posted by admin on Sep 13
Powered by a Hydrogen fuel cell - meet the new Ford Edge.
There is another car on the road that runs off of the same element that keeps the sun shining. So far though, it has only been let out for testing, but the insight is something to really consider.
Without the cylinders and pumps of standard fuel cars, this one is silent. And without the burning of fossil fuels either: this one leaves only water behind - pure enough to drink if you wanted to try it!
Is is truly an Eco Vehicle?
No, not yet. Like all electric and hybrid cars, it is still reliant on fossil fuels and therefore still emits huge amounts of carbon waste at somewhere along the production line. But it opens up hope for the future.
Although it is currently as heavy as some of the larger cars already on the road and still pollutes the atmosphere like all other road users, Ford are looking to the next decade to really make the savings. Apparently, they say, there will be a chain of nuclear power stations creating pollution-free hydrogen that they can use to power their Edge.
10 years is a long time away, but then, it will take that long to build up all the ‘hydrogen service stations’ along interstates and in superstore car parks. You’ll need them, as with a driving range of only 100 miles (225 with over night charging with a lithium-ion battery) you won’t be driving to your destination, you will be driving to the next top-up point!
It seems that some states in the US are already considering this as a viable method, and the state of California has started creating a ‘hydrogen highway’ between it’s 2 main towns to get things started. But we are still quite some way from this becoming ‘everyday’.
The Future:
Well, thanks to the record-breaking Ford Fusion Hydrogen 999 - which last year (2007) broke the land speed record for a fuel-celled car - they are not letting time or the shortage of fuel get in their way. Other manufacturers are also in the race to designed the first alternate fuel vehicle for the masses, like BMW.
However, Ford have already started making further improvements and obviously the alternative fuel car that we see in 10 years time on the roads will probably be nothing like the one we see today. It wasn’t long ago that the first fuel cell ‘car’ was pulling a trailer of hydrogen to gets it’s energy!!!!
Ideas change, technologies change, consumer demands change - but I’m sure that fossils fuels will run out before long, leaving us little choice about hydrogen (and nuclear) as the source of our energy.
Source: The Sunday Times
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