Honda Leases Hydrogen Fuel Cell Car To Family -- Prepare For Hydrogen Hype

from the enjoy! dept

Honda has apparently leased the first hydrogen fuel cell car to a family. They've leased a few in the past to local governments and a few companies, but this is the first real family to get one. They're planning to lease a few more as well -- all in California (which makes some sense, given the obsession around these parts for electric and hybrid cars). Of course, while Honda may learn a little bit about how the car performs under real world conditions, at this point it's more of a publicity stunt. Real production of such cars is still a long way off. Also, the whole emphasis on "zero emissions" may be a bit of a red herring. The car itself may not emit anything, but the production of the hydrogen for the fuel cell most likely involved some level of emissions.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    dorpus, 30 Jun 2005 @ 3:12am

    Bunk

    Basic laws of Physics say that in order for a car to have a hydrogen gas tank that stores as much potential energy as a gasoline tank, it would have to be the size of a house and be pressurized to hundreds of atmospheres, i.e. it would turn city blocks into lunar craters if someone smoked a cigarette at the wrong place and wrong time.

    One workaround is the use of metal hydride batteries, though these are also caustic substances that have a tendency to create lunar craters for car applications.

    Hydrogen gas, composed of rather tiny molecules, also has a nasty tendency to leak through any containers that hold them. People who work with hydrogen gas have been known to spontaneously explode from the inside out.

    But that might be fun, it would make Silicon Valley truly look like Mars.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      z0idberg, 30 Jun 2005 @ 4:36am

      Re: Bunk

      "...People who work with hydrogen gas have been known to spontaneously explode from the inside out...."
      if we can somehow find a way to harness the potential energy of all the crap that comes out of your head we can do away with gasoline and hydrogen altogether.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 11 Jul 2005 @ 5:23pm

      Re: Bunk






      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    lorenzo, 30 Jun 2005 @ 6:04am

    No Subject Given

    Mike,
    here s 2 videos of the Honda FCX, released by Honda as VNR s, showing the car at a Hydrogen refuellling station in Japan where power is provided by a hydroelectric plant, and a winter start test for the car in freezing weather in Hokkaido
    cheers
    Lorenzo

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Danno, 30 Jun 2005 @ 6:18am

    No Subject Given

    Yeah, I was about to say that not all energy grids are powered by gasoline turbines and its certainly possible to build more power generation facilities that don't use gas.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    eeyore, 30 Jun 2005 @ 8:24am

    No Subject Given

    Please do not feed the Dorpus. It only makes him cranky.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Pete Austin, 30 Jun 2005 @ 9:09am

    Hydrogen can be dirtier than gasoline

    Here's an excellent page that explains hydrogen powered cars, with some good car pictures. Dorpus - I suspect they are looking for investors - with your expertise in this subject you'd be exactly the sort of person they want. With the profits you could afford your own Website.
    United Nuclear
    Hydrogen is not a pre-existing source of energy like fossil fuels, but a carrier, much like a battery ... The largest apparent advantages are that it could be produced and consumed continuously as well as cleanly using solar, wind and nuclear power for electrolysis. However, hydrogen production methods currently utilizing hydrocarbons would actually be more pollutive than direct consumption of the fossil fuels.
    Wikipedia
    "produc[ing] hydrogen will be as fossil fuel-dependent -- and potentially as dirty -- as the one that fuels today's SUVs. According to the administration's National Hydrogen Energy Roadmap, drafted last year in concert with the energy industry, up to 90 percent of all hydrogen will be refined from oil, natural gas, and other fossil fuels... The remaining 10 percent will be cracked from water using nuclear energy."
    Mother Jones

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 30 Jun 2005 @ 1:01pm

    Lease -

    lease = "Its a prototype. you can't keep it"

    When the first electric cars came out in California, the companies would only lease them. Several owners (leasees) were quite upset when they weren't allowed to renew their leases after the pilot test was completed.

    link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.