Do you remember when Germany introduced a hydrogen powered auto to the USA and what happened to it?

Question

Here are some things to consider. Some candidates are using alternative energy as an issue to get votes. Now that the planet is getting 'sick' they want to change things. At one time the USA had a water powered auto called "The Stanley Steamer." The oil companies probably bought it. Germany uses hydrogen powered autos and introduced the technology to the USA many years ago. I think Nixon was president at the time. A lot of the major rivers had hydroelectric dams to supply energy to their region. Most of them are gone. I hope this draws a lot of answers. thank you

Answer 1

Mercedes will be coming out with a hydrogen car in 2012 the reason why they haven't come out yet is
there are still technical obstacles to overcome such as extending fuel cells' reliability and durability; ensuring that they start at sub-freezing temperatures; reducing costs, and storing enough hydrogen in a small enough space to be workable.

The car industry is also waiting for the roll-out of hydrogen filling stations.

Answer 2

Have you ever actually been to Germany and counted the powered cars, I have and I can assure you that they are far from "using hydrogen powered cars" There are a few experimental hydrogen/oxygen fuel cell powered cars both in Germany and in the US. The problem is these cars are way to expensive to own and operate, and the fuel cells themselves have a very short life cycle.

The Stanley Steam was not water powered. It was a car driven by a steam engine. The heat required to generate the steam was produced by a boiler fired by kerosene (a fossil fuel). The oil companies did not "buy it up" it simply died because it could not compete against internal combustion powered vehicles. Steam engines are more costly to produce than gasoline or diesel engines thus the cars cost more. Also, since the car involved a boiler, it fell under federal boiler inspection codes that require an annual maintenance and inspection that is quite costly and would have the car out of service for several days.

Answer 3

No; however I can draw your attention to the discussion revolving hydrogen fuel cells. Ford produced the Ford P2000 in 2000, and its a car that runs solely on hydrogen fuel cells. The reason hydrogen-powered autos are unpractical is that:
1) hydrogen takes up lots of volume, requiring you to refill after every 100 or so miles
2) as of right now, there is no way to get H2 (diatomic hydrogen, which is what the cells use) without breaking it down w/ energy, which would take burning fossil fuels to do (which defeats the purpose of using hydrogen fuel cells anyways). Scientists are working on blue-green algae as a source for H2 b/c they produce the gas as part of their natural life cycle.

Answer 4

There's even one more problem. Hydrogen evaporates. There's no way you can totally insulate it and keep it liquid. Look at the space shuttle and you can see the hydrogen and oxygen that evaporate venting. If it didn't vent the tank would burst. Even if you don't drive the car, the hydrogen would vent out of the car in a bit over a week if you consider today's designs.

Answer 5

I'm glad to hear that Germany doesn't use gasoline anymore, that all their cars run on hydrogen. Why can't we do that?

Love Jack