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Fuel-Cell Car Racing Series Aims To Spur Green Motoring
Anonymous Cow writes "The world's first international fuel-cell powered motor racing series kicked off in Rotterdam over the weekend. The organisers hope that 'Formula Zero,' like Formula 1, can become a forum for competing technology as much as anything else, helping green consumer cars to become better."
or until they actually drive a electric sports car. I think they'll change their minds then :)
I'm not sure the ipod will ever catch on. No wireless, less storage than a nomad - lame.
While I'm at it, I'm sure that man will never fly. That's the realm of angels and birds.
Oh, hold on, you mean those bicycle mechanics were actually on to something?
It's odd that on a place like Slashdot, it's seen as cool to by cynical, and cynical is seen as non-critically putting down anything that hasn't been out and about for 5+ years. Who would have thought 10 years ago that Formula 1 would be leading the way in development of mechanical (flywheel) hybrid powertrain systems?
Is crushing a suspect's child's testicles illegal?
John Yoo: "No, [if] the President thinks he needs to do that."
Don't get me wrong: most hobbies, including mine, are a waste of energy. Rather, I / someone gets enjoyment in return for the energy expenditure...but in the end, little / no actual work is done.
Even if a NASCAR race can be done with 1 gallon of gas...in the end, 1 gallon is gone, and all the cars are where they started.
THL phish sticks
We all know the BS about ethanol and how it takes more energy (all oil) to just to grow the corn than you get from burning it and that doesn't even include the distillation and shipping costs!
Whoa, troll? Didn't see that one coming! It was meant to be a serious point - uncritically destroying every new technology is no better than hand waving beliefs in "technology will solve all our problems."
The first flight was hardly in a useful plane, yet 15 years of development later, we had large, multi passenger transport planes. Just a point.
Is crushing a suspect's child's testicles illegal?
John Yoo: "No, [if] the President thinks he needs to do that."
Very true. It's been said that a Prius is delivered with the carbon-emissions equivalent of 20,000 miles already on the clock, due the the extremely high technology and manufacturing costs.
Assuming it uses 2/3 of the fuel, this 'debt' is only paid off once 40k miles are on the clock. And at 50-60k, you'll need to replace the batteries, at a cost of around $10,000 (and who knows how many carbon-miles that's equivalent to).
So yes, the Prius isn't the green saviour people maybe think it is. But it is being taken seriously, selling in large numbers and helping to mature the technology to a point where it can be more useful.
And there are other technologies on the horizon (from the minimal manufacturing costs and fully recyclable mechanical flywheel systems to the fuel cells mentioned in the summary) which may have much more scope for genuinely reducing the lifecycle emissions of vehicles.
Is crushing a suspect's child's testicles illegal?
John Yoo: "No, [if] the President thinks he needs to do that."
Did I say that fuel cell was a dead technology that won't go anywhere?
No. Quite the contrary - I think it is a very promising technology that has great potential.
However, the GP I was replying to said that maybe this will help the "image" of alternatively-fueled vehicles. And frankly, a bunch of tiny go-karts doesn't have much hope of beefing-up the wimpy image of the Insight, Prius, etc.
I think you do not deserve your 'insightful' one bit. Development platforms for a new technology do not have to be related in shape or function to the end product.
The length of the road on which they function has nothing to do with the length that they could be going to on real roads.
These are just abstractions, and in fact simplify the development process considerably. Think about how much more costly this would be if all these experimental vehicles had to conform to regular road standards and had to take a full complement of passengers.
MP3 Search Engine
...would the gallon of gas have to reach before you'd reconsider something other than that? $10 a gallon, $15? And how about rationing (which I remember occurring before), if it ever got that that, say you could only get a few gallons a week due to some expanded mideast war disrupting huge amounts of the global supply? The reason I ask is I see this sort of sentiment a lot, the 500 mile range drawback, but I am wondering how often people actually drive that sort of distance on a regular basis, say at least once a week or so. My point is, for regular around town and commuting, I don't think you (a very general "anyone you") need that sort of range, and for the odd trip, there are always rentals.
Granted, this is a step in the right direction. I'm all for anything green and this will a good initiative. Having said that, when you talk about racing, you'd expect to see cars and not go-karts. That's what gets the adrenalin pumping in men and replaces their shriveled you-know-what's. Men in little go-karts racing around in a bumper track is not going to get people excited about practical fuel cell technology.
Help a man when he is in trouble and he will remember you when he is in trouble again.
cars that look like the prius don't help this.
So if people can see electric cars with real performance that would even surpass the petrol counterpart it should make people more likely to change.
Just a tought, but maybe the major car makers WANT this? It seems to me that they produce ugly,slow cars that won't appeal to the masses with a reason. After all, electric cars need much, MUCH less maintenance and spare parts than a petrol car ... Lets hope the smaller manufacturers see the gap in the market.
Yes, I'm left. You have a problem with that?
I didn't mod you, but I'd have said it was your delivery. Being a jackass doesn't win you positive karma, regardless of you message.
Don't believe me? Did being called a jackass get you a little riled up? Did you miss the rest of the message on your first read?
Yeah, cause the Prius' looks are clearly stopping every single one from being sold the day it comes into the dealer. Clearly, the Prius looks longingly at the turnaround time for truck inventory.
Not a typewriter
Actually, that's one of the reasons that it has sold so well. The distinctively "ugly" look of the car shouts I care about the environment, and that's what the hybrid buyers are really after. It's all about the smug sense of self satisfaction that can only be achieved by letting everyone else know how smart and forward thinking you are.
You don't make the poor richer by making the rich poorer. - Winston Churchill