shhhhh.
What I meant was can they develop a battery that provides enough power and delivers sufficient range. People won't go for a tiny car that can barely get up a hill. The larger and more powerful you make the vehicle the shorter the range, the battery becomes larger and the larger the engine becomes to recharge the battery. The larger the engine & battery becomes the more power you need to move the vehicle. It's a real engineering challenge. I hope they can pull it off.
Ford is aggressively pursuing the diesel route. However none of those vehicles will be available in the US because the heavy taxation of diesel in this country negates any type of savings from the extra mpg.
The 65 mpg Ford the U.S. Can't Have
Ford's Fiesta ECOnetic gets an astonishing 65 mpg, but the carmaker can't afford to sell it in the U.S.
The ECOnetic will go on sale in Europe in November
By David Kiley
If ever there was a car made for the times, this would seem to be it: a sporty subcompact that seats five, offers a navigation system, and gets a whopping 65 miles to the gallon. Oh yes, and the car is made by Ford Motor (F), known widely for lumbering gas hogs.
Ford's 2009 Fiesta ECOnetic goes on sale in November. But here's the catch: Despite the car's potential to transform Ford's image and help it compete with Toyota Motor (TM) and Honda Motor (HMC) in its home market, the company will sell the little fuel sipper only in Europe. "We know it's an awesome vehicle," says Ford America President Mark Fields. "But there are business reasons why we can't sell it in the U.S." The main one: The Fiesta ECOnetic runs on diesel.
Automakers such as Volkswagen (VLKAY) and Mercedes-Benz (DAI) have predicted for years that a technology called "clean diesel" would overcome many Americans' antipathy to a fuel still often thought of as the smelly stuff that powers tractor trailers. Diesel vehicles now hitting the market with pollution-fighting technology are as clean or cleaner than gasoline and at least 30% more fuel-efficient.
Yet while half of all cars sold in Europe last year ran on diesel, the U.S. market remains relatively unfriendly to the fuel. Taxes aimed at commercial trucks mean diesel costs anywhere from 40 cents to $1 more per gallon than gasoline. Add to this the success of the Toyota Prius, and you can see why only 3% of cars in the U.S. use diesel. "Americans see hybrids as the darling," says Global Insight auto analyst Philip Gott, "and diesel as old-tech."
None of this is stopping European and Japanese automakers, which are betting they can jump-start the U.S. market with new diesel models. Mercedes-Benz by next year will have three cars it markets as "BlueTec." Even Nissan (NSANY) and Honda, which long opposed building diesel cars in Europe, plan to introduce them in the U.S. in 2010. But Ford, whose Fiesta ECOnetic compares favorably with European diesels, can't make a business case for bringing the car to the U.S.
TOO PRICEY TO IMPORT
First of all, the engines are built in Britain, so labor costs are high. Plus the pound remains stronger than the greenback. At prevailing exchange rates, the Fiesta ECOnetic would sell for about $25,700 in the U.S. By contrast, the Prius typically goes for about $24,000. A $1,300 tax deduction available to buyers of new diesel cars could bring the price of the Fiesta to around $24,400. But Ford doesn't believe it could charge enough to make money on an imported ECOnetic.
Ford plans to make a gas-powered version of the Fiesta in Mexico for the U.S. So why not manufacture diesel engines there, too? Building a plant would cost at least $350 million at a time when Ford has been burning through more than $1 billion a month in cash reserves. Besides, the automaker would have to produce at least 350,000 engines a year to make such a venture profitable. "We just don't think North and South America would buy that many diesel cars," says Fields.
The question, of course, is whether the U.S. ever will embrace diesel fuel and allow automakers to achieve sufficient scale to make money on such vehicles. California certified VW and Mercedes diesel cars earlier this year, after a four-year ban. James N. Hall, of auto researcher 293 Analysts, says that bellwether state and the Northeast remain "hostile to diesel." But the risk to Ford is that the fuel takes off, and the carmaker finds itself playing catch-up—despite having a serious diesel contender in its arsenal.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine...ge_top+stories
please re-read what I said. I was not talking about hydrogen fuel cells, but hydrocarbon fuel cells... i.e... fuel cells that convert gasoline, diesel, etc. to electricity without burning it. There are inventors that have been working on the concept, but I thing they have only made it work with the smallest paraffin molecule (methane). Methane is a better gas than hydrogen. It can be compressed, and has twice the hydrogen atoms per molecule plus a carbon. It also has a form as a small battery. Please take the time to check these links out:
The Hopedale Methane Fuel Cell Demonstration:
Showing that Technology is America's Best Tool
SECA Fuel Cell Proves Successful in Navy's Proof-of-Concept Testing
Neah methane fuel cell (watch the video)
If diesel cars in the US can be taxed out of the market, they can be taxed into the market. Lower the tax on diesel, or raise the tax on gasoline.
Not I think the US will pull its head of it ass on fuel tax policy to stimulate conservation. nah, Exxon and friends would abort that idea at conception.
The US does whatever is best for the corps, not for the citizens, not for the environment,not for US security.
Shiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet.
Didn't they start taxing home-made bio-diesel recently???
Something else about hydrogen fuel cells vs. methane fuel cells:
CH4(g) + 2O2(g) → CO2(g) + 2H2O(l) + 890 kJ/mol
2H2 + O2(g) → 2H2O + 286 kJ/mol
Look how much more energy methane has, and how easy we already store it.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote