http://money.cnn.com/2006/05/04/tech...2_wrightspeed/

 

I find it interesting that it has a startling exterior resemblance to an Ariel Atom. Pretty neat though! *And* it's being produced locally!

 

yup..looks like it http://www.arielmotor.co.uk/04/frames.htm
so itll be called SVM? SVM > JDM,EDM

 

I might be wrong but that IS the Atom.. maybe they just threw an electric motor in there?

 

You are correct.

 

are you sure it IS the atom? or did they just model after it?

I like the idea, but something about an internal combustion engine makes me happy. although with oil, it cannot last forever. we need to just do this hydrogen powered cars thing.

 

fuel cell cars are great in theory, but it takes a ton of enery to get pure hydrogen

Same thing with eletric cars. Imagine how much electricity it will take to charge that **** daily

 

It doesn't take a "ton of energy" to create hydrogen. The main method of creating hydrogen is through electrolysis which ranges from 50% to 85% efficiency depending on which report you're leafing through. So it's not great, but it's not all that bad compared to the efficiency of plain ole internal combustion engine (Otto cycle that is...we're not talking about diesels here). It fact, compared to the the ICE, it's great! Add onto the fact that you can get a percentage of your electricity from natural and renewable resources makes the efficiency even higher. Check out Iceland... so, in summary it does NOT take a lot of energy to create hydrogen.

The problem lies in the cost of setting up the infrastructure to store and deliver hydrogen to the masses. How the hell do you distribute highly compressed and volatile hydrogen to cars sitting on highly compressed tanks? For a country of 300 million at that too....

yeah...they're still working on that part.

 

nuclear powered cars>*

 

I'd like to see us do this in good gradual steps. Our next focus should be on FFV to use E85. Then I'd like to see E85 powered Hybrids, and so on. Electric vehicles are a great concept, but considering the fact most of our power is still produced using coal how much better can it be?


Cool to see a performance electric though for sure.

 

i wonder what the performance of a hydrogen powered car would be? hmmm

i bet if honda makes a hydrogen powered car, the ricers will still buy aem cold air intakes for them..

 

You can order an Atom without a drivetrain if you want.

 

I see your point, but the fact that the storage and distribution is so difficult that it will cost even more energy...which would come from fossil fuels. Hydrogen is, at best, a band-aid...because as I've said before, the second law of thermo will always get you unless you are harvesting energy directly from the sun (the more steps, the more entropy, the more waste and it can't sustain itself). Unless we genetically alter naturally occuring hydrogen producing microbes so we can farm hydrogen...now that's the holy grail in my mind.

 

did you read the article or just look at the pictures?

 

It is not that storage and distribution is difficult, it is that it is expensive. nor is the production of hydrogen wasteful in energy compared to what you get out of it. Cost is the main thing from having hydrogen powered cars go into mass production.