In article <3AE4FF0B.ED053E75@yahoo.com>, Robert W. Cunningham
<rwc_2001@yahoo.com> writes
>Rod Buck wrote:
>
>> > The ideal solution would be to have a small motor running at perfect
>> >efficiency, i.e. at one constant rpm, driving a generator & negating the
>> >need for any transmission at all.
>>
>> No it wouldn't - such engines STILL produce far too many emissions,
>> compared to the pure water output of the fuel cell.
>
>Not so! The Australian Orbital engine (a 2-stroke, of all things) has such low
>pollutant output that were it to be used in Los Angeles on a smoggy day, the air
>coming out the exhaust would be CLEANER than the air at the intake! (Not in
>each and every respect, but certainly overall.)
>
>Kudos to Toyota and Honda for showing us a better way: In today's world,
>hybrids combine the best of technology, manufacturability and infrastructure
>compatibility.
>
>The GM Impact (and everything else in the LEV/ULEV arena that's NOT coming from
>Detroit) was a fiasco: It was hideously expensive and inefficient to
>manufacture, it was impossible to use in any but extremely limited ways, and it
>had an exceedingly short MTBF and too-long MTTR.
>
All true, and good positive thinking - VW also did an "Umwelt" engine
that they also claimed has cleaner air coming out the back to what went
in the front...didn't seem to sell, though...

Ah well, like I say, the fuel cell is the future, although I suspect it
may be longer in coming than we hope..but all these improvements are
welcome, and make good engineering sense. I particularly like the 48v
idea.

Individual wheel motors at 48v are well-practical, and cause the vehicle
to lose so much weight & complexity in transmission of power, (not to
mention loss of power in the process) that they MUST be the future.

They also liberate up space in the main vehicle chassis, making room for
batteries, etc, or liberating the designers to try new space-saving
things.

- Rod Buck

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