Italdesign VAD.HO Concept

[Ferrer]

Originally Posted by shockwaveracing

soulless?

are you expecting a hydrogen engine to have the same character as a current ferrari v12, or porsche flat 6... of course not because it, along with an electric engine will never bring back that kind of soul like current motors and motors from past eras...

and i am unsure about this but where does all the water vapour go... does it get stored in a collection tank in the car, ready for it to be treated back at the local service station, prior to it being used again in someone elses car. this way would not be a waste BUT on the flipside, without a collection device of some kind the water does what? trickle out the exhaust? drip onto the road. heck if it drips onto the road, and in the future there will obviously be a lot more cars on the road, then we are always gunna be driving down rivers when we are in the city, or during a nice peak hour traffic jam.

might even see noah float past on his ark and laugh at all the poor souls... (now i understand that this is a hypothetical possibility, and a teeny bit of an exaggeration, but it gets my point across)

This car isn't powered by an electric motor like a fuel cell car, it has a 6-litre V12 which burns hydrogen instead of petrol. I find that infinitely better than a supercar powered by a battery...

About the water vapour it's not stored, but as it says it's vapour not liquid, so the road won't get wet. On the other hand (altough I'm just guessing there) it's not wasted because while it goes into the atmosphere this vapour will eventually be rained and therefore we can use it again for whatever we want.

[Pando]

Originally Posted by 90ft

I see Hydrogen as THE fuel for hte future.
Cars will run on hydrogen and carry water as the fuel base.
Safer than anything else and 100% environmentally friendly.
It'll happen. and it will be driven by the consumers and not by the OEMs.

As I said, it would be nice if it did. I'm not as sure about it as you are though. Only time will tell.

Originally Posted by Ferrer

Of course I'm all for petrol until we run out of it, but once it's over I see burning hydrogen engines as the best option for cars enthusiast.

There's that e-word again damn you , I have to say that I don't know what would be "best" for enthusiasts when the future is here. I guess my point of view will be decided when I actually try to drive (and/or live with) the alternatives. Still hydrogen is often viewed as the new messiah, but the advantages for it just aren't there (yet).

Originally Posted by 90ft

And there is the problem
Electric is a blame shift.
Neuclear power . . nice solution.

Which reminds me of another messiah, cold fusion. Sure it would solve energy problems. Is it doable at the moment? No. Nuclear power isn't perfect, but yes, I support it as probably the most sensible option today. Especially living in a country where solar and wind energy isn't a solution and with the knowledge that our plants are among the best maintained/safest ones in the world.

Originally Posted by 90ft

Batteries . .. made of corrosive, expensive, dificult to dispose of chemicals that cost a lot. Oh and weigh a ton. and need to be replaced at a cost of what? 1/3 of the car with a life span of what?
Funny how these, oh so Green, cars never factor the life and disposal of the batteries into the green -ness.

You do have a point here, although modern batteries doesn't need to weight a ton and the technology is improved by the day -> As the technology improves so does the lifespan -> As they become more common, the price drops. The batteries are at least properly disposed of/recycled, which can't be said for all hazardous products.

[Ferrer]

Originally Posted by Pando

There's that e-word again damn you , I have to say that I don't know what would be "best" for enthusiasts when the future is here. I guess my point of view will be decided when I actually try to drive (and/or live with) the alternatives. Still hydrogen is often viewed as the new messiah, but the advantages for it just aren't there (yet).

Well that's what we are us, aren't we? We are car e-word...

I chose burning hydriogen engines because they are the more similar engines to those we have today, basically that's my argumentation. Of course, as you say, we will really find out in the future though.

[Pando]

Originally Posted by Ferrer

Well that's what we are us, aren't we? We are car e-word...

Yes, I admit its hard to combine it with green thinking from time to time.

Originally Posted by Ferrer

I chose burning hydriogen engines because they are the more similar engines to those we have today, basically that's my argumentation. Of course, as you say, we will really find out in the future though.

I understand where you are coming from, it's just that if hydrogen engines aren't any more environmentally friendly there really isn't a point in changing. But we'll see.

[092326001]

ethanol fuel is the way to go

it gives you more power

[90ft]

Sorry to resurect teh argument but I just came across this
Makes interesting reading:

Prius Outdoes Hummer in Environmental Damage

The Toyota Prius has become the flagship car for those in our society so environmentally conscious that they are willing to spend a premium to show the world how much they care. Unfortunately for them, their ultimate ‘green car’ is the source of some of the worst pollution in North America; it takes more combined energy per Prius to produce than a Hummer.

Before we delve into the seedy underworld of hybrids, you must first understand how a hybrid works. For this, we will use the most popular hybrid on the market, the Toyota Prius.

The Prius is powered by not one, but two engines: a standard 76 horsepower, 1.5-liter gas engine found in most cars today and a battery- powered engine that deals out 67 horsepower and a whooping 295ft/lbs of torque, below 2000 revolutions per minute. Essentially, the Toyota Synergy Drive system, as it is so called, propels the car from a dead stop to up to 30mph. This is where the largest percent of gas is consumed. As any physics major can tell you, it takes more energy to get an object moving than to keep it moving. The battery is recharged through the braking system, as well as when the gasoline engine takes over anywhere north of 30mph. It seems like a great energy efficient and environmentally sound car, right?

You would be right if you went by the old government EPA estimates, which netted the Prius an incredible 60 miles per gallon in the city and 51 miles per gallon on the highway. Unfortunately for Toyota, the government realized how unrealistic their EPA tests were, which consisted of highway speeds limited to 55mph and acceleration of only 3.3 mph per second. The new tests which affect all 2008 models give a much more realistic rating with highway speeds of 80mph and acceleration of 8mph per second. This has dropped the Prius’s EPA down by 25 percent to an average of 45mpg. This now puts the Toyota within spitting distance of cars like the Chevy Aveo, which costs less then half what the Prius costs.

However, if that was the only issue with the Prius, I wouldn’t be writing this article. It gets much worse.

Building a Toyota Prius causes more environmental damage than a Hummer that is on the road for three times longer than a Prius. As already noted, the Prius is partly driven by a battery which contains nickel. The nickel is mined and smelted at a plant in Sudbury, Ontario. This plant has caused so much environmental damage to the surrounding environment that NASA has used the ‘dead zone’ around the plant to test moon rovers. The area around the plant is devoid of any life for miles.

The plant is the source of all the nickel found in a Prius’ battery and Toyota purchases 1,000 tons annually. Dubbed the Superstack, the plague-factory has spread sulfur dioxide across northern Ontario, becoming every environmentalist’s nightmare.

“The acid rain around Sudbury was so bad it destroyed all the plants and the soil slid down off the hillside,” said Canadian Greenpeace energy-coordinator David Martin during an interview with Mail, a British-based newspaper.

All of this would be bad enough in and of itself; however, the journey to make a hybrid doesn’t end there. The nickel produced by this disastrous plant is shipped via massive container ship to the largest nickel refinery in Europe. From there, the nickel hops over to China to produce ‘nickel foam.’ From there, it goes to Japan. Finally, the completed batteries are shipped to the United States, finalizing the around-the-world trip required to produce a single Prius battery. Are these not sounding less and less like environmentally sound cars and more like a farce?

Wait, I haven’t even got to the best part yet.

When you pool together all the combined energy it takes to drive and build a Toyota Prius, the flagship car of energy fanatics, it takes almost 50 percent more energy than a Hummer - the Prius’s arch nemesis.

Through a study by CNW Marketing called “Dust to Dust,” the total combined energy is taken from all the electrical, fuel, transportation, materials (metal, plastic, etc) and hundreds of other factors over the expected lifetime of a vehicle. The Prius costs an average of $3.25 per mile driven over a lifetime of 100,000 miles - the expected lifespan of the Hybrid.

The Hummer, on the other hand, costs a more fiscal $1.95 per mile to put on the road over an expected lifetime of 300,000 miles. That means the Hummer will last three times longer than a Prius and use less combined energy doing it.

So, if you are really an environmentalist - ditch the Prius. Instead, buy one of the most economical cars available - a Toyota Scion xB. The Scion only costs a paltry $0.48 per mile to put on the road. If you are still obsessed over gas mileage - buy a Chevy Aveo and fix that lead foot.

[Ferrer]

90ft, Prius Outdoes Hummer in Environmental Damage

[Gt1Street]

With the aim of spreading and increasing recognition of the Clarion global brand, we will be featuring Jay Kay, vocalist of the world-famous jazz-funk band Jamiroquai, as well as the concept car VAD.HO* by Italdesign-Giugiaro, in the key visual we are using for our 2008 brand communication activities.

This new visual made its public debut at the Clarion Booth of the 2008 International CES, which was held in January of 2008. It is currently featured on the newly opened "Clarion + Jamiroquai Special Site", a global website where people everywhere can enjoy watching visual media that express the "seamless" concept of this year's key visual.

Aside from this, we plan to implement this visual in product catalogues as well as special events that are scheduled to take place in various locations.

To showcase the Clarion brand on the global market and to publicise "Human Mobile Music Media Interface — Clarion H.M.I.", the brand slogan expressing our desire to become an ideal interface for music and information in cars and other moving environments, in 2007 we featured Jay Kay and the Italdesign-Giugiaro concept car Moray, and used Jamiroquai's "Feel So Good (Knee Deep Remix)" in our brand communication activities.

Clarion + Jamiroquai Special Site
We will be bolstering our drive to publicise our products and brand even further in this second stage in which the concept for our key visual is "seamless" (connecting the information society and mobile environments without any borders). In 2008 we will continue to use the tune "Feel So Good (Knee Deep Remix)" which conveys the image of being a step ahead and reflects what the Clarion brand aspires to be.

*The VAD.HO concept car made its debut at this year's Geneva Motor Show, where it drew attention for its hydrogen engine and other details that focused on future-readiness and eco-friendliness.