Honda's New Fuel Cell Car Options

[Hartmann]

http://world.honda.com/news/2008/4080616First-FCX-Clarity/

Surprised this hasn't been mentioned yet.

[impala454]

so it's basically a niche car/marketing scheme

[chook]

so it's basically a niche car/marketing scheme

it could be a mainstream car, just fuel cells use Pt and are uber expensive.

[blaarg]

it could be a mainstream car, just fuel cells use Pt and are uber expensive.

Fuel cells in the present market use platinum electrodes. They are in the process with replacing them with low(er)-cost ceramics though (like Solid Oxide Fuel Cells). The operating temperature is greatly higher, but they are working on reducing that as well.

As for plug in cars, they are all over the place here (Denmark). Certainly nowhere near a majority but there is a national goal to make it that way in the next 15-20 years. What's cool is that the grid that powers the plug-ins at high populated areas are composed entirely of wind energy so its pretty much as green as you can get (rather than powering from something like a coal power plant).

[chook]

Fuel cells in the present market use platinum electrodes. They are in the process with replacing them with low(er)-cost ceramics though (like Solid Oxide Fuel Cells). The operating temperature is greatly higher, but they are working on reducing that as well.

As for plug in cars, they are all over the place here (Denmark). Certainly nowhere near a majority but there is a national goal to make it that way in the next 15-20 years. What's cool is that the grid that powers the plug-ins at high populated areas are composed entirely of wind energy so its pretty much as green as you can get (rather than powering from something like a coal power plant).

The problem with the fuel cells is that CO and CO2 form a poisonious (not reversable) bond with the Noble metals (Pt) and the fuel is really expensive. The higher heat models can use different things than a noble metal to split the hydrogen, becuase of the higher temperature. What is not touted about these things is that most likely byproduct of the cost effective systems is CO2 as well as water.