Half GM Cars On Ethonol By 2012

[Wes Tausend]

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There is quite a bit of info in the March 2008 issue of Motor Trend in their Future Shock cover story, but most of it is hybrid and electric technology. Some info on the reason for delay of the hot Tesla electric sports car is also in the issue.

Gm is coming back pretty strong against Toyota and has a special advertising section (page 28) that describes their 2009 pick-up's and SUV's and the tech that they will use. Ethanol is part of it, along with cylinder cut-out and Two-Mode Hybrid System. The Two-Mode Hybrid System is mostly a special 2 electric motor gearbox, about the size of a conventional 6-speed automatic, combined with a 6.0 L V-8. I think the technology is the same as the pre-2004 Toyota hybrid. There is a neat blow-apart tranny pictorial.

They are claiming a 25% overall fuel economy gain with a 40% gain in city driving for their Hybrid Silverado. It will be available in 2WD or 4WD, crew cab or regular cab, with 5900 lb towing for 4WD and 6100 lb towing for the 2WD.

Although the ethanol fuel isn't the most efficient renewable right now, it does fit in best with conventional liquid fuels for handling and implementation. To have the political support of the petroleum industry is a biggy. After all this is something they can sell through normal distribution chains. Another semi-supported technology is liquid hydrogen fuel since this, too, can be sold nearly* as easy as liquid propane. The greatest fear of the petroleum industry is that significant transportation could go electric. Talk about loss of market share when citizens plug in at home in a somewhat re-vamped grid. Not that generated electricity is free from fossil fuel but it might use far less overall.

*The beauty of hydrogen fuel is that for every gallon of hydrogen (H2) we burn, we get about a gallon and a half of water. And that's all. When we burn gas, ethanol or any other carbohydrate (CHO), we get the over-a-gallon per gallon water emission thing again but we also get CO2, a greenhouse gas. So hydrogen would make a far better energy storage medium than ethanol because it is the least harmful. The flaw is that liquid hydrogen doesn't store anywhere near as easy as propane which will remain liquid under relatively low pressure. Right now the most practical way to store hydrogen is to let it supercool itself by venting from a thermos container which reduces the pressure requirement (@ very cold) to nearly atmospheric. Can't do that in a garage (Hindenburg). One alternative is a superstrong, and very heavy, tank which is impractical. Another possibility is a catalyst which will bind the hydrogen compactly, until used, but it needs more development. When it is solved, we can avoid the Columbia Space Shuttle scenario in the driveway.

The whole thing is a pressing need. To use a parable, it's like the oblivious village has already chopped most of the nearby forest down for firewood. We don't really have a good alternative plan yet.


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