Design Evolution

While forthcoming electric-drive vehicles capture automotive headlines, manufacturers are making more subtle technological improvements to their current offerings of hybrids and conventional vehicles. Toyota’s 2010 Prius, the most efficient gasoline-powered vehicle and number two on ACEEE’s “Greenest” list, shows a 3-mile-per gallon increase in fuel economy, to 51 city / 48 highway. Toyota attributes the gains to an increase in engine size — which allows the engine to operate at lower rpm on the highway, together with a new exhaust gas recirculation system, an electric water pump, a lower coefficient of drag, and lightweighting of several parts, though overall vehicle weight has increased in the bargain. The new Prius also features LED low-beams and taillights, a more efficient A/C system, and solar panels on the optional moon roof.  New hybrid offerings — the Honda Insight and the Ford Fusion/Mercury Milan — broke into the year’s top twelve, and several more are slated for arrival later in the year.

The 2010 Ford Fusion appears not only in hybrid form but also as the Fusion S, a conventional model achieving a 17 percent boost in fuel economy over last year’s 4-cylinder automatic using variable cam timing and a six-speed transmission. Ford also added to its roster of vehicles with EcoBoost, an engine package combining turbocharging with direct injection. But while the technology has been touted as offering fuel economy gains up to 20 percent, this year’s Flex and Taurus models use Ecoboost to achieve V8 performance with a V6 engine and leave fuel economy unchanged. The Lincoln MKS with Ecoboost does gain two miles per gallon on the highway and one in the city, however. Other Ford fuel-saving tweaks include a Lincoln MKT featuring a liftgate lightened 40 percent through the use of magnesium and aluminum instead of steel, and electric power steering to replace a hydraulic pump.

More generally, the use of engine refinements such as variable-valve timing continues to rise, and lightweight materials, better aerodynamics, and improved transmissions are all experiencing flurries of activity that demonstrate the large potential still remaining to reduce the fuel consumption of conventional vehicles without compromise in consumer appeal. Yet, in the big picture, these new technologies are not yet moving the needle perceptibly on environmental performance. Indeed, the average Green Score stayed level this year at 32.

2010 Market Trends

Fuel efficiency is in the spotlight as the U.S. auto industry continues its struggle out of the tailspin that began in 2008. New vehicles sales barely surpassed 10 million units in the 2009 calendar year, down over 20 percent from 2008 and 33 percent from 2007 sales. As sales inch back up, consumers’ interest in miles per gallon remains strong. In early 2010, fuel prices are once again well past the $2.50-per-gallon mark, and there is a widespread expectation that economic recovery will only push prices higher.

Reinforcing the trend is the Obama Administration’s announcement of stricter fuel economy and greenhouse gas emission standards, effective beginning in model year 2012. The proposed standards call for an average fleet-wide fuel economy of 34.1 miles per gallon by 2016, a 36 percent increase from 2009 standards. Manufacturers are working on a variety of new technologies to ensure they will be able to comply.

Source:Greencars

Hydrogen Fuel Cell Cars H2ICE

Hydrogen Fuel Cars

Hydrogen cars are not only the future, they are here, now. When hydrogen cars become the status quo, the U. S. can lessen its dependence upon foreign oil, achieve lower prices at the fuel pumps and cut down on the greenhouse gases that produce global warming. The future of hydrogen cars is not a pipe dream, as there are already many hydrogen fuel cell cars and H2ICE vehicles on the roads. California, Japan and the European Union (especially Germany) have many hydrogen fuel cars being used as fleet vehicles now.

Hydrogen Fuel Cell Cars
Hydrogen Fuel Cell Cars

In 2005, Honda leased the first commercial hydrogen car to a family in Redondo Beach, California, (pictured above). In 2008, the Honda FCX Clarity became the first production line built hydrogen fuel cell lease vehicle rolled out to the same family plus dozens others.

For the past 28 years, the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has been conducting research on hydrogen fuel cells for use in transportation, industry and residential use. According to the LANL, "Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Research at Los Alamos has made significant technological advances in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) fuel cells, Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (DMFC), and related technologies such as the electrolyzer (a fuel cell in reverse, liberating hydrogen from electricity and pure water)."

Unlike many of the hybrid and "green" cars currently on the market, hydrogen fuel can offer the promise of zero emission technology, where the only byproduct from the cars is water vapor. Current fossil-fuel burning vehicles emit all sorts of pollutants such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide, ozone and microscopic particulate matter. Hybrids and other green cars address these issues to a large extent but only hydrogen cars hold the promise of zero emission of pollutants. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that fossil-fuel automobiles emit 1 ½ billion tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere each year and going to hydrogen fuel based transportation would all but eliminate this.

Not only that, hydrogen cars will lessen the United States' dependence upon foreign oil. The so-called "hydrogen highway" will mean less dependence upon OPEC, the big U. S. oil companies, oil refinery malfunctions and breakdowns and less resistance from oil-selling nations like Venezuela and Saudi Arabia or from hostile nations who would rather sell elsewhere.
H2ICE Fuel Car
Consumers will finally get a break from the never-ending rising prices at the gasoline pumps.

President Bush when he was in office allocated approximately $2 billion in hydrogen highway research funds. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was pushing to get 200 hydrogen filling stations built by 2010 stretching from Vancouver, British Columbia, all the way down to Baja, California (but has fallen short of this goal because of a poor economy and lack of political will).

Since Californians buy one-fifth of the nation's cars, the new hydrogen car technology could replace the current gasoline engine automobiles in what is called "disruptive technology" where something so innovative comes along it simply replaces the old technology very quickly.

Then again, a more likely scenario is that dual-fuel automotive systems will be developed that can run on either gasoline or hydrogen fuel as the hydrogen infrastructure is being developed. The conversion from gasoline-powered internal combustion engines to hydrogen powered combustion engines is agreed upon by most scientists and engineers to be a particularly easy transition and would buy time for hydrogen fuel cell cars to be fully adapted.
But, hydrogen cars are not isolated to those that burn the fuel in internal combustion engines (H2ICE). There are more hydrogen fuel cell cars being built currently than any other kind.
Hydrogen Fuel Car

Let's also not forget about hydrogen-on-demand vehicles that are either using a hydrogen compound or electrolyzing water to create H2, avoiding the compressed or liquid hydrogen refueling scenario altogether. And, what about adapting hydrogen peroxide for fuel in car since it is currently being used in racecars and jet packs as a propellant?

Hydrogen cars are the future, so why not take a test drive of this website right now and see what you'll be driving a few short years from now. With Germany, Japan, Norway and the U. S. in the hunt, the hydrogen economy is just around the bend. Will you be ready?