Article Comments - 2008 Chevrolet Equinox FCEV First Drive

6 messages, Last post on Aug 14, 2008 at 5:37 PM

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What is this discussion about? Chevrolet Equinox, Alternative Fuels, Hybrid Cars, SUV

First Drive: 2008 Chevrolet Equinox FCEV - First Impressions: Drives like its gas-fueled cousins, but with double the fuel economy — if you can find the fuel. (more)

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#3 of 6 save gasoline? by kafuka2002 Jun 10, 2008 (8:42 pm)
There's also the question of fuel, of course. More than 40 billion kilograms of hydrogen are produced each year, enough to fuel 130 million fuel-cell vehicles annually, GM tells us. But turning it into a liquid is a tremendously energy-intensive process. In the near term, the cost of producing hydrogen will be as much as $3 per gallon. And it will take an investment of $10-15 billion to create a refueling infrastructure that would create refueling stations within two miles of everyone in the top 100 metropolitan areas in the U.S. but nowdays the fuel-cell electric vehicle is ready, it's all a matter of filling the tank. Replies to this message: gagrice (Jun 19, 2008 11:46 am) morey000 (Jul 20, 2008 3:23 pm) stevedebi (Aug 14, 2008 5:37 pm)
#4 of 6 Re: save gasoline? [kafuka2002] by gagrice Jun 19, 2008 (11:46 am)
Replying to: kafuka2002 (Jun 10, 2008 8:42 pm) GM does not mention that a big share of that hydrogen is used in fertilizer to grow corn to make ethanol to fill the tanks of their FFVs. Another slight problem if you really wanted one of these fuel cell rigs is COST. GM first showed us a prototype of the Chevrolet Equinox FCEV back in 2006, and in fact the vehicle in the text program is actually a 2007-specification Equinox. This is pretty much a hand-built, million-dollar vehicle, even though it looks standard.
#5 of 6 Re: save gasoline? [kafuka2002] by morey000 Jul 20, 2008 (3:23 pm)
Replying to: kafuka2002 (Jun 10, 2008 8:42 pm) excellent info, that I've heard before. "In the near term, the cost of producing hydrogen will be as much as $3 per gallon. And it will take an investment of $10-15 billion to create a refueling infrastructure that would create refueling stations within two miles of everyone in the top 100 metropolitan areas in the U.S. " Golly- you mean for the cost of 1 month in Iraq, the US could install an infrastructure such that we wouldn't need to import oil from the middle east? I don't mean to be political here- but doesn't this indicate that our energy and foreign policy is just a bit short-sighted? Replies to this message: stevedebi (Aug 14, 2008 5:37 pm)
#6 of 6 Re: save gasoline? [morey000] by stevedebi Aug 14, 2008 (5:37 pm)
Replying to: morey000 (Jul 20, 2008 3:23 pm) " I don't mean to be political here- but doesn't this indicate that our energy and foreign policy is just a bit short-sighted? " What happens to people not in those 100 metropolitan areas? In any case, the technology is not ready yet. Current fuel cell cars go less than 200 miles on a tank. This tech will take another 10 years or so to be usable for the American driver. When the technology is ready, companies will install the refueling stations, driven by free-market forces. After all, the government did not build the existing gasoline stations... But since you were being political, no, the money would not be used to establish an infrastructure - it would be wasted by politicians on some dumb program or another.