GM's HiWire

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10-20 years they say? Hope the price comes down by then. I bet the oil companies won't let it happen!
 
The biggest problem is the amount of energy it takes to turn water into Hydrogen (with an Oxygen byproduct). It's a LOT, an d that has to come from somewhere. So...Where? Coal? Nuke? Wind? Hydro? Solar? Something else?

That answer is probably Yes to all, but to drive a car like that is not as green as one might think at first. Still pretty cool though.
 
Yes, there are lots of details and issues to work on, but at least it's progress. That's what keeps me going. We need to test out these ideas and create new solutions. I really like the multiple bodies on a single chassis. We have a car and a pickup. But with the HyWire, one would just have a pickup and passenger car body to drop on the single chassis. That should reduce resource consumption and cost considerably.

Me, I'd like to see it run off the methane generated by my household waste. There are fuel cells being developed to do just that. And in many parts of the world there is easily enough solar energy to support local electrolysis to create hydrogen. Enough to run the house overnight when the sun isn't shining and charge up the car. Oh, and while they're at it, I hope GM figures out how to eliminate the tires. They are so 20th century.
 
GM has been carting this thing out at the Detroit Auto Show for the last few years but they still can't even make a real hybrid car. It's real easy to make a fancy looking concept, but quite another to put something on the road - and they haven't.
 
Hi -

I agree that public buying patterns are disgracefully short sighted.

Here is some information on GM hybrids:

http://www.gm.com/company/gmability/adv_tech/300_hybrids/fact_sheets.html

Granted it's truck-centric, but that is where the lion's share of the fuel is to be saved.

If shopping any GM lines from Saturn to Hummer feel free to drop me a line. I'll see what I can do in the way of discounts to board members. There's generally several K to be saved on top of all other incentives.

ATB,
Mike P
 
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