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irgendwie rasselt´s heute Meldungen: Ich nix versteh´n gut english. Aber vielleicht können einer überdeutschen?: Honda To Test Fuel Cell Powered Car In US In November Thursday, September 28, 2000 04:33 AM TOKYO (Dow Jones)--Honda Motor Corp. (HMC, news, msgs or 7267) unveiled Thursday a third-generation fuel cell powered vehicle, which it plans to test on public roads in California, U.S., at the beginning of Nov. 2000. Honda first showed its fuel cell powered prototype vehicle, the four-door FCX, to the public in Sept. 1999, and plans to begin selling fuel cell powered cars by 2003. The fuel cell propelled car has been touted as the most promising new technology ultimately to replace the internal combustion engine in automobiles. Fuel cells generate power by electro-chemically combining oxygen from the atmosphere with hydrogen from a fuel source, methanol spirit. The resulting emissions are heat and water. Honda`s fuel cell car, known as the FCX-V3, will be one of many models tested by the California Fuel-Cell Partnership. The CFCP is comprised of fuel-cell developers, oil companies, the state of California and automakers, including DaimlerChrysler AG (DCX, news, msgs), Ford Motor Corp. (F, news, msgs), Nissan Motor Co. (NSANY, news, msgs or 7201), Hyundai Motor Co. (Q.HMC, news, msgs) and Volkswagen AG (G.VOW, news, msgs). So far, no single car manufacturer has succeeded in developing a fuel-cell car for mass-production. Honda`s FCX-V3 is more powerful, quieter and roomier than its predecessor, and represents a technological leap for the automaker, since it "more closely resembles a real car," said Tomohiko Kawanabe, a Honda director working on the fuel-cell project. At 1,750 kilograms (3,850 pounds), the FCX-V3 weighs around 25% less than the previous model, takes 10 seconds to start, five minutes to refuel and can reach speeds of 130 kilometers per hour (80 miles per hour). That`s a marked improvement over the second-generation version, which took 10 minutes to start and 20 minutes to refuel. It can also travel a maximum 180 kilometers (110 miles) without stopping to refuel. That is considerably reduced, however, when driving uphill, in stop-and-go city conditions, or when the air conditioner is on, Kawanabe said. Honda`s biggest achievement has been to reduce the size of the fuel cell, which in the second-generation model occupied the entire back seat. That has made space for four passengers, from two, though the bulky hydrogen-fuel tank still takes up too much space to allow for a trunk. But that is in large part because Honda`s prototype uses a fuel cell developed by Ballard Power Systems (T.BLD, news, msgs) - the industry leader that is part-owned by DaimlerChrysler and Ford - rather than one developed in-house. A smaller propulsion system and the use of technology that converts kinetic energy absorbed by the brakes into a supplemental power source are also key features of the new model. Despite the advances, analysts say several factors stand in the way of a commercialized fuel-cell car. Carmakers aren`t likely to market fuel-cell cars until production costs can be kept low and the technology can be applied to a variety of models. And since fuel-cells can only carry cars over limited distances, drivers must remain where hydrogen-fuel stations exist. Honda`s Kawanabe conceded the FCX-V3 has limitations. He said the car can`t run in frigid temperatures and consumers probably aren`t ready to pay the "tens of millions of yen" the new cars would cost, if they were available now. The company is also working on other models that uses methanol or a gasoline-fuel-cell combination, and is moving ahead with research on a prototype that runs on a Honda-developed fuel cell. Yet, even with fuel cells still several years away from commercialization, Honda has managed to burnish its "green" image in other ways. In May, the automaker said it will start selling a low-emissions, gasoline-electric hybrid Civic subcompact in Japan next year, and later in the U.S. It will be the automaker`s second mass-marketed hybrid vehicle, and should bolster the case for fuel-efficient hybrid cars while the company works out the kinks of its fuel-cell propulsion system. -By Kenji Hall, Dow Jones Newswires; 813-5255-2929; kenji.hall@dowjones.com Quote for referenced ticker symbols: HMC © 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved http://quicken.aol.com/investments/news/story/djbn/?story=/n… |
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| aus der Diskussion: | Ballard Power - Realistische Zukunftsperspektiven Nr. 4 |
| Autor (Datum des Eintrages): | chrashi (28.09.00 16:18:13) |
| Beitrag: | 136 von 407 (ID:1946519) |
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