Hydrogen cars.......?

Question

is it possible to convert a standard gas car to use hydrogen fuel? Is it expensive?

Answer 1

Yes you can.

Yes its expensive.  And dangerous.

In theory, any conventional spark engine can run off any gaseous fuel.  Methane, ethane, gasoline vapor, propane, butane, etc.

In fact, you can make the H2 yourself.  Its called "producer gas".  When you heat carbon up to 700 deg C or higher, then spray super-hot steam (red hot gaseous water) over the carbon, the carbon will strip the hydrogen off the water and bond with the oxygen.  This produces carbon monoxide (poisonous) and H2 (hydrogen gas).  In that sense, you can run your car on coal.

Producing cooking / heating gas was done for over 100 years throughout the world and worked well, except the carbon monoxide would fill up peoples homes and kill them once in a while.

Its not that it can't be done, its just that gasoline is SOOOO much easier.  And safer (sounds weird to think of gasoline as safe).

Producer gas was used in peoples cars during world war 2, where there was no available fuel due to the war effort.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Green-Tra...

Please note, this is NOT an environmentally friendly process.

Answer 2

It is technically posible either with fuel cells and an electric motor or burning hydrogen instead of gas.  But there are no kits avialible, it could get very exspencive.  

http://www.switch2hydrogen.com/

These guys have been working out the bugs for years.  They have figured out that you need to replace the exaust system with stainless steel and that aluminum parts don't do so well.  I think it will be a while before you will be able to buy their system.