The History of Hydro Cars
Hydro cars are vehicles that utilize hydrogen as fuel. The engines of these cars convert the chemical energy of hydrogen into mechanical energy rather than using an internal combustion engine that operates off of fuel. Most hydro cars operate off of fuel cells, which work by mixing hydrogen with oxygen and then converting it into electrical energy.
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Early Hydrogen Fuel Research
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As early as 1807, Francois Isaac de Rivaz made the first combustion engine in an automobile by releasing compressed hydrogen gas from a balloon. Other inventors like Samuel Brown, Samuel Morey and Etienne Lenoir also produced vehicles powered by similar ideas.
Development
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The early hydro cars were not successful, but today hydrogen cars are being experimented with due to their reduced emissions and quality of being a sustainable resource. The first noncommercial hydro car released was the FCX Clarity hydro car, which was produced by Honda. The U.S. began testing hydrogen for energy consumption in 2007. Countries like Japan, Germany and Norway are also on the forefront in developing hydro cars.
BMW Hydrogen 7
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The German carmaker BMW produced the Hydrogen 7, which is a sedan powered by a dual-fuel internal combustion engine. Being a hybrid---a car that operates partially off of hydrogen and partially off of gasoline---the car needs just a gallon of gasoline to run 17 to 18 miles.
Chevrolet Equinox
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General Motors has produced a number of hydro cars. The Equinox is a popular model and uses hydrogen as fuel with water vapor as the resulting emission. The biggest drawback with this model is that the fuel cell is expected to only last 50,000 miles.
Criticisms
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Critics claim that overcoming the economic and technical challenge in implementing a wide-scale use of hydro cars is expected to take several decades. Plug-in hybrids, natural gas vehicles and electric battery vehicles are believed by some to be easier alternatives to ease the dependency on petroleum oil.
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References
- Photo Credit yellow car, a honda japanese sport car model image by alma_sacra from Fotolia.com
