Hydrogen Vehicles
General Motors has
launched a test program using 100
HydroGen4 hydrogen vehicles
in the
United States, Japan, Korea, China, and Germany. U.S. drivers have driven
the cars over 435,000 miles. The vehicles shown below have a 1.8 kWh
buffer battery to store energy from the vehicle�s regenerative braking
system and cover peak electrical loads. The tanks hold 4.2 kg of hydrogen
for an operating range of up to 200 miles.
Complements GM
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2008/11/opel-presents-f.html
Automakers need to make 105 million electric
vehicles: 68 million passenger cars, 35 million SUV & pickups and 1.6
million heavy vehicles. Hydrogen vehicles could become available in 2010 and
increase to 14.4 million hydrogen vehicles per year by 2020.
Passenger cars would use about 260 kilograms of hydrogen per year. Assuming
300 kilograms for SUV and pickups and 2,000 kilograms for heavy vehicles, 30
million metric tons of hydrogen are needed compared to the 50 million
metric tons that are being produced. Hydrogen would be available at hydrogen
service stations. At $2.70 per kilogram, the passenger car could travel 200
miles for about $11.00 or about $850 per year.
Although the vehicle prices haven�t been made
public. If the cost was $20,000 plus for passenger cars, $30,000 plus for
SUV & Pickups and $500,000 plus for Heavy vehicles, annual vehicle sales are
estimated to be over $1trillion by 2020.
Infrastructure improvements include building
33,000 hydrogen service stations to supply hydrogen. At $1
million per location, the estimated cost would be $33 billion. General
Motors has estimated 12,000 hydrogen service stations could supply
seventy-five percent of the motor vehicles.
