BMW’s Hydrogen Car Cleans The Air
At the 2008 SAE World Congress in Detroit, BMW showed off a hydrogen-powered 7-series sedan that emits less carbon monoxide than found in the air around it. What does this mean? It means the engine breaks down or converts more carbon monoxide than it takes in. Tested by Argonne Laboratories, emissions results show a similar reduction in non-methane organic gases. The emissions turn out to be so low that standard automobile emissions testing wouldn’t have detected them.
The demo BMW vehicle uses a 6-liter combustion engine that uses hydrogen as fuel, burning it in cylinders and delivers are performance similar with standard gas-powered 7-series, says BMW. The car manufacturer has been handing its Hydrogen 7 sedan, a car with dual-fuel hydrogen and as system, to celebrities and decision influencers, such as J.D. Power III. BMW doesn’t consider the vehicle to a prototype and unfortunately won’t be building more on the same scale as the Hydrogen 7.
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(Photo Credit: BMW)
The World’s First Wooden Sports Car Can Reach 240mph
When you think wooden car, you don’t actually think sports car. Maybe a soap box pops into your head instead? Well, a U.S. design company has come up with a creative super car made of wood. Said to be the first wooden car in the world, the 4.6 meter-long, two-seater car is called “Splinter”. Ouch.
The car is made from plywood, MDF and plywood, has a 4.6 liter V8 petrol engine and six-speed gearbox. All that wood comes in weighing at 1,134 kilograms, just 240 kilograms less than the lightest Porsche 911 GT3. The car is expected to get 20 miles per gallon and reach a top speed of 240 miles per hour.
Will it actually be produced? Well, the design company, Joe Harmon Design, is said to release the car later this year and hasn’t decided a price for the “Splinter”.
Posted on March 6, 2008 with 1 Comment
Agassi’s Electric Car Concept
An electric car marketed similar to a mobile phone contract, is a concept pulled together by Shai Agassi and financially supported by Israeli businessman Idan Ofer to help the Israel adapt to cars powered by electricity.
Agassi came up with the idea to have car users sign a monthly contract and pay monthly fees determined by projected usage. Called Project Better Place, the company would provide lithium-ion batteries that could go 124 miles per charge. At $6 dollars a gallon in Israel, the idea to push for electric powered cars is a winner.
Participants in the programs will receive tax incentives. The country is even investing $200 million to build recharging facilities, supplied by Agassi’s company and Renault-Nissan, a partner in the program, will provide the cars.
Drivers will not have to wait for a recharge as batteries will be swapped out, so there won’t be a need to plug-in the car for 6+ hours. Ninety percent of car owners in Israel drive less than 70 kilometers (about 43 miles) per day so the company plans to cover most of the population’s transportation needs via these zero-emission ideals.
Posted on February 13, 2008 with 1 Comment
