A question about hydrogen fuel cell driven cars..?

Question

If all they need to run is clean distilled water (which is plenty of-course!) and can address all the pressing demands as well, why can't those big companies put in some great innovations and bulk produce them??

Answer 1

I think you are getting a little confused between hydrogen cell technology and hydrogen generator cells

Hydrogen cells use liquid hydrogen in a fuel tank and covert this to electricity in a fuel cell stack which then powers the electric drive motors

Hydrogen generators produce a small amount of hydrogen using a small hydrogen generator fitted in the vehicle this is then added to the petrol to make it burn faster more completely and more efficiently

The oxygen / Hydrogen mixture is produced using an electrolysis process

http://world.honda.com/FuelCell/

http://www.dangerouslaboratories.org/hyd...

Answer 2

In your question, you mention that all that is needed to run one of these vehicles is clean distilled water.

That isn't quite true.

One can produce hydrogen by electrolysis, a process whereby a hydrogen (H2) molecule is liberated from the bonds that hold it to the oxygen atom within H2O.  This generally requires big electrodes that attract different parts of the water molecule and yank apart the hydrogen and oxygen.  This process also requires a great deal of electrical energy.

The hydrogen could then potentially be stored in the vehicle and converted into electricity via fuel-cell technology.  The electricity then runs the vehicles electric motor.

I recommend reading the Wikipedia link below.  Note that hydrogen is an energy carrier not an energy source.

Also, the link to the Popular Science site contains a very good article concerning the technological hurdles we would have to overcome before converting into a "hydrogen economy".

So, there are several reasons why big companies haven't been able to mass produce these vehicles, many of which are technological.

Answer 3

Apparently they think more of the big profits of the hybrids that they can make relatively quickly. Most of what they really do is either for show or for immediate bucks. While the hydrogen fuel cell is the only real answer, it is further out timewise because of tricky manufacturing methods and costs.

Answer 4

Many auto companies can, but we don't have the resources we need in America, nearly 60 percent of cars in Sweden run on Hydrogen, but the process takes a long time to separate the oxygen molecules from the hydrogen, and it would also take alot of time to fill your fuel tank, plus you might not get the suffecient speeds and range as in your usual combustion engined cars.

Answer 5

They don't run on clean distilled water. They run on hydrogen. A fuel cell takes hydrogen and combines it with oxygen to make electricity. You may be confused with an electolysis cell which takes distilled water. Electrolysis cells run electricity through water to split it into hydorgen and oxygen. That is expensive though. It is cheaper from other methods.

Answer 6

You will find it takes at least 7 times more energy to produce the hydrogen from distilled water than you'll get back from using that hydrogen as an energy source.

A loosing proposition.

The big energy companies KNOW that and aren't dumb enough to fall into THAT trap!

These ideas are not NEW. Energy producers have spent untold millions trying to solve the problem of efficient hydrogen production, but so far, they have not succeeded.

If you want to study the problem and can resolve it, PLEASE, for the sake of humanity and the planet, DO IT!

Answer 7

It's a little more complicated than that...

Answer 8

I don't know what the hangup is on the production side, other than not many companies making the.  Out in California wealthy people are paying a few hundred thousand for units that power an entire house. They're backordered 2-4 years!  If every home had one, most of the energy problem would go away, unless I'm missing something.  I can understand why the power companies wouldn't support them, but I don't see why government isn't doing more, unless they're just in the pockets of the power companies.

Answer 9

Well, its not quite feasible yet.

One, we do not have the Hydrogen infrastructure to support Hydrogen vehicles. When i say infrastructure, i mean filling stations, electrolyzer plants to split the water, distribution systems, etc..

two, the cost is way too high right now and the efficiency of this Hydrogen system is worse than just using gasoline.

Efficiency: Approximately the same amount of energy is used to split the water molecules as you generate from re-combining the Hydrogen Molecules in a fuel cell. That's not mentioning the energy loss in heat and in any other distribution systems, pressurizing systems, etc..

Currently the efficiency of a hydrogen based economy is 25% once everything is taken int consideration.

The only way hydrogen makes sence is if the home user generates their own hydrogen using some sort of alternative energy (solar, wind, tidal,etc..). Even if huge electrolyzer plants use renewable energy to split the molecules, the distribution process will still ruin the efficiency.

So you answer is: to expensive, no infastructure and not efficient enough.

Answer 10

Because it takes a ton of energy to seperate the hydrogen from the oxygen by means of electrolysis.  A lot of research money is going into this, but it's a difficult problem to overcome.