We've been keeping tabs on the Formula Zero racing series since we first heard about it in 2006. Using hydrogen to generate electricity which then powers electric motors to propel these small Formula 1-esque cars around a track, there will be no emissions coming from the vehicles taking part in this race. The first leg of the inaugural 2008 Championship this year will be taking place on August 22 in Rotterdam in The Netherlands. Really, the timing of this event could not possibly be better as the entire world is looking for ways to reduce its oil consumption and even the pinnacle of road racing, Formula 1, is looking to lower its environmental impact.

Six teams are taking part including the U.S.-based team from Lawrence Technical University in Michigan with their Element One and the U.K.- based team from The Imperial College of London. We'll be naturally keeping an eye out for the results. Stay tuned.

[Source: Formula Zero]

Nearly a year ago, we first laid eyes on a hydrogen-powered moped from the Shanghai Pearl Hydrogen Power Source Technology Company. Although the machine had, um... questionable aesthetics, we were impressed by its 60-mile range at 15 miles per hour and relatively low $2,600 price tag. According to a report on Shanghai Daily, 30 of the hydrogen-fed units have already been exported. By 2011, the Chinese manufacturer hopes to be building 1,000 units per year for sale both in China and abroad. Considering that many electric two-wheelers already cost more than the hydrogen-powered ebike from Shanghai, there could be a real market for these vehicles, though the hydrogen fueling infrastructure is most definitely still in its infancy.

Other brands, such as Suzuki and Intelligent Energy, have plans to introduce hydrogen-powered fuel cell cycles of their own. Both the Crosscage and ENV, though, would surely cost significantly more than their Chinese counterparts.

[Source: Shangai Daily via Faster and Faster]

Last week we ignited some healthy discussion in the comments with my post on the (de)merits of on-board hydrogen generators and injectors. While few could argue with my basic thermodynamic analysis of the process, defenders repeated the claim from producers of these systems that something magical happens when you add hydrogen to the air fuel mixture of an engine. We've looked into this a little further in recent days including with a powertrain engineer that actually understands combustion processes. In the comments on the previous article a number of readers repeated claims that adding H2 gas or the H2/O2 blend has a catalytic effect on the combustion properties. While there is no evidence of this being true, the addition of hydrogen to the mix can have some beneficial effects in certain circumstances.

Hydrogen does indeed have a faster burn rate than gasoline. Blending even a little bit of it with gasoline will indeed increase the burn rate of the mixture. The idea that was put forward in at least one of the comments is that this would faster burn would trigger knocking in the engine that would be detected by the engine management system resulting in retarding of the spark and more of the explosive force pushing the piston down during the power stroke. This is nominally true, but it only applies to newer engines that have knock sensors. There are however a number of problems with this. Read on after the jump for the rest of this discussion.

[Source: Fuel Cell Insider, Popular Mechanics]

Suzuki already has a little experience with vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cells, as its Crosscage motorcycle concept has been around the block a few times already since it first debuted in Tokyo last year. That two-wheeler is now a running prototype and will again be shown off in its latest form at the upcoming Paris Motor Show. Along with the Crosscage will be Suzuki's SX4 FCV, a hatchback with a fuel cell provided by General Motors.

Along with the hydrogen-powered electric machines on display, Suzuki will also debut its new Alto economy car. Built in India by the Suzuki/Maruti joint venture, the seventh-generation Alto will likely get a 1.0-liter engine which will be fully Euro V emissions compliant. While the fuel cell vehicles are likely still a ways off from regular production, the Alto will be on sale in India and in Europe shortly after the Paris Motor Show in October. We've pasted the press release after the break.


[Source: Suzuki]

One of the biggest cost drivers for electrolyzers and fuel cells is the need for precious metals like platinum to act as catalysts. At $1,700-2,000 per ounce, it can rapidly drive the costs of a fuel cell through the roof. As a result one of the main areas of development in fuel cells has been reduced use of catalysts and new catalyst materials. MIT Chemist Daniel Nocera has been working on this problem and discovered that cobalt and phosphate may make an excellent substitute in electrolyzers. At $2.25 an ounce and $.05 an ounce, respectively the new catalysts have a huge cost advantage and reportedly are just as effective. Nocera and his team came to the realization by studying how photosynthesis in plants works to split water into its component elements. On the fuel cell side Chemist Bjorn Winther-Jensen of Monash University in Australia have developed a polymer material that is as effective as platinum in turning hydrogen and oxygen into electricity and water. While it is not as cheap as the cobalt and phosphate, at $57 an ounce it is still a tiny fraction of the cost of the precious metal.

[Source: Scientific American]

A new study by the National Research Council estimates that up to 2 million hydrogen-fueled vehicles could be on American roads by 2020, with that number potentially rising to 25 million a decade later. However, getting there requires getting past a number of hurdles first. The cost of fuel cells must drop and fueling infrastructure must be put in place. That will take substantial subsidies on the part of both government and manufacturers. The study authors estimate that about $200 billion would be required over the next 15 years to make this happen with $55 billion of that coming from governments and the rest from private industry. That total includes costs for vehicle development and deployment, research and development and infrastructure deployment. In contrast, US ethanol subsidies will reach about $15 billion annually by 2020. Beyond 2023, the costs are expected to drop to the point where the lifetime cost of fuel cell vehicles the fuel to propel them would be competitive with conventional vehicles, making subsidies unnecessary.


[Source: National Research Council, via Green Fuels Forecast]

A quick Google search is all that is required to find hundreds of stories of people who claim to have increased their fuel mileage by installing a hydrogen generator which extracts hydrogen and oxygen from water and funnels the gas into the engine. Some of the claims are pretty wild, and the Japanese company Genepax has again lit a fire under the topic of running a car on water. While the Genepax car uses a conventional fuel cell, most of the "kits" available on the Internet introduce a bit of gas into the engine which is then combusted along with the liquid gasoline.

It is, of course, natural to feel a desire to buy into the hype promised by these systems. The truth, though, is that large fuel economy gains are highly unlikely. Popular Mechanics has decided to build themselves one of these systems for testing. The mag intends to install the finished product in an automobile and report back. We're keenly interested in their findings, though we're pretty sure we already know what will happen. Stay tuned.

[Source Popular Mechanics]

Nissan and Renault have already announced plans to start offering battery electric vehicles beginning in 2010 for fleet testing with retail availability a year or two later. However batteries aren't the only technology they are looking at for emissions-free running. Hydrogen fuel cells are also in the picture. Nissan has been testing fuel cell-powered versions of its X-Trail SUV for the past two years with examples leased to Japanese government agencies. Renault and Nissan are now jointly working on a fuel cell version of the Renault Grand Scenic compact MPV.

The Scenic ZEV H2 uses a Nissan-developed fuel cell stack, with high pressure hydrogen storage and lithium ion batteries for recapturing kinetic energy during regenerative braking. All the hardware is mounted under the floor of the vehicle, maintaining seating for five adults. Both the X-Trail and Scenic will be shown at a variety of green events around Europe this year.

[Source: Nissan]

Toyota published a post on their Open Road Blog today officially supporting statements by GM Vice President Larry Burns. At the recent National Hydrogen Association conference in Sacramento, Burns called on the energy industry to invest more in developing a national hydrogen fueling infrastructure. Burns declared that vehicle fuel cell technology works and manufacturers are ready to move forward with commercialization. Unfortunately, they can't really do that without the ability for customers to fuel their vehicles. While many have focused on the cost of building out a network of hydrogen stations, only a small fraction of the current number of gas stations are needed to support widespread use of hydrogen vehicles. There are 170,000 gas stations in the U.S. right now, but only 12,000 stations would be needed to have a station within two miles of 70 percent of the population. Toyota called out the fact that the oil industry earned $123 billion in profits in 2007 alone. Even an estimate of $24 billion - which is at the high end of projections - would be well within the means of the energy industry to pay for a hydrogen infrastructure and it would still leave them $100 billion to play with before they even count up this year's profits. No doubt hydrogen is not the total solution, but it is one part of it.

[Source: Toyota Open Road Blog]

GM isn't the only one ready for a lot of hydrogen fuel cell cars. Daimler chairman Dieter "Dr. Z" Zetsche believes that the technology for fuel cell vehicles is here today and that vehicles using the hydrogen-for-energy system will be available in five to eight years time. Zetsche also believes that hydrogen fuel cell vehicles will compare favorably with their competition, which we assume means other alternative powertrains like full-electrics and hybrids. One reason he cites as a fuel cell benefit over electric cars is range, suggesting that hydrogen electrics could travel 300 miles on a single tank of hydrogen. One unanswered question, though, is how far will pure electrics be able to go on a single charge in five to eight years time. Still, by refilling a hydrogen tank, the driver gets another 300 miles while it will likely take another full charge for the electric car. Zetsche recognizes that a potential problem area exists regarding the infrastructure that a hydrogen fueling system would require. We remain intrigued by the technology, but recognize that major advancements must be made before jumping on the fuel cell bandwagon. We also believe that other extended-range electric vehicle technologies will allow for many of the same benefits as hydrogen fuel cells.

[Source: Just-Auto (sub. req'd.)]

During a keynote speech at the National Hydrogen Association conference in Sacramento, CA, GM's VP for Research and Development declared automotive fuel cell technology ready. However he said it can't move forward without a supply of hydrogen to feed mass quantities of cars. Between General Motors, Daimler, Toyota, Honda and Ford, automakers have demonstrated that the technology works and is reliable. GM and Honda in particular are working aggressively to create fuel cell designs that can be mass produced at an affordable cost. The latest designs have improved efficiency, durability and greatly reduced requirements for catalyst materials.

At the conference, Burns is stepping up the call for the energy industry and government to start implementing a fuel distribution system. Previous analysis done by General Motors has concluded that supplying upwards of ninety-five percent of the population would only require 12,000 hydrogen stations nationwide. That compares to 170,000 gas stations currently in operation. That number of stations placed at roughly two mile intervals in all the populated areas and twenty-five miles apart on major highways would be sufficient to supply the nation with hydrogen for transportation. The estimated cost of that would $10-15 billion or about 1/3 of ExxonMobil's profits for one recent quarter. Without this investment, the U.S. will get left behind.

[Source: Hydrogen Forecast]

Any future version of the "hydrogen economy," if such a thing ever exists at all, will require massive amounts of technology which has either not yet been invented or needs much more refinement. If you are interested in knowing more about these upcoming technologies, including hydrogen-powered cars, maybe you should check out the 2008 Hydrogen Expo in Sacramento, California. The event started today and will continue through April first (Tuesday). Besides seeing exciting technology such as a fuel cell powered blender and a cybercafe running on fuel cell power, you might be able to drive one of fifteen available hydrogen powered cars. If you're in the area, this event may be worth checking out to see in person some of the cool concept vehicles that you read about on these very pages. Feel free to send us some pictures if you go.

[Source: 2008 Hydrogen Expo]

Click on the image to enlarge

Last Spring, when Suzuki and Intelligent Energy announced their partnership, we wondered out loud if fuel cell powered-motorcycles were in the offing. What we got was a very cool concept bike at the Tokyo Motor Show called the Suzuki Crosscage, which did in fact use IE's Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) technology. The bike was clearly just a concept, though.

News comes by way of IE today that they have furthered their partnership with Suzuki. Could we finally start to see bikes like IE's ENV on our roadways? "This is an important next step for our collaboration with Suzuki as we move from a very successful concept toward a range of commercially viable fuel cell motorcycles," said Phil Caldwell, director of business development at Intelligent Energy. With those words, we remain hopeful that this investment and collaboration bears water-emitting fruit in short order.

[Source: Intelligent Energy]

The National Research Council (NRC) has finished conducting research into the possibility of powering vehicles using hydrogen fuel cells and other alternatives. Despite mixed reviews, the report suggests that even without ready solutions to quite a number of major issues, taxpayer-funded research into hydrogen "is justified by its potentially enormous benefits to the nation."

Also in the report was a suggestion that too much money is being spent on reducing the cost of lightweight materials, and some of it "should be redistributed to areas of higher potential payoff." Interesting ... like what? Could be plug-in hybrids, which they suggest are not being researched with enough verve. Not surprisingly, the target date being thrown around for hydrogen cars (2020) is now seen as a bit unrealistic; the NRC sees 2030-2035 as a more likely possibility. The question that remains is whether we'll even need hydrogen fuel cells by then, what with battery technology potentially getting good and cheap enough. View the entire press release after the break.

[Source: NRC via Automotive News (sub. req'd)]

click photo to enlarge

Testing fuel cell vehicles is all the rage these days, and Mercedes isn't missing out on the action. The latest hydrogen vehicle tests from the three-pointed star company took place in wintery Sweden. Wouldn't want to coddle a car or anything.

Daimler recently took a B-Class hydrogen car using an optimized fuel-cell system based on the stack in the F 600 HYGENIUS from 2005 through its paces. According to the company, the vehicle worked well in some real world cold situations, was able to hold the road, and in general passed the tests "with flying colours." The road handling issue is extra important, Daimler says, because electric motors (in this case, powered by the fuel cell) don't govern speed the same way as traditional ICEs. Dr. Thomas Weber, Daimler AG board member with responsibility for Research and Development at Mercedes Benz Cars, said the tests showed the drive concept is on the right track. More tests will be done on the fuel cell B-Class in the coming months in preparation for small-series production in 2010. Read more from Daimler after the break