Hydrogen Cars

First off, greetings all, im new to the forums :smile: .

Let's face it guys. Our days of driving to the gas station to fill up our 30-gallon tank SUVs are soon to be over. With oil production expected to peak in about 5-10 years, and demand expected to grow exponentially thanks to China and India we have to find an alternative.

The best way to go is hydrogen. Yes, we may still have a ways to go before massproduction, and we need alot more hydrogen refuelling stations, and the costs need to be sliced, it's going to become a reality. Actually it already has. But anyway, I am a 17 year old senior ready to wrap up my last year of high school and head into college to become an auto mechanic.

But with hydrogen cars to hit the road, and me along with thousands of other mechanics who rely upon our job, how will this affect us? Different cars require different repairs. My question is this: In order for mechanics to be paid, parts need to break, and with hydrogen cars having much less moving parts and not to mention a whole different energy source, how will this affect us? How often will people even need a mechanic for these cars? Will dealerships and shops decide to drastically reduce pay? All this is on my mind when I hear oil traders have jacked up the prices yet again.

Personally I don't know what kind of a transition it will be from oil to hydrogen, but I sure hope it benefits all of us in the long run.

Thanks.

First off, greetings all, im new to the forums :smile: .

Let's face it guys. Our days of driving to the gas station to fill up our 30-gallon tank SUVs are soon to be over. With oil production expected to peak in about 5-10 years, and demand expected to grow exponentially thanks to China and India we have to find an alternative.

The best way to go is hydrogen. Yes, we may still have a ways to go before massproduction, and we need alot more hydrogen refuelling stations, and the costs need to be sliced, it's going to become a reality. Actually it already has. But anyway, I am a 17 year old senior ready to wrap up my last year of high school and head into college to become an auto mechanic.

But with hydrogen cars to hit the road, and me along with thousands of other mechanics who rely upon our job, how will this affect us? Different cars require different repairs. My question is this: In order for mechanics to be paid, parts need to break, and with hydrogen cars having much less moving parts and not to mention a whole different energy source, how will this affect us? How often will people even need a mechanic for these cars? Will dealerships and shops decide to drastically reduce pay? All this is on my mind when I hear oil traders have jacked up the prices yet again.

Personally I don't know what kind of a transition it will be from oil to hydrogen, but I sure hope it benefits all of us in the long run.

Thanks.


I think if hydrogen catches on fast mechanics will be essentially screwed. There'll always be the folks who don't go H and maybe a brief market for conversions, but you can't fix something that won't break.

Think of people who work with oil too, in refineries, drilling outfits... a lot of people are going to be screwed out of their jobs.

What I think should've gone down is rather than the US spending $127 billion on bombing and fixing iraq to save the oil would be to invest that in alternative fuels, and part of that would be to support oil workers to either repurpose them or give them support. Just imagine how much progress could be made with that kind of capital....

Something I've been wondering about hydrogen cars is whether or not all the cars are going to go to fuel cells or not. Even though fuel cells will eliminate noise and emissions, it surely won't appeal to sports cars enthusiasts, who I'm sure would definitely prefer a true ICE. In regards to this, BMW has produced a hydrogen ICE which is exactly the same as our current engines but runs on hydrogen instead of gasoline. In addition, BMW claims that these engines not only have much more potential than gasoline engines, but also drastically reduce harmful emissions (though not quite as low as fuel cells).

Because of this, it seems to me that the wisest thing to do would be to eventually have a combination of fuel cell and hydrogen ICE cars, and so that way, everyone can switch to hydrogen fuel and at the same time, enthusiasts don't need to lose their beloved combustion engines. And even if the hydrogen ICE cars produce some emissions, considering that the majority of the cars people drive (economy cars, minivans, etc.) will be fuel cell powered and have no harmful emissions along with the fact that the hydrogen ICE is still FAR cleaner burning than the gasoline engine, the overall harmful emissions should still be very small overall.

As far as mechanics go, if there are hydrogen ICE cars as well as fuel cell cars, their knowledge of gasoline engines will apply directly to hydrogen ICEs and so they will still be needed. Of course it may be necessary for mechanics to go through some seperate training for fuel cell cars since they'll likely compose the majority of automobiles, but their experience with gasoline ICEs wouldn't go to waste. And don't forget that other parts of the car such as suspension, chassis, electronics, etc. will still be the same, and so those areas are going to need repairs no matter what.

I hope to god they make hydrogen ICEs.....

I think if hydrogen catches on fast mechanics will be essentially screwed. There'll always be the folks who don't go H and maybe a brief market for conversions, but you can't fix something that won't break.

Think of people who work with oil too, in refineries, drilling outfits... a lot of people are going to be screwed out of their jobs.

What I think should've gone down is rather than the US spending $127 billion on bombing and fixing iraq to save the oil would be to invest that in alternative fuels, and part of that would be to support oil workers to either repurpose them or give them support. Just imagine how much progress could be made with that kind of capital....

God I hope you're wrong. Either that or Ill just need to find another job.

As far as the oil businesses go, Shell has already built a hydrogen station and said it plans to continue with more so, oil companies will eventually have to switch over from pumping oil to liquifying hydrogen.

The oil companies will do everything to stop it. But the hydrogen cars are pretty neat. Bmw made one looks exactly like a 3 series but says hydrogen on the back badging.

Another thing I've found is this: Fuel Cells are flawed. They require alot of Platinum to build, and Platinum is a very rare and expensive metal. So what I'm hoping is Honda, GM and all the other nutjobs will get away from this space-age idea and just stick with hydrogen Internal Combustion Engines, which is cheaper and more realistic. Not to mention we keep the HP :biggrin:

I want to try propane in my truck.... I am still looking for plans.

...it's going to become a reality. Actually it already has. ...

I'm a student at the Univ. of Buffalo in the Mech Engineering program, and we are currently doing a case study on Hydrogen Power. From research so far, we're able to determine that though prototypes have been introduced as an alternative to gasoline, it is infact not a feasable concept. The fact of the matter is that a hydrogen feul cell still has too many problems to work out and is thus far still a theory in process of becoming born. At the current state, my group was able to calculate a efficiency rating of 12-13% taken from laboratory data. Comparitively, gas efficiency is a much more logical answer, and the macro economics behind the sales of oil for automobiles is at the present to involved with everyday political affairs for a hydrogen car to be intorduced. Even if this technology was perfected, the government would most likely delay a long time before standardizing it, and allow creation of hydrogen stations.

God I hope you're wrong. Either that or Ill just need to find another job.

As far as the oil businesses go, Shell has already built a hydrogen station and said it plans to continue with more so, oil companies will eventually have to switch over from pumping oil to liquifying hydrogen.

Oil companies will suffer a blow if hydrogen concept is grasped, however, they will still be raking in money as a) not everyone will swtich to H, and b) HEATING! its obvious from recent events (ie Katrina and Rita) that though america is in a comotion over the 30 - 50 cent increase /gallon prices at the pump, this price jack will pale in comparison with the heating bills this winter. Oil companies supply a large amount of supply for uses other than cars.

I want propane in my truck...

Some people are using bio-diesel renewable feul b/c of raising gas prices. in a lot of places its free, b/c restaurant owners need to pay to dispose of cooking oil, whereas its free to give it away to pple who use renewable fuel. its an interesting concept, here's an article from MSNBC
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7652881/