Automotive Guruz

According to environmental protection agency, Hybrid electric vehicles are known to be the most fuel-efficient automobiles. By combining internal ignition engine with electric drive system, it can significantly improve fuel economy. A hydrogen-fuelled hybrid vehicle, assembled on this basis, forms an ideal association to the future.

The hybrid vehicle customized by ECD Ovonics Inc. has a driving range of 200 miles. It requires about 8 minutes for refuelling. The company has installed a proprietary Ovonics solid hydrogen storage system, developed by Ovonics hydrogen systems LLC, in the hybrid vehicle. This vehicle will also improve the consumer understanding of hydrogen protection.

The major components of the Ovonics system are two light weight metal hydride fibre wrapped vessels with an internal volume of 66 litres that is able to store 3.5 kg of hydrogen. An integrated heat exchange system is also present. Heat is dispersed from the hydrogen storage tank during refuelling by connecting an off vehicle coolant supply system. The heat from the cooling system of the engine runs to the hydrogen storage tank to assist in release of hydrogen fuel. Some modifications were also made such as removing the original gasoline tank, fuel lines and catalytic converter. Placing the new hydrogen fuel storage system, where the gasoline tank was placed, installation of an exhaust air fuel ratio sensor and a computer that controls the new fuel injectors are few modifications. A turbo charger is also installed.

The establishment of Hybrid Cars with an Ovonics metal hydride hydrogen storage system reveals brilliant latent for meeting fuel cost and driving range targets. The ECD Ovonics began its efforts to perfect metal hydride technology several years ago. The company has formed a leading patent in this field.

There are several advantages of metal hydride systems in powering hydrogen fuelled vehicles over other classifications. Firstly, the storage density is higher than other high pressure gaseous systems. The technology used to store hydrogen within metal hydrides is refined several times with least amount of performance deprivation. The metal hydride system can be adapted for a variety of mobile tanks and also used for large range system for filling station storage.

Mazda has followed the hydrogen hybrid concept. It uses rotary engine, which will run on hydrogen just like BMW. There is also an electric motor that is powered by lithium-ion batteries, and it increases the power of hydrogen by 40 percent. In the hybrid of today, operating the electric motor in reverse turns it into a generator and revitalizes the batteries. Just like the Honda civic hybrids, Mazda system is almost the same; it means operating or running under electric power alone is quiet impossible.

Mazda is said to be following a green way of prevailing over the lower power production, associated with hydrogen. It also makes sure that no injurious emissions are produced from the exhaust.

A hydrogen hybrid bus was introduced, which used to carry people around during the winter Olympics in Vancouver. This bus does not release pollution. Using electric drive, it goes 30 miles. It has 400% better gas mileage than typical diesel buses.

There was a time when gas guzzling cars with their big fat engines, were the charm of the road. But that era is phasing out very rapidly now. People and their governments have been forced to take notice of the environmental pollution that is being caused by the increasing number of cars. But it’s very difficult to limit the production of cars being built and sold, as the demand is higher than ever. However, we can surely increase the proportion of new fuel-efficient cars. These cars not only travel more with less fuel but also cause less pollution by burning the fuel in a cleaner, more efficient manner.

Fuel-efficient cars can be categorized into various types according to the technology they use to burn lesser fuel and include battery electric cars, hydrogen fuel cell cars, biodiesel cars, ethanol cars and even natural gas cars. Read below for a brief synopsis of each kind of new energy efficient cars:

Battery-electric cars: These cars don’t use any fuel at all. Once the battery pack in the car is charged from a normal electric port - they can do a limited number of miles. These cars are very light, small, relatively slow, but excellent for personal use in city and town conditions. Some governments are even offering tax benefits for people driving such cars. Although not very popular as of now, these cars have a lot of potential for the future. The main reason for many people disliking the car is their plastic feel and the lack of speed on open roads and the highways.

Hydrogen-fuel cell cars: These cars are powered by hydrogen fuel cells which generate electricity by combining hydrogen and oxygen. This combination leads to the formation of water which is discarded from the car. The electricity that is produced in the process is stored in batteries and is then used for powering the car. The benefit of this car is that even though it uses some kind of fuel for powering the car, it does not lead to any pollution. As hydrogen quantity is found in the atmosphere, thus it has to be extracted from water or petroleum products.

Biodiesel cars: Biodiesel is a compound which is produced from oils and fats which may be extracted from vegetable oils, used cooking oil and other oil-based waste products. Cars powered from biodiesel are not as non-polluting as the two cars mentioned above, but they don’t use the conventional diesel and thus are aimed towards conserving our oil reserves. However, greenhouse gas emissions for biodiesel are less than conventional diesel and thus this is a greener alternative fuel.

Ethanol cars: Ethanol is the chemical which is the main ingredient of alcohol. Like alcohol, ethanol is made by fermenting sugar or similar starch based agricultural products. As the main raw material needed for production in agricultural products, scientists are still working on technologies to make this from non-food products. This way it will not only be cheaper but also will be produced in larger quantities. Ethanol based vehicles combine ethanol with gasoline to make a mixture that is not only combustible but also much less polluting than pure gasoline. The benefit of these kind of vehicles is that they can run on a wide variety of ethanol-gasoline mixtures and the ratio of the mixture does not effect the functioning of the car that much. Ethanol, like biodiesel, helps conserve conventional petroleum fuels and leads to lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Natural Gas cars: These cars use natural gas as their fuel in the form of CNG which stands for Compressed Natural Gas. This fuel has considerably lower emissions of greenhouse gases and can be used in all kinds of gasoline based vehicles without losing too much of the car’s original performance. The vehicle does not even need to be a CNG vehicle to start with and can be easily converted into a CNG vehicle with the addition of a set of equipments, usually called the CNG kit.