogn vs gasoline. hydrogen is not a hydrocarbon, and has only 2 hydrogen atoms. Burning hydrogen releases very little energy. ethanol is alcohol, which is a 2 carbon chain. this releases more energy but not as much as gasoline which has between 5 to 8 or 9 carbons (octane is 8). The more carbons in a hydrocarbon, the more energy is released in the burning of it.

trying to run an internal combustion engine on hydrogen will = a huge drop in hp, as is shown above.

kissmySS

The new hydrogen cell SUVs are Equinox's built by cami in ingersoll ont... from what i hear around my plant is that we are around 10 years away from hydrogen production vehicles (well at our plant atleast) E85 will be the next thing and it will be ALOT sooner... cant wait, E85 is great fuel to use, especially if you like horsepower..!

AlbertanCobalt

for sure E85 can give a lot of hp. but the engine has to be built for it. since it is less prone to detonation a higher compression ratio can be built if using ethanol. but if its a flex fuel vehicle, then it has to be a low enough ratio to not detonate under regular gasoline use. There's a reason lots of race cars run on alcohol, it can make enormous power, but it need to be built with the fuel used in mind.