waymondospiff Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 (edited) I found this quite interesting. Mazda says it can build a hydrogen-burning car in five to ten years. Mazda says "...because Mazda's revolutionary rotary engine offers separate chambers for intake and combustion, the rotary engine is ideal for burning hydrogen." Now, I don't know what all goes into it, but if the Renesis is easier to modify for hydrogen, this could be a stop-gap transition to fuel cell technologies...assuming fuel cells do happen. http://www.leftlanenews.com/2006/08/22/maz...years/#comments And, of course, Mazda would need a hydrogen fueling network. Will it happen? It's definetely an interesting concept and it's great to see Mazda (i.e. part of Ford) leading the way. And of course the Renesis is much, much cheaper than any fuel cell car today. Mazda has shown both a RX-8 demo and a Mazda5 hydrogen hybrid that can burn either gasoline or hydrogen. You can find out some more information about the Mazda5 hybrid on the Mazda website, but I haven't found anything else about the RX-8 hydrogen car. Any more information or any opinions? Scott Edited August 27, 2006 by waymondospiff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IMBoring25 Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 That's the beauty of dual-fuel. It doesn't require a network. Just sporadic stations. When you can fuel on your preferred fuel, you do. When you can't, you burn gas. Simple. Get enough dual-fuel vehicles on the road, and the network will follow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ANTAUS Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 My other concern would be, fuel economy...MPG's? As it is, the Rotary doesn't really post spectacular figures for what it is. And also consumes a bit of oil as well, they would be wise to rectify that as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2b2 Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 Maybe start with some gov't agency? Airmail? We don't need no stinking airmail.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old_fairmont_wagon Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 Another factor, the current RX-8 based Renisis dual fuel demonstrator vehicle makes PITIFUL torque numbers on Hydrogen. Something just slightly above 100 lbs IIRC. Add to that the extra weight of the H2 tank and you have a woefully underperforming vehicle. Mazda would need a nice, large, variable turbo, variable cam timing, and every other trick in the book to make a hydrogen rotary engine perform reasonably well. I'm not even going to think of the MPG. Hydrogen has a low energy density as well, so its going to take a lot of it to equal a gallon of gasoline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waymondospiff Posted August 27, 2006 Author Share Posted August 27, 2006 Update: Car Magazine out of the UK has done a road test of the RX-8 Hydrogen RE. Car Magazine First Drive Is the performance limited? Yes. But does it point to the future? Quite possibly. Is it a technological marvel? Sure! I just think it's interesting that the Wankel is finally good for something besides just burning oil. It's ready-made for hydrogen burning! And I like the simple "push-button" change between gas & hydrogen. Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe771476 Posted August 27, 2006 Share Posted August 27, 2006 Is that a bonafide US Mail vehicle and where is it in use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waymondospiff Posted August 27, 2006 Author Share Posted August 27, 2006 Is that a bonafide US Mail vehicle and where is it in use? Nope. That'd be what the kids these days call a "photoshop." Or a "chop" in the lingo. Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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