Smart creator announces fuel-cell car project
As you might or might not know Smart was founded by a joint venture created by DaimlerBenz and the Swiss brand of watches Swatch. One of the fathers of that idea (if not the main contributor), Nicholas Hayek, Swatch CEO, has now announced he is developing a new vehicle: a fuel-cell car."I want to do whatever I can to accelerate the development of alternative and renewable technologies", Hayek said in an article which appeared in French magazine L'AutoHebdo. "Switzerland is going very slowly on this path, as the rest of the world."
The Swiss patron expects collaboration from Swiss Group E and Villingen's Paul Scherrer Institute to develop the engine. They estimate their investment in about 15 to 21 million dollars and the resulting vehicle will be sold for under 60,000 EUR in 2010.
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[Source: Auto Hebdo via Yahoo News Spain]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Joseph 11:45PM (8/25/2007)
What a silly little man...Can you honestly even fit a fuel cell system in a Smart?
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A.Brien 8:18PM (8/25/2007)
Im sure they can do it for half that money..
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Scott 9:03PM (8/25/2007)
Actually, He had very little to do with the genesis of the SMART. He got dumped by VW and was searching for a partner to continue his ideas.
Mercedes had by then already developed, in California, the MCC vehicles which became the Smart Car.
He stepped in at the end but had the name and brand. SMART = swatch Mercedes ART.
So, good luck with the fuel cell vehicle.
Scott
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Kardax 12:09AM (8/26/2007)
Besides, 60,000 euros is an awful lot of money for any car, well outside mainstream range, and then there's the cost of the hydrogen fuel itself, which no one is ever willing to even talk about...
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rgseidl 7:26AM (8/26/2007)
Repeat after me: hydrogen does not promote renewable energy sources. It could in theory but it won't in practice.
The staggering cost of fuel cells, on-board storage and a new distribution infrastructure means the hydrogen must be produced as cheaply as possible. That means steam reforming natural gas and/or electrolysis based on nuclear power. Hydrogen-powered vehicles are a dead end. The only ones really interested in it are natural gas giants and the nuclear lobby.
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TX CHL Instructor 10:36AM (8/26/2007)
Using hydrogen to power a car is definitely not "smart".
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