Is it our patriotic duty to buy a Hydrogen-powered car IF possible?

Question

At the moment, they're pretty expensive, but for anyone who hasn't heard, BMW is coming out with their Hydrogen 7:

http://www.bmwworld.com/hydrogen/stragegy.htm. Other car manufacturers will naturally follow in their footsteps.

As Americans, is it our duty to buy hydrogen-powered cars, provided that we can afford it?

By the way, what will these cars cost? I couldn't seem to find info on their price.

Answer 1

So you are asking if it is our patriotic duty to buy a car made in a foreign country? And one that burns a fuel that cannot be found in nature but must be made by using more energy or conventional fuel than it replaces? I don't think so!

Answer 2

Yes it should be our patriotic duty to buy a Hydrogen-powered car.  But come on, face the facts.  A Hydrogen powered car is one of the most expensive cars out there.  And really, not a lot of Americans can afford something as expensive as that.  Give it some time and, hopefully, the price will come down.  Yes, BMW is coming out with a Hydrogen car and hopefully other companies will follow in their footsteps, but that is a matter of years!  The car companies have to come up with a new design and everything!  I'm sorry but I have no idea what the price would be like, but I'm sure it is going to be huge.

Answer 3

I don't know if Honda has given a price yet but it is supposed to go on sale next year

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

Answer 4

Yes, I totally agree with you.  I just wish that the American manufacturers would get on the bandwagon and produce more alternative fuel vehicles.  Not only is it good environmental sense, but it keeps our dollars from funding the extremist regimes of many oil producing nations.  Peace!

Answer 5

It's going to take more than Hydrogen powered cars to correct a problem that is of man's making, your key words are cost and afford, it is the same old line money! isn't that what has gotten us into this mess to begin with, mans drive for the almighty buck enviroment be dammed.

Patriotic duty? a duty to the present and future generations this is not a question of patriotism.

Answer 6

it's our patriotic duty to buy foreign cars?

what?!?

are you serious?

Answer 7

It isn't anybody's duty to buy anything.  The main reason to buy a car is for transportation.  (Some people buy cars for other reasons, like ego satisfaction, but that doesn't matter.)  If you are in the market for a car, the correct one to buy is the one that suits your needs at a price you can afford.  Patriotism has nothing to do with it.

Now, about hydrogen:  Piston engines designed to run on gasoline can be easily converted to run on hydrogen, so there's little additional cost for the engine.  Fuel cells, specifically made for hydrogen, not liquid fuels, have few moving parts and produce electricity directly from hydrogen.  They are very expensive because they have not been developed for mass production.  GM's Hy-Wire prototype cost several million dollars to build.  I drove it several years ago; it fell far short of a regular gasoline-powered car.  Also, hydrogen's a very poor way to store energy.  It takes up a lot of room because of its very low density.  Liquid fuels are much more suitable for motor vehicles.

Answer 8

i think people should be given a huge rebate on purchases of hydro-mobiles,you know as long as there have been space flights that auto makers could have used that technology to build an engine capable of lasting more than 200 thousand miles ,between them and the oil companys,i say they owe us a car or  two. But thats just my opinion.

Answer 9

Hydrogen Fuel cells are the future - why you ask ? - water is the most abundant resourse in the universe - water ? why sure - that is the by product - that is the drinking water - astronauts on the shuttle missions drink in outer space - there is also hydrogen in the giant asteroids floating in outer space - a ready resourse of drinking water - that will top up water reserves for missions to go further in deep space ok - mars for example is around one month away - however - travel to other star systems is inevitable. Laser Interferometer Space Antenna are designed to study the warping of space around black holes and provide's a new yard stick with which to measure the universe as well as new understanding of the behaviour of space and time near black holes - there is binary displacement around what astronomers have classified as black holes - a strange phenomena occurs - similar to the effect as portrayed in the 'stargate' television series - this is factual not science fiction - there is the possibility to deform or warp the space and time around this  - the predictions of Einsteins theory are correct such as the effects of gravity on every day objects on earth - ok - for example say compact masses and high speeds we need to use Einsteins theory he concluded that since massive bodies of matter in space warp space around them any movement around them causes a disturbance these disturbances become waves in space time this action is much like ripples that are generated when say you throw a stone into the water - only much bigger in scale - the of warping space and time is a concept that modern science today has grasped as there are researchers already engineering the possibility to open the way for displacing space and time - everyone i am sure has watched - star trek on television - this is a reality for future space travel - one day mankind will learn about bending starlight in the warping of space - there is only a relatively short period of time in earth years before this becomes a reality.