Hydrogen Car, Hydrogen Vehicle

Hydrogen Car, Hydrogen Vehicle

A hydrogen vehicle is a vehicle that uses hydrogen as its on-board fuel for motive power. The term may refer to a personal transportation vehicle, such as an automobile, or any other vehicle that uses hydrogen in a similar fashion, such as an aircraft. The power plants of such vehicles convert the chemical energy of hydrogen to mechanical energy (torque) in one of two methods: electrochemical conversion in a fuel-cell, or combustion :
In combustion, the hydrogen is burned in engines in fundamentally the same method as traditional gasoline cars.
In fuel-cell conversion, the hydrogen is reacted with oxygen to produce water and electricity, the latter of which is used to power an electric traction motor.

The molecular hydrogen needed as an on-board fuel for hydrogen vehicles can be obtained through many thermochemical methods utilizing natural gas, coal (by a process known as coal gasification), liquefied petroleum gas, biomass (biomass gasification), by a process called thermolysis, or as a microbial waste product called biohydrogen or Biological hydrogen production. Hydrogen can also be produced from water by electrolysis. If the electricity used for the electrolysis is produced using renewable energy or nuclear power, the production of the hydrogen would (in principle) result in no net carbon dioxide emissions.

Hydrogen is an energy carrier, not an energy source, so the energy the car uses would ultimately need to be provided by a conventional power plant. A suggested benefit of large-scale deployment of hydrogen vehicles is that it could lead to decreased emissions of greenhouse gases and ozone precursors. Further, the conversion of fossil fuels would be moved from the vehicle, as in today's automobiles, to centralized power plants in which the byproducts of combustion or gasification can be better controlled than at the tailpipe. However, there are both technical and economic challenges to implementing wide-scale use of hydrogen vehicles, as well as better and less expensive alternatives. The timeframe in which challenges may be overcome is likely to be at least several decades, and hydrogen vehicles may never become broadly available.

Honda's All-New Hydrogen Fuel Cell-Powered Electric Vehicle To Debut at 2007 Los Angeles Auto Show

Honda's next generation hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicle will make its world debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show, November 14, American Honda Motor Co., Inc., announced today.

Based on the FCX Concept that has impressed journalists at multiple test drive events over the past year, this all-new fuel cell vehicle will be marketed to fleet and retail customers in the U.S. and Japan beginning in 2008. The Los Angeles Auto Show represents the first opportunity for potential U.S. customers to preview the new car.

In an effort to appeal to real world consumers, Honda's recent breakthroughs in fuel cell technology will enable levels of performance, room, comfort, and dynamic styling previously unattainable in a fuel cell car.

As the most advanced expression of the electric vehicle concept, Honda's hydrogen fuel cell vehicle utilizes electricity generated by combining hydrogen and oxygen in a fuel cell stack, and electricity stored in its lithium-ion battery pack to power the vehicle's electric motor. Honda is the first and only automaker with a fuel cell vehicle fully certified to meet all applicable federal government emissions and crash-safety standards. Additionally, Honda is the first and only automaker to lease a fuel cell vehicle to an individual customer with a second customer added in 2007.