December 27, 2006 at 8:34 pm
· Filed under Environment, Fuel Cells
There has been some talk about fuel cell vehicles. Fuel cell vehicles show a lot of promise because the by product of fuel cells are electricity and water. The electricity is used to power the vehicle and the water can just be released as waste. This would certainly cut down on pollution.
All in all it seems like a great deal. The only problem is that fuel cell vehicles are powered by oxygen and pure hydrogen. Oxygen is easy to find because it is in the air, but pure hydrogen is another story. The cost of creating pure hydrogen is probably the biggest obstacle in the development of fuel cell vehicles.
I’m no fuel cell expert but there are several resources on the web that can describe fuel cells a lot better than I can. Nova on Pbs.com has a 14 minute video that explains fuel cells and fuel cell vehicles. This a great resource to use to get started in learning about fuel cells.
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December 27, 2006 at 3:41 am
· Filed under Environment
GM and Shell are partnering on a demonstration program in Washington D.C. with a fleet of GM’s HydroGen3 fuel cell vehicles. The GM-Shell partnership is a two-year program to give Members of Congress the chance to test-drive a fuel cell vehicle. The demo features the nation’s first hydrogen pump at a Shell retail gas station and will support the GM demo fleet of HydroGen3 fuel cell vehicles.
Source:GM.com
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December 27, 2006 at 3:18 am
· Filed under Environment
Where are the hybrid minivans? I have seen all the smaller cars and SUV hybrid automobiles, but where are the minivans. Families are more than likely to care about the environment. Who doesn’t want his/her kid to have a clean environment to live in. Hybrid for minivans would be the coolest thing for automakers to think about.
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December 27, 2006 at 2:46 am
· Filed under Hybrid Cars
Automakers are ramping up plans for more gas-electric vehicles, just as consumer interest appears to be waning. Demand for hybrids has fallen as fuel prices have eased off historic highs.
CNW Marketing Research says that a year ago about 30 percent of car shoppers considered buying a hybrid, and they were willing to pay a premium of nearly $2,500 more than they would have for a conventional vehicle.
This month, however, hybrid consideration is at 12 percent, and shoppers are willing to fork out only an additional $1,152.
Source:Clarion Ledger
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