Test drive: Chevrolet Equinox Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle
Wednesday November 14, 2007
Not long ago I talked about my first drive in a hydrogen fuel cell powered Chevrolet Equinox. But I left the full test drive for the real experts -- Scott and Christine Gable, About.com's Guides to Alternative Fuels. I've been waiting for the Gable family opinion myself; after all, they lead a gasoline-free lifestyle (running their own cars on either vegetable oil or biodiesel). Well, Scott has just posted his Equinox FCEV review -- alas, he had to test drive it without Christine -- and has addressed the car's high points, its shortcomings, and his take on the future potential of hydrogen cars. Check out Scott's Chevrolet Equinox FCEV test drive. -- Aaron Gold
Photo © Scott Gable
Comments
So if 1Kg of hydrogen is about the same as 1 gallon of gas, here’s a question that will be essential to the public acceptance of hydrogen powered vehicles:
How much does a kilo of hydrogen cost?
Okay! Where was the test drive taken? No mention of the moisture (water) coming out of the tail pipe! I still believe this type of vehicle is driveable ONLY in warm/hot areas and NOT where the moisture can freeze onto the road! Sorry..I am not sold and that includes “corny” fuel and battery power! Next the engineers will mount a mast and sail on cars and use..yep..wind power!
I may have heard an answer to my own question, sort of… I heard on the news today that next year Honda is going to release a test version of their own hydrogen powered vehicle, including a home fueling station that runs on natural gas.
Billie Joe, you have a legitimate question about running in cold weather, but what do you have against other alternative fuels? In the end we are all going to have to make some sort of sacrifices in the interest of the environment.
Sorry Biilie Joe…the way oil consumption is progressing it is extremely doubtful that crude oil will be a viable means of producing energy by the end of this century. Sure we blog writers will all be dead by then, but the wars that will preclude the collapse of oil as an energy source will begin well within our lifetimes. Does Iraq (oil) or Afganistan(natural gas) come to mind? This is the tip of the iceberg. Whether we want to accept it or not, alternative fuels are essential and the main road to PEACE on this planet. The other battle ground will be water. Unfortunately, there’s no alternatives to that one yet!!!
I say lets keep using gasoline. Lets use up all the mideastern oil then we can gouge them like they have been gouging us.
Please, Hawaiian Don, some of my comments are “tongue in cheek” but the engineers are not really thinking! Service facilities for hydrogen vehicles are few and far away! For years in the UK 3 wheeled vehicles were used for freight and transportation. Less fuel and better mileage! Why not in the USA? Then producing fuel from corn (& other products) using a lot of energy. Where’s the gain? And small cars? What is the average USA family? Husband/Wife and TWO children. It is hard to fit them in some of the vehicles Engineers want us to use! It is an ongoing challenge that will NEVER end!
I believe this guys if the american farmers told the government we are not selling food to you until the foriegn countrys realize to negotiate,these oil prices we may have a leg to stand on.Let them worry how they can eat there oil products,food for thought.
Apart from environmental concerns, there is still reason to push ahead in the search for alternative fuels. US oil companies are profit driven and while that creates it’s own set of problems it is nothing in comparison to the state owned oil companies elsewhere. Oil revenues are pouring into the coffers of governments around the world. Unfortunately many of these governments are destablizing influences in their regions and even globally. Oil revenue is providing them with the means to do this. Sadly many of the earth’s oil reserves lie in these unstable areas. Thus the search for alternate energy isn’t only driven by environmental concerns but also by national security concerns and the desire for more peace internationally. Thanks hawaiian don for your comments on this as well.
Thanks Mike…The real problem as I see it is that we constantly forget that oil is not a renewable resource..it will run out…so why wait til the wells start drying out, panic and ridiculous price gouging begins, when we can begin a smooth progressive move toward alternative fuels? I’m proud of GM’s move toward these fuels, as well as Honda’s hydrogen car, not to mention M-B, BMW and others. It’s hard for the small guys to develop their own, so the big players need to share. If we as consumers demand changes, market pressures will accelerate the transition…IT’S JUST GOOD BUSINESS!
Peace through alternative fuels? Not likely. Oil is only a factor in current international strife, and we could reduce our dependence on foreign oil by producing domestic oil (offshore drilling–do it before China does it in the Caribean), ANWAR, etc. Alcohol production requires oodles of energy and has its own health problems and consumes tons of water.
Fuel cells? OK, where to get the hydrogen? Hydrogen does not, as you know, occur naturally as H2. Unlike petroleum, which already has the energy in it, you have to put the energy into hydrogen by splitting it off from somewhere else (water, natural gas, etc). And again, as was mentioned above, water is a coming friction point in international politics. The energy to make enough hydrogen can only come from nuclear. And believe it or not, water vapor is a greenhouse gas. Benign as water as an exhaust may seem, it can have a profound effect on local weather (really, what happens in L.A. when you add all that moisture to the atmosphere) and, if global warming is really manmade, the climate. Hmmmm.
Uh….hmmm….I’m trying to figure that out. Water vapor is a greenhouse gas?? How can a vapor be a gas? Sorta runs afoul of my junior-high textbooks. I suppose water vapor can cause local climate change but due to resultant clouding and other climatic mechanisms, there would likely be no net effect to global temps. Plus, while peace seems out of step with human tendencies, the removal of obstacles to it are generally seen as good ideas in light of past conflicts. So an alternative fuel may not produce international harmony but at least it has the potential to reduce international tension and quiet certain loud-mouthed fascists who are emboldened by their new-found oil wealth. What I mean is that it helps peace, dude. It alone can’t create peace.
Water vapor is a green house gas. Any well written text will state that, and it is the most abundant in the atmosphere. Take a guess why…
Well considering most of the planet is water, and water evaporates and turns from liquid to “gas”, it has the same blanketing effect as CO2, but is more natural. Until that vapor comes out of exhaust pipes…then we’re back to square one.