http://www.youtube.com/p.swf?video_i...csr9HK0H8bxAEA

 

GREAT!

I'll drive my Prius down to my local GM dealer and take a Hy-Wire out for a test drive. How did your test drive go?

Bob Wilson

 

LOL, I really like it. I like the concept, I like the interchangability of it, I like the by wire driving, and I like the steering wheel. (Though I'd prefer a tri plug so you can use your PS2, Xbox, or Gamecube controler to drive it. )

I'm not so fond of the Hydrogen power source, or the fact that once again, we're told it'll be 10-20 years before we see it on the road. (Yeah, I haven't heard that from Hydrogen for the past 15 years.)

Oh, and there's another video of it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qow9r5yhhBo

 

Didn't you watch the video?

 

Scientific American Frontiers had a few shows about alternative fuels and future car technology.

Here is one about Hydrogen Power:
http://www.pbs.org/saf/1506/

Nice work from GM. But it could be Toyota or Honda that offer that first Hydrogen Fuelled vehicle test-drive... we'll see...

 

The author, Joan Ogden claims that "fuel-cell vehicles . . . face fewer technical hurdles . . ." (pp. 94.) Then she goes on to report:

1) Short fuel cell life - "current automotice PEM fuel cells last only about 2,000 hours" (pp. 97)

2) Cost - "handmade specialty items that cost about $1 millon apiece." (pp. 97)

3) Storing - ". . . large, high-pressure cylinders" or liquid at "-423 degrees Fahrenheit" (pp. 97)

4) Safety - ". . . a much wider range of concentrations of hydrogen is flammable . . ." (pp. 98)

5) Supply - ". . . hydrogen is obtained from the high-temperature processing of natural gas and petroleum." (pp. 99)

6) Cost - ". . . the current costs for producing hydrogen using these methods [electrolysis and biomasss gassification, RJW] are high: $6 to $10 per kilogram. " (pp. 99)

The article remains as accurate today as were the same facts and data decades ago. Meanwhile, I continue to commute daily in my hybrid electric.

Bob Wilson

 

If anyone's in the NYC area, the Wired NextFest is coming up at the Javits Center from September 29-October 1st.

Their website mentions the HyWire, and a video from last year's transportation pavilion shows that the it was there.