When the government decides to enforce a "New" fuel to the people they will look at ways to regulate it for their benefit. Solar powered cars have been available for years, but since they can't charge for sunlight, they are not mass produced. They won't make money on them. I don't see why people will spend an additional 4-7K up-front for a hybrid when they could have bought the gas version for considerably less and used the 4-7K in gas over the years of using their car. Also hybrid batteries have a life cycle where the batteries will eventually need to be replaced, and that would probably be more expensive than what the car is worth at the time. Plus as was mentioned earlier. What about the acid or chemicals in the battery when they are dead. How will they be disposed and where? I considered converting to propane but according to the industry. the government enforced stricter regulations on converting to propane by increasing fees. from what used to be approximately 1500 to now over 4000 dollars.(hardly worth it since propane is becoming as expensive as regular gas). And why is diesel more expensive than gasoline. Does it not need less refinement and maintenance? so why more expensive? (Because it is used by the American workers on farms, semis, tractors and heavy duty equipment, they earn good money, they can afford it). Also, recently there has been a surge of diesel powered vehicles and even sports cars that will be hitting the market. Some diesel vehicles such as some VW models have gotten 35-40 MPG for a long time. I wish they would have made a diesel F150 a long time ago. The truck would probably have some more grunt or surpassed its current sales record. I heard more people complaining about gas prices when Katrina hit, and now we are back at the same price level(if not higer in some states) post Katrina and no one seems to be complaining. Truthfully it will eventually be over 5 dllrs a gallon and we would still have to pay or not drive. Maybe there will be a mass biccyle system in place by then. When the government decides to pass something they will want controlability and predictability. That's how it goes. Were just skiming on the waves of politics.

 

IMO - diesel is more expensive due to the more constant demand - truckers are going to keep on trucking, farmers are going to keep on farming, etc. - whatever the cost. Whereas with gas - many consumers will change their habits as much as possible as prices increase, decreasing demand and moderating prices.

Also 1 barrel of oil will produce almost 20 gallons of gas, but only 7 gallons of diesel. Diesel is popular in Europe mainly because it is taxed at a much lower rate than gas - and over there, taxes can be upwards of 2x the cost of the fuel.

Hydrogen is a long way off - for one, the high pressures involved require additional safety measures. Plus, hydrogen is not all that efficient in the big picture scheme. Energy can neither be created nor destroyed. The energy required to make hydrogen through the hydrolysis of water is greater than the energy paid back through the combustion of hydrogen in these vehicles, so it kind of falls in the same category of ethanol towards its net overall benefit.

Hybrids that are recharged solely with the gas engine only offer improved efficiencies in areas the gas engine isn't so efficient - such as at stops and low-speed, low-load operations. Hybrids that can be recharged from electric outlets have slightly better efficiencies due only to the fuel efficiency of an electric generating station over that of the gas engine.

The biggest immediate gain with gasoline involves driving less miles and operating more efficient vehicles - reduce the demand, as opposed to finding other sources of oil or of alternative fuels.

The problem with alternative fuels as far as laws are concerned - is that the alternative fuels for the most part do not have a road-use tax automatically collected. Thus the additional charges proposed for propane, natural gas, fryer oil, solar, and the like.

There is a lot of research being done with ethanol, specifically with direct-injecting ethanol into a gas engine. This offers promise of the ability to significantly raise compression ratios without detonation - further offering the possibility that a super-charged smaller displacement engine could deliver every bit of the performance of its larger displacement cousins, while delivering greater fuel efficiency when the foot isn't to the floor. But that too is several years out.

No easy answers, else we'd already have them in widespread use. But the pro's of a given fuel alternative currently has plenty of con's to go with it.

 

I hate to seem like i dont care, but all this **** they're talking about, with pollution, is a long ways away, i'm sorry and you can hate me all you want, but i'm going to go fast, with FOSSIL FUEL, not a damn battery and motor, argue, laugh, say what you want to me, but i'm not going to be around to see the effect, and i dont have kids to see it, i'm going to die before this happens, so let me enjoy my toys, let me go fast, let me set **** on fire... i'm going to have fun with MY life...

 

Just like the one in your truck now. There is already a recycling and reclamation process in place for lead acid batteries.

I think the above quote suffers from a little industry bias but it makes the point nonetheless.



Unless you are the guy that just leaves his dead battery on the side of the road and doesn't care about recycling.

 

Most places will charge a core when you get a new battery for your car. I think it is a state thing here in Nebraska.

 

I'll give my typos up to the coffee jitters.
You obviously got the message from my post.
Now go dry your eyes, wipe your nose, kiss your mommy and play outside like a big boy.

Cheers!

 

Yea Hydrogen!
Hydrogen is a great alternative to fossil fuels for numerous reasons. What needs to be taken into consideration is the impact a shift in the energy infrastructure of a nation can have on the people who depend on such an infrastructure to make a living. It is however the responsibility of energy companies and auto manufacturers to seek more efficient and clean alternatives to powering our vehicles. It is our responsibility as good stewards of planet or "spaceship" earth as I like to call it, to be mindful of how we consume. That being said Millennium Cell Technologies is a company that has developed a hydrogen on demand system. One of the concerns with hydrogen technology is the storage of this highly combustible fuel source. In a hydrogen on demand system, the hydrogen is stored in a stable and inert borohydride solution (NaBH4).
MCEL (stock ticker) was awarded a contract from the US Air Force to produce a unit that would produce a continuous 300 watts of power for 12 hours. The package had to be rechargeable and weigh no more than 8 pounds. These power sources would be used to run electronics and medical equipment on the field. I imagine a system like this coupled to an electric motor would be a spectacular evolution in the transportation industry.

http://www.millenniumcell.com/fw/main/Overview-27.html

Quinton I am sorry for being an a$$ yesterday. Your remarks were warranted and well deserved.

 

i'm not all that sold on the hydrogen thing. I kinda feel like we don't understand the complete structure of atoms, and that the unatural breaking and recombining of the compounds will chnge them in ways we have not seen yet.
an isotope that we don't know how to measure

but then that is just an oppinion

please score my spelling and grammer
i'm trying to do better

nevermind i don't want to know the score

 

Hell yes we need one and I'd buy it if I could afford it. It would have to perform equal to the internal combustion engine though and who the hell cares about emissions or heavy metals. I spend more money putting gas in my tank than I do for the damn payments on my truck per month. It could pollute twice as much and I'd still buy one only to save at the pump.

 

Sarcasm right?

 

none intended