Toyota shows off Zero Emission Hydrogen Powered Car - Polidicks

[url]http://www.businessinsider.com/toyota-is-launching-a-futuristic-hydrogen-powered-car-next-year-2014-1[/url] [quote]Toyota said Monday it plans to launch a fuel-cell car in the United States next year, declaring the hydrogen vehicle with zero emissions "the car of the future." Toyota Motor Sales vice president Bob Carter said the initial market will be California, together with an initiative to establish hydrogen refueling stations in key regions of the state. "In 2015, we will bring this car to market," Carter said in the announcement at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The vehicle, yet to be named, would be a "zero-emission, electric-drive, mid-size, four-door sedan." "Functionally, this is a regular car," he added. The streamlined design is to maximize oxygen intake for the fuel-cell process. It will be able to travel 300 miles (480 kilometers) on a single fueling, which would take three to five minutes. [/quote] [img]http://images.thecarconnection.com/lrg/toyota-fcv-concept-2013-tokyo-motor-show_100447151_l.jpg[/img] [img]http://images.thecarconnection.com/lrg/toyota-fcv-concept-2013-tokyo-motor-show_100446785_l.jpg[/img]

What is it with these alternative fuel vehicles being so damn ugly? Seriously, this concept has no continuous flowing lines at all. That being said, I'm happy hydrogen fuel cells are finally starting to happen.

eh, the design is not too terrible, it is better than the prius

I like the look of it

The sides look nice, but the raised hood looks atrocious to me, as well as those massive triangular air-intakes at the front. They seem so bulky on what's otherwise a sleek design.

I kinda like the looks. Though the real question is how will it cost and would it save the buy money?

The wheels look sick but IMO it would look nicer without the raised hood

It's going to be out of the average persons price range.

I'm not too much into cars, but I think this looks beautiful.

I hope this costs less than current BEVs, I drove the Chevy Volt and it's not a $40,000 car. Neither is this.

[QUOTE=DaCommie1;43451076]I hope this costs less than current BEVs, I drove the Chevy Volt and it's not a $40,000 car. Neither is this.[/QUOTE] If they're trying to compete with Honda, they'll need to beat the Clarity's estimated 21 grand.

[QUOTE=Jewish Paladin;43450834] That being said, I'm happy hydrogen fuel cells are finally starting to happen.[/QUOTE] I'm a bit disappointed they're still trying to put the fuel cell in the car rather than run an existing gasoline engine off H2(They do it happily) and put the fuel cell in the gas station instead.

[QUOTE=TestECull;43451161]I'm a bit disappointed they're still trying to put the fuel cell in the car rather than run an existing gasoline engine off H2(They do it happily) and put the fuel cell in the gas station instead.[/QUOTE] Running an engine off of Hydrogen is stupid inefficient though. Especially compared to HFC.

[quote][t]http://images.thecarconnection.com/lrg/toyota-fcv-concept-2013-tokyo-motor-show_100447151_l.jpg[/t][/quote] looks like it was designed by Saturn

The wheels look terrible small. Some parts look okay, but all together it looks pretty bad.

I'm probably going to sound stupid asking this, as I am uneducated on the subject, but wouldn't a hydrogen car be pretty nasty in a bad accident? I can only imagine all that compressed hydrogen looking for a quick if not explosive escape if the fuel tank is ruptured.

[QUOTE=StupidUsername67;43451378]I'm probably going to sound stupid asking this, as I am uneducated on the subject, but wouldn't a hydrogen car be pretty nasty in a bad accident? I can only imagine all that compressed hydrogen looking for a quick if not explosive escape if the fuel tank is ruptured.[/QUOTE] A ruptured fuel tank in a gasoline powered car isn't exactly sunshine and rainbows either. The best solution is to strengthen them as much as possible.

[QUOTE=SweetSwifter;43450872]The sides look nice, but the raised hood looks atrocious to me, as well as those massive triangular air-intakes at the front. They seem so bulky on what's otherwise a sleek design.[/QUOTE] As far as I can tell, they have to be, to try and ram as much air (i.e oxygen) into the front as possible for the fuel cell.

[QUOTE=l337k1ll4;43451401]A ruptured fuel tank in a gasoline powered car isn't exactly sunshine and rainbows either. The best solution is to strengthen them as much as possible.[/QUOTE] this is true, but hydrogen has to be compressed under really high pressure, whereas gas is under close to none. not saying I don't support alternative fuels. I just don't see how any other alternative is better than battery powered.

[QUOTE=StupidUsername67;43451436]this is true, but hydrogen has to be compressed under really high pressure, whereas gas is under close to none. not saying I don't support alternative fuels. I just don't see how any other alternative is better than battery powered.[/QUOTE] Because the problem with batteries is that they basically destroy the modern way of life. Our entire lives nowadays are built on being able to get into our car and drive it until we can't drive it anymore and then when that happens we can just stop and get more fuel, you can't do that with batteries because it takes hours to charge them and they still don't last as long as a tank of gas. Not to mention batteries are expensive and environmentally unfriendly to produce. That's the advantage of HFC is that it still produces zero emissions and yet allows us to not change how we live in any way to adapt to it. It's functionally identical to gasoline as far as how the average person uses it. You drive until the tank is empty, then when it is you stop off at a hydrogen pump and fill it back up.

Don't forget that the front of the car is designed as such to maximize oxygen intake.

[QUOTE=TestECull;43451161]I'm a bit disappointed they're still trying to put the fuel cell in the car rather than run an existing gasoline engine off H2(They do it happily) and put the fuel cell in the gas station instead.[/QUOTE] Cool, how do you intend to actually house the Hydrogen in the car, because that's why we haven't done that yet. If you could actually solve the issue, you'd be a billionaire.

Doesn't hydrogen take a lot of energy to produce? If so I hope that energy comes from something renewable ;) You'd be surprised how little these "green cars" actually help the environment. The creation/disposal of electric and hybrid batteries is worse for the environment than a small gasoline car/motorcycle.

[QUOTE=l337k1ll4;43451401]A ruptured fuel tank in a gasoline powered car isn't exactly sunshine and rainbows either. The best solution is to strengthen them as much as possible.[/QUOTE] This doesn't really answer his question at all. A ruptured petrol fuel tank would in most cases still be safer than a ruptured hydrogen tank. A ruptured petrol tank does not mean the car explodes, they are getting safer and safer and after the Mercedes W116 was the first car to put the fuel tank above the rear axle, instead of behind the rear bumper, you take away many dangers (there's still obviously a risk of explosion). They are also not under any noticeable pressure. If a hydrogen tank explodes, then the huge pressure will try to escape causing it to violently explode. Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see how these alternatives work in the future.

Ugly car, the ass end of the car ruins it.

[QUOTE=StupidUsername67;43451378]I'm probably going to sound stupid asking this, as I am uneducated on the subject, but wouldn't a hydrogen car be pretty nasty in a bad accident? I can only imagine all that compressed hydrogen looking for a quick if not explosive escape if the fuel tank is ruptured.[/QUOTE] if the wrong thing happens to it things may go bad, yes, but the same can be said for any vehicle. Safety procedures will clearly be tested out the ass before going into production, including standard crash tests and situational testing to ensure the engine can withstand uncommon situations to a degree. How it will react to uncommon breaches would be an issue, yes, and if it proves to be explosive in every other crash somebody will probably figure out a way to fix the flaw that allows it. If not, back to the drawing board The nastiest thing that can happen though is when a statistically minute number of them gets into just the wrong situation (for instance, [url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2013/12/131206-tesla-car-fire-probe/]a tesla or three getting their battery pierced[/url] or whatever) and [i]the news[/i] catches fire and everybody decides to report on hydrogen cars being rolling hindenburg-flavored missiles funded by Obama's death panels. Major news corps will find every reason to generate unrest about alternative energies, and not only because they may be sponsored by big oil. It'd clearly be a hot topic and generate a shitton of attention, generating revenue from advertisers

it looks like a beached whale