How amazing is this?

[BrilloPad]

Up to 280 range, still not as good as an average Diesel of 600-700 miles.

How much energy does it take to make a litre of hydrogen?

I guess the average filling station is filling up cars at 100 litres a minute at 60kw per litre would equal to 3,000,000 kw per hour of electricity to keep one petrol or (hydrogen) station going.

Are we going to run them with coal fired power stations?

We need Fusion power. should be available AD2200

[PM-Junkie]

No just realistic. Zero emissions at point of use does not mean zero emission overall.

And where, exactly, did I say anything about emissions? How do you equate "bye bye petrol?" to "oh look at this, this will cut our emmisions and help us save the planet".

Personally, I think anything that gets us away from political dependancy on the middle east for our fuel supply is a good thing. This is clearly version one of a new product, but I guess when you all design a product version one is where you stop - clearly Honda are completely wasting their time.

[BrilloPad]

And where, exactly, did I say anything about emissions? How do you equate "bye bye petrol?" to "oh look at this, this will cut our emmisions and help us save the planet".

Personally, I think anything that gets us away from political dependancy on the middle east for our fuel supply is a good thing. This is clearly version one of a new product, but I guess when you all design a product version one is where you stop - clearly Honda are completely wasting their time.

I would build nuclear power stations now. and I wouldn't let the frogs design em either.

[Paddy]

I would build nuclear power stations now. and I wouldn't let the frogs design em either.

I agree 100%

[deano]

As James May said on Top Gear over a week ago now () the beauty of the Clarity is that it behaves like a normal car. This is why its so good.

We are never ever going to go back to a village society. We are never ever going to become a society that has no car. The best thing is to make the car better, because it is not going to go away.

I just wish Honda had built a 4x4 using that technology. That way we could have watched Jonathon Porrit's head explode.

"It's a capitalist, planet destroying 4x4... but it doesn't polute... but it's a capitalist, planet destroying 4x4... but it doesn't polute... but it's a capitalist, planet destroying 4x4... but it doesn't polute... aaaargh! (POP)"

PS I would have James May for Prime Minister. Clarkson for Foreign Secretary.

[Platypus]

I just find it hard to believe someone doesn't watch top gear

Oh dear

[stackpole]

Up to 280 range, still not as good as an average Diesel of 600-700 miles.

How much energy does it take to make a litre of hydrogen?

I guess the average filling station is filling up cars at 100 litres a minute at 60kw per litre would equal to 3,000,000 kw per hour of electricity to keep one petrol or (hydrogen) station going.

Are we going to run them with coal fired power stations?

I hear this reaction to electrically-powered vehicles a lot, and it always makes me laugh. No depth of thinking.

There are two separate problems, electric cars and non-fossil-fuel power generation. Nuclear and other power generation sources are being developed and built. We don't have to wait until they are all fully on-stream before we start developing electric cars.

I watched this program last week and I thought, for the first time, here is technology that is a realistic alternative to petrol/diesel engines. It has a reasonable range, reasonable performance, and it doesn't have to carry half a ton of batteries that need 12 hours to recharge.

And if the figures aren't good enough for some, remember it is effectively a prototype, so will improve a lot.

[deano]

And it is currently in LA, along with the "gas" station with the hydrogen pump. Which is very shrewd because once (to quote JC form the same show) "Leonardo Di Cluney" get hold of one for PR reasons, then it will get better and cheaper and there will be more hydrogen stations.

This technology + nuclear power = something very good.

However it will be really annoying for the "Green" movement because this isn't where they want to go. They want to dismantle capitalism because they are, in reality, communists, but this will not threaten capitalism.

[TimberWolf]

I hear this reaction to electrically-powered vehicles a lot, and it always makes me laugh. No depth of thinking.

There are two separate problems, electric cars and non-fossil-fuel power generation. Nuclear and other power generation sources are being developed and built. We don't have to wait until they are all fully on-stream before we start developing electric cars.

I watched this program last week and I thought, for the first time, here is technology that is a realistic alternative to petrol/diesel engines. It has a reasonable range, reasonable performance, and it doesn't have to carry half a ton of batteries that need 12 hours to recharge.

And if the figures aren't good enough for some, remember it is effectively a prototype, so will improve a lot.

You're thinking like a user. Fuel cells may be an alternative to batteries as a storage medium (which currently suck in terms of energy density, but continue to improve), but they don't address the issue of where the energy comes from. Second, hydrogen is a bitch to store. Either you have too cool it and keep it near absolute zero (with refrigerators or vents as it warms, and hope nobody intentionally blocks the vents or turns off the refrigeration) or you have to compress it and store it in large and heavy tanks. Converting to and from hydrogen also adds a lot of inefficiencies also, so the cost of the fuel is likely to be far higher than petrol or pure electric.

[gingerjedi]

A bit off topic but this guy has the right idea, you’ve got to ask yourself why the fridges we use are so inefficient when the answer is so simple?

http://mtbest.net/chest_fridge.html

Although finding new energy sources is the right way to go, making the best use of what we currently have has got to be just as important.