SlowHands
03-14-2009, 08:43 AM
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/European_Union_Flag.jpg BMW says its latest engine develops record efficiency on the test bench. (blog.wired.com/cars/2009/03/bmw-still-loves.html)
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/2007_BMW_760Li.jpgTony Borroz - Wired Autopia - March 13, 2009
Some good advances in the technology. -- Ed.
Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz and all the other celebrities driving Hydrogen 7 sedans can take heart because BMW still has their backs. The German automaker isn't giving up on hydrogen and says its latest hydrogen combustion engine matches the efficiency of the best turbodiesels.
What remains in question is whether hydrogen will arrive on scene fast enough to be of any good.
Hydrogen remains a long way from viability for several reasons, not the least of which is the relative lack of a distribution infrastructure. Some suggest it won't have any significant impact for 40 years or more. The major automakers have developed hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, but they've said little about them in recent months and shifted their attention to hybrids and battery electric vehicles.
But BMW, with Honda and its FCX Clarity fuel cell car, remains an industry leader in developing hydrogen technology and believes there is a place for it.
"In light of the limited availability of fossil fuels and the rising environmental impact from harmful emissions, we are convinced that the H2 combustion engine will assume an important position in the product portfolio of future alternative drive concepts," Dr. Raymond Freymann, managing director of BMW Research and Technology, said in a statement. "It will crucially contribute to safeguarding our individual mobility at the high level the customer expects."
The company's emphasis has been not on fuel cells but on internal combustion engines that burn liquefied hydrogen. BMW says its latest engine, developed with Hoerbiger, Graz University of Technology and HyCentA, develops record efficiency on the test bench...http://blog.wired.com/cars/2009/03/bmw-still-loves.html
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/2007_BMW_760Li.jpgTony Borroz - Wired Autopia - March 13, 2009
Some good advances in the technology. -- Ed.
Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz and all the other celebrities driving Hydrogen 7 sedans can take heart because BMW still has their backs. The German automaker isn't giving up on hydrogen and says its latest hydrogen combustion engine matches the efficiency of the best turbodiesels.
What remains in question is whether hydrogen will arrive on scene fast enough to be of any good.
Hydrogen remains a long way from viability for several reasons, not the least of which is the relative lack of a distribution infrastructure. Some suggest it won't have any significant impact for 40 years or more. The major automakers have developed hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, but they've said little about them in recent months and shifted their attention to hybrids and battery electric vehicles.
But BMW, with Honda and its FCX Clarity fuel cell car, remains an industry leader in developing hydrogen technology and believes there is a place for it.
"In light of the limited availability of fossil fuels and the rising environmental impact from harmful emissions, we are convinced that the H2 combustion engine will assume an important position in the product portfolio of future alternative drive concepts," Dr. Raymond Freymann, managing director of BMW Research and Technology, said in a statement. "It will crucially contribute to safeguarding our individual mobility at the high level the customer expects."
The company's emphasis has been not on fuel cells but on internal combustion engines that burn liquefied hydrogen. BMW says its latest engine, developed with Hoerbiger, Graz University of Technology and HyCentA, develops record efficiency on the test bench...http://blog.wired.com/cars/2009/03/bmw-still-loves.html