[c00kie]

I was told that the 2004 and 2005 Priuses are retrofitted so that a hydrogen fuel adjustment can be made to the car. Does anyone have more information on this?

 

[stevesol]

That makes no sense at all... Hydrogen fuel cells require a completely different set of technologies than the Prius has. The fuel tank in the Prius and the internal combustion engine are designed for gasoline. While it is true that the regenerative braking and battery/electric motor combination will almost certainly be used in future hydrogen fueled cars to increase efficiency, there is no possible way to use hydrogen as a fuel in the current Prius.

 

[vegas1]

I believe it's a research project. They are doing it to about 35 cars or so. They are also doing it with some RAV4. I'm sure all car makers have these projects going on all the time.

 

[c00kie]

It didn't make sense to me either, but he said they could pop out the gas tank and pop in the hydrogen unit.

 

[KURT]

Hydrogen

I think that by the time hydrogen is available and affordable we'll be ready to trade in our Prius rather than having it torn apart and retrofitted.

 

[c00kie]

Re: Hydrogen

I think that by the time hydrogen is available and affordable we'll be ready to trade in our Prius rather than having it torn apart and retrofitted.

True, we could, but if we're trying to be truly "green", I suppose it would be the most ecological to re-use what we have.

 

[KURT]

Green

I love my Prius, I love it in every way. The technology is outstanding and it's great that it gets such good gas mileage. But, when there is a vehicle produced that makes the Prius look like and have the technology of a Pinto, this Prius is gone.

Remember, one day the Prius will be considered a gas guzzler.

I could be wrong but I think there are quite a few Prius owners that feel this way. Guess I'm not all that Green.

 

[Daniel]

An ICE can burn hydrogen, It needs different injectors, and maybe a different computer program. They may have been talking about that. Hydrogen does not require fuel cells.

Truly green would mean using no fossil fuels at all, generating no waste that cannot be recycled, using no plastic packaging, generating no net carbon. Etc. The Prius is the first baby step toward green.

There's a story about the African army ants that cross a stream by plunging into it. The first ones are swept away by the flow, but eventually the bodies of the drowned ants form a bridge for the others to cross. "And what of the ones who are swept away?" asks the little girl, "They don't even form part of the bridge." And the wise elder replies: "They helped to make a path down to the water!"

We and our Prius will be swept away by the flow. We will not even be part of the bridge. But we are helping to begin the path down to the river.

 

[jshore]

As I pointed out in this thread that I started (and ended!!), according to an article in Science, we are unlikely to make a significant advance in efficiency beyond hybrids for quite a while. The authors note that the first fuel cell cars are likely to get hydrogen from reforming fossil fuels and that this whole cycle will not be significantly more efficient than hybrid ICE technology. It is not until we start producing hydrogen from renewable fuels that we will be able to make a significant advance in terms of greenhouse gas emissions.

Of course, there is also the question of more standard pollutants (i.e., other than greenhouse gases). It is possible that the fuel cell cars using hydrogen from fossil fuels will be cleaner, but it is not so clear how much (if any) cleaner the whole cycle will be...And, of course, the Prius is already quite clean with its AT-PZEV rating.