Alt Car Expo: Feed 400 horsepower with hydrogen, and maybe a cover model will ride along
A vocal segment of the environmental movement continues to advocate the merits of hydrogen. One of the more effective showcases for hydrogen is Angels Nest, a completely sustainable living compound in New Mexico. Think of a green Disneyland for environmentalists: harvesting their own water, growing their food and generating their power with solar and wind. Included at Angels Nest is a free-range organic hydrogen refueling station, which is used to fill up a stretched Hummer limo that also runs on veggie oil.
So what's this opening photo and intro got to do with the Alt Car Expo? Just as I was leaving I spotted a crowd around a Canary Yellow Chevy SSR truck. With a massive 6-liter V8 engine pumping out 400 horsepower, I was puzzled by the connection to the show. That's when Hydro Gene Johnson, editor of H2Nation magazine filled me in that the founders of Angels Nest, actress and model Victoria Peters (shown above) and Robert Plarr, were at the show with friends looking over another hydrogen conversion from H2 Motor Works.
More info and photos after the break.
Sure enough, in the SSR's bed was a 5,000psi tank. H2 Motor Works engineer Judd Boyer didn't want to reveal too much about the conversion. The company's goal is to get a conversion kit certified by California Air Resources Board. Running hydrogen can increase NOx levels, so the keys are matching the correct hardware with two stand-alone, properly calibrated computer controls.
The truck's range just on hydrogen is only 50 miles. Projected cost of the conversion is $15,000, so early adopters and fleets are the likely customers in the beginning. But with some 27 hydrogen refueling stations expected to open in California soon, the conversion may be more appealing to mainstream consumers.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
CM 7:35PM (12/12/2006)
And I thought the BMW "Hydrogen 7" was bad, these folks managed to do even worse! Starting with an overpowered poor milage vehicle, then fueling it with expensive hydrogen fuel and getting a pathetic 50 mile range. No doubt, wasting expensive solar electric power to produce that "clean hydrogen" too.
Then there is the Hummer Limo wasting limited bio-diesel and producing lots of pollution.
Sounds like "angels nest" is filled with spoiled rich yuppies going for the "eco chic" lifestyle, without actually doing much for the environment.
Can somebody please provide these fools with a smidgen of wisdom and intelligence?
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Tim 10:41AM (12/13/2006)
Hydrogen Economy is a stall and a ruse!!! It’s a red haring. Hydrogen is a terribly inefficient and dangerous way to store, transport and consume energy! The energy monopolies know this. They simply want to stall as long as they can and then exchange our Petroleum Addiction for a Hydrogen Addiction! The only real benefit over Electricity or Bio-Diesel (series PHEV) is to the energy cartels. They know we can't easily produce it locally like Bio-Diesel or even at home like PV Solar Electricity. Hopefully, the internet will not allow them to fool us twice. http://internalcombustionbook.com
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