Mazda delivers Norwegian-spec RX-8 Hydrogen RE
Mazda Hydrogen RX-8 - Click for a high res gallery
The first (of 30) Mazda Hydrogen RX-8 RE made its way to Norway last October, but that vehicle was simply imported from Japan. The first Norwegian-spec RX-8 Hydrogen RE was delivered to the Norwegian government this week. What's the difference? Well, left-hand-drive for one, and the European model also has a manual transmission.
The car will participate in the official national hydrogen project, HyNor, and will be paraded for the media during the official opening of the refueling stations on May 11. It's not all government test programs that Mazda's interested in the northern European country: RX-8 Hydrogen RE leases will start in Norway this summer. More details after the jump.
[Source: Mazda]
PRESS RELEASE:
Mazda Builds First RX-8 Hydrogen RE for Norway
HIROSHIMA, Japan-Mazda Motor Corporation today announced that it has built the first Mazda RX-8 Hydrogen RE vehicle with Norwegian specifications, developed specifically for participation in HyNor, Norway's national hydrogen project. The first unit will take part in ceremonies marking the official opening of HyNor's hydrogen filling stations. The initial opening ceremony will be held in Oslo on May 11, 2009. The RX-8 Hydrogen RE will then undergo certification to meet local standards and will be used for maintenance staff training. Mazda plans to commence leasing of Norwegian specification RX-8 Hydrogen RE models in Norway in summer 2009.
Unlike the RX-8 Hydrogen RE currently being leased in Japan, the HyNor-specification Mazda RX-8 Hydrogen RE is based on the latest European-specification Mazda RX-8 with left-hand drive and a manual transmission.
The HyNor project aims to enable hydrogen vehicles to travel along a 580-kilometer stretch of highway by establishing a chain of hydrogen stations between Stavanger and Oslo in Norway. Mazda agreed to collaborate with HyNor on the project in November 2007 and began validation of the RX-8 Hydrogen RE's driving performance on Norwegian public roads in October 2008.
History of Mazda's hydrogen vehicle development
1991 Developed first hydrogen rotary engine vehicle, HR-X
1992 Conducted test drive of golf cart equipped with fuel cell
1993 Developed second hydrogen rotary engine vehicle, HR-X2
Developed MX-5 test vehicle equipped with hydrogen rotary engine
1995 Conducted Japan's first public road tests of a hydrogen rotary engine vehicle, Capella Cargo
1997 Developed Demio FC-EV
2001 Developed Premacy FC-EV, conducted first public road test in Japan
2003 Announced RX-8 Hydrogen RE prototype
2004 Received MLIT approval for public road testing of RX-8 Hydrogen RE
2006 Started commercial leasing of RX-8 Hydrogen RE in Japan (eight models have been delivered to date)
2007 Signed agreement to provide RX-8 Hydrogen REs to Hynor, a Norwegian national project
2008 Commenced public road tests in Norway with RX-8 Hydrogen RE validation vehicle
2009 Commenced commercial leasing of Premacy Hydrogen RE Hybrid in Japan
Produced the first Mazda RX-8 Hydrogen RE with Norwegian specifications
For more information on Mazda's hydrogen rotary engine vehicles, please visit:
http://www.mazda.com/mazdaspirit/env/
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
jharlan 9:40AM (4/24/2009)
What's the cost per unit? Come on now, why didn't they put that in the release?
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Carney 12:14PM (4/24/2009)
Exactly.
Carney 12:15PM (4/24/2009)
The definitive final word on hydrogen as a vehicle fuel, from a former NASA rocket scientist and nuclear engineer:
http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/the-hydrogen-hoax
Reply
Cellien 12:21PM (4/24/2009)
Hydrogen RX-8? I'd buy one.
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jake 1:14PM (4/24/2009)
I wonder what the power output is though. The rotaries already have weak power output for the efficiency you get. Other hydrogen ICEs like the one in BMW's 7 is also extremely weak for the given displacement & cylinder count. It might be very low in power.
Cellien 1:32PM (4/24/2009)
You're probably right... I guess I just got over-excited over nothing. :P
Chris M 5:27PM (4/24/2009)
Going to the Mazda website and reading the details is revealing. The vehicle is dual fuel, able to run on H2 or gasoline, but the maximum power in H2 mode is only 80 Kw (108 hp) vs 154 Kw (208 hp) in gasoline mode, and maximum H2 torque is only 140 Nm vs 222 Nm for gasoline torque.
In other words, the H2 mode looses a lot of "zoom zoom".
Range is also revealing, 1 tank of H2 gets only 100 Km (62 miles), but 1 tank of gasoline gets 549 Km (341 miles). Hmmm, methinks it will end up doing most of its driving on gasoline, with the H2 used just for show.
contact 3:34PM (4/24/2009)
The hydrogen RX8 reportedly gets 180-190hp and a range of about 60 miles. The big news with this car isn't that it works. It's HOW it works with so little modified. The only 2 things they changed is the storage tank mounted in the trunk and an additional fuel injector to the engine for the N2. Everything else is 100% generic RX8. The rotary engine takes to hydrogen like a champ.
Having said that, I love mazda and hydrogen is a waste of time and resources.
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gorr 2:13PM (4/24/2009)
We all know through this site that all hydrogen fuelcells cars or ice or rotary hydrogen cars works good without pollution or range problems or refueling times problems or power problems and costs problems like battery cars. The main thing now for hydrogen is to know how much a kilo of hydrogen made on-site with water cost at the pump. I estimate cost to be 10 cents a kilo( one gallon equivalent ). If they sell it 30 cents/kilo, then the profit margin is 66%, so it's profitable. The fcx clarity from honda do 70 mpg, so 30 cents per 70 miles without pollution and almost no wearing on the drivetrain.
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GoodCheer 4:22PM (4/24/2009)
Gorr: I've already given you these numbers once, but you don't seem to want to hear them.
Depending on your sources, the energy input into generating hydrogen is then between 57-133 kWh/kg.
-Average retail price of electricity in the US is about $0.11/kWh, so to electrolyze 1 kg of H2 at home would cost you $6.28 - $14.66 /kg.
-Average busbar cost of electricity (i.e. at the generator) for baseload plants is about $0.04/kWh, so for them to make hydrogen would cost $2.28 - $5.32 / kg.
These values do not include the cost of compression or transportation.
As a comparison, my university operates a hydrogen fuel cell bus. They buy hydrogen for ~$20/kg. I assume the hydrogen they buy is made by NG reformation, which is much less expensive then electrolysis, so I may be missing some very important elements to the cost in the raw production prices above.
Chris M 5:36PM (4/24/2009)
Gorr, please check out the details from the Mazda website, here:
http://www.mazda.com/mazdaspirit/env/hybrid/rx8_hre2.html
Scroll down, and you'll see that both power and torque are greatly reduced when running on hydrogen. In fact, power and performance are almost cut in half!
By the way, current retail prices for H2 are $8 to $10 per Kg, your cost estimates are based on wishful thinking and are not realistic.
gorr 9:30PM (4/24/2009)
There is few hydrogen ice engines currently in experimentation. As i know no ice engines have been made specifically for gazeous hydrogen operation. Im sure that they can made ice engines adapted to hydrogen burning caracteristics. All the current hydrogen ices have been made for gasoline and they experimented hydrogen in current gasoline ice engines. If they make a 2 strokes gazeous hydrogen ice with turbo and hydrogen injection direct in the cylinder with water mist, then they can reach a power output with good drivability of 4 000 h.p approx.