The Future of Alternative Fuel Cars

I’ve always held the solution to our problems lies mostly in the private sector. For those concerned with the environment, some excellent news came down the pike:

Nissan plans Monday to launch a next-generation fuel cell vehicle in the early 2010s in Japan and North America as part of its mid-term environmental strategy.

Nissan Chief Operating Officer Toshiyuki Shiga said at a Tokyo press conference outlining the company’s "Nissan Green Program 2010" that it will introduce from fiscal year 2010 gasoline engine technologies that will enhance fuel economy and at the same time reduce carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to diesel engine levels.

The company aims to introduce a new fuel-cell vehicle using an improved fuel stack — the main part of such vehicles — developed in-house after 2010 that will offer performance on par with gasoline-power automobiles, Shiga said.

Fuel cell vehicles run on the power produced when oxygen in the air combines with hydrogen that’s stored in the fuel tank — producing only harmless water vapor.

But for the mid-term future, Shiga said the company plans to focus on the internal combustion engine as the primary power source for its vehicles, and will concentrate on improving engine efficiency.

"To develop vehicles that are truly environmentally friendly, we need to make significant advances in internal combustion technology while working on electrical power sources in parallel," said Mitsuhiko Yamashita, Nissan’s executive vice president for research and development in a statement.

As part of that effort, Shiga said in Tokyo that Nissan plans to develop a "three-liter car" capable of traveling 100 kilometers, or 60 miles, using just three liters, or about three quarts, of gasoline. The company hopes to unveil a new model in Japan in 2010.

Cross-posted from WhereIStand:

The greatest potentil here is for a car that runs 100% Ethanol AND is a plug in hybrid. One blogger strongly begs Nissan to consider it:

It would be an extremely clean, economical vehicle with all the range and power that we drivers have come to expect with petroleum-powered vehicles. And it appears that the price per gallon of ethanol could be coming down with new developments at MIT.

Indeed, this would really be the ticket. The problem heretofore with hybrid vehicles is the lack of performance. and the cost. The first company to develop a hybrid with power, performance, and a reasonable price tag will make a fortune. He’ll accomplish far more for clean air than thousands of environmentalists, regulators, and liberal do-gooders, by simply creating affordable technology. 

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