Engineer Gets 110mpg

O wow, I never noticed really the fuel issue. It is even fully contradictive to his own statement: "He said he could greatly increase even that number [efficiency] if his car used traditional gasoline instead of a mix of gas and 85 percent ethanol."
I have to admit I don't understand the quote of the 16.5 and 23.5 numbers...

 

As always..if it sounds too good to be true.... it probably is.

 

The math clears that one up! Thanks MP. So many insects under each rock in this road to affordable transportation.

 

As always I'm real sceptical of these claims including as Norm knows the claims of fueling cars with HHO and actually getting increase fuel economy without actually reducing the gasoline used. But that's a different subject.

As long as I can remember the conspiracy theorists have claimed that the automakers have been in cahoots with the oil companys to keep milage low so that the oil companys can make more money. This is total

Ever since 2001 the auto companies have been in trouble. Someone please explain why they would not produce cars and trucks with greatly improved gas milage? What is the motivation not to? If all these claims actually worked wouldn't one of the companies mass produce it? For the last 20 years trucks have been the bread and butter for the American car market. There would be no reason to hold back technology that would make them more efficient. $15,000 to $20,000 actual profit on Ford, Chevy and Dodge trucks! Now they just sit on the lots unsold because they only get 13-15 mpg in non-highway driving. They new GM hybrid trucks get 20 mpg in non-highway driving and they don't sell because they start at $50,000. If the car companies could product high gas milage vehicles they would do it. There is absolutely no motivation not to. GM stock is at it's lowest since 1954. Why would they risk bankruptcy and consider shutting down Saturn, Buick and SAAB if they had technology to drastically improve gas milage and save themselves. It's crazy to think that they would do that.

I doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out. It simply makes no sense.

The general population of the world is pretty stupid. I'd think only 20% can actually think for themselves. For example. A family of 5 had purchased a Chevy Avalanche in 2005 for $37,000. It is paid for. Last month they traded it in for a Honda Civic that costs $22,000. Now they have car payments of $240 per month. Gasoline was costing the family $300 per month with the truck. The got $11,700 for the truck when they traded it in. That's only a $26,000 loss in three years. Of couse now they are spending $160 per month on gas and cramming 5 people in to an econo-box that they couldn't possibly travel in without towing a trailer for baggage. You don't have to be a mathemetician to see the stupidity in the decision.

 

Steve, I agree with you for the most part. It makes no sense to us why these big companies would be so stubborn to lose their shirts by ignoring fuel economy. But they have!

When Ford brought out their Electric Ranger in 1998, GM sued them and Ford were forced to recall the leases and destroy 10,000 of them. A year later, GM sold their automotive Lithium operations to Chevron. Was/Is Chevron on the GM Board?

Why do the Japanese in Japan have a CAFE of 45 MPG, since 2004, and our North American CAFE of 35 MPG won't kick in until 2012? Especially since many of the North American vehicles are using Japanese engines and electronics.

I too have a problem with HH O mobile systems hauling around an explosive gas mixture, but not because many are scams, as you said, but because the DIY guys are hitting some unforeseen issues. Improperly tuned, or bad valves or rings, and your oil becomes contaminated (foamy beige whipped cream), others are finding really difficult to work around new computer (post 1990) managed engine systems and sensors.

To me, it seems that goal is to avoid getting dependent on another monopoly and save fuel. If you break down in the boondocks, where will you find the N555 timer chip or some other 50 cent part to start up again? It seems to me that doing mechanical mods to maximize the engine's mechanical efficiency and ignition efficiency will do more than most of these esoterics.

Can you imagine the day when the big motor challenge will be how to change the motor's carbon brushes or the number of windings on the armature?

A steam engine does make sense though like this one:

http://www.pritchardpower.com/Image of a Pritchard Unit in an Austomotive Application.html

The Rev might get upset seeing a 1963 Falcon running a steam engine, but the Fox-bodies are Falcon derivatives.

This guy is onto something with Steam. Even if it cost $10,000 to switch, it would have a payback in a few years, and appreciate in value.

 

The average (mean) size engine in Japan is 1.3 liter. Most of the cars sold in Japan are 500lbs lighter than the Honda Civic. These size cars are not acceptable to North Americans. We have not accepted sub-compact cars very well and they won't sell well. Maybe when gasoline averaged $5-$6 per gallon.

Steam could be a viable option. It was bandied about during the 70's. The early steam autos were extremely bad and could be dangerous. Also they got very poor MPG of fuel. I do think the ultimate answer is to get the general public in to electrics and leave comerce in diesel. I'm talking about our lifetimes and not that of our grandchildren.

Speaking of electrics the 2010 Toyota Prius will be a plug-in hybrid with a solar panel on the roof to power the airconditioning and will add another 50% in fuel milage. It'll be in the 80 mpg range in local driving. They expect 40-60 miles in electic mode before the engine kicks in.

I still think the hybrids are backwards. They should be only electric drive and have a fixed gasoline or diesel engine only to charge the batteries instead of the reverse today. And most cars are parked during the day. The solar panel should be standard on all hybrids to not only run the A/C but to recharge the batteries while parked.

I wish I were smarter and richer.

 

Well we have to settle for intelligent, good looking, and handy.

The rub is that with every incremental gain on fuel efficiency since the 1980's, they started adding more weight and increasing the HP, while cutting back on size.

If our 2,700 pound wagons can carry 80% of the big Country Squires, and keep up with them on the highway, with just enough 'convenience' accessories, on 84 HP, then why build a 4,400 pound 270 HP CUV that can barely take 4 suitcases to the airport? They may emit less pollutants, and match our late 70's/early 80's mid-size wagons, but they could have done better with less heavy options. Our F/Z/Cougar engines were able to get far better:

 

http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.co...80703-Can-Mercedes-Go-Gasoline-Free-by-2015-/

Let's see what some serious engineering guys can do, since Mercedes plans to be free from fossil fuels in 7 years.
And they're using natural gas as well:
http://www.greencar.com/features/mercedes-natural-gas/

 

I get the heebie-jeebies with Natural Gas, because the producers here in Canada always put out a release that some towns may not have enough for heating their homes, and so should have backup heating like a woodstove or hearth. Now that they're making hydrogen-fuel cells for cars, how long before that will run out too?

Good for Mercedes to get so bold to challenge the oil empire like that. What will the Shieks drive? A moped?

 

I think Hydrogen is a never ending supply of fuel. When it does run out we'll (humans) will be long gone. The problem with hydrogen is it takes energy to make it. It's one of those catch 22 situations. Dirty energy to make clean energy.

 

I wonder if there's any research on it being a non-renewable. The Steam Engine link above claims it is a non-renewable, and I tend to agree with him. We can synthesize it, like you say, or drag out from water, but we have no means of reproducing it.

Mars' environmental image comes to mind. Lots of methane, no oxygen, evidence that it once had water, but no water. hmmm. Was it the Arcturus mentioned in Job's soliloquy, or is it us? One of them becomes restored in it rightful place in our planetary system.

You might be right, sadly.

 

And it needs even more fuel then the energy it produces, because of the stable nature of water and instable nature of Hydrogen.

I really believe in fully electric cars. Is the hardest thing because of the change in infrastructure. I mean, normal gas stations will be obsolete and need to be replaced by charging points all over the country. They just announced that the first fully electric car will be introduced next year. Two of the biggest electricity providers here in Holland are now talking to the cities about charging points.

Call me naive, but we will find a good solution. Mankind always has, it just needs the right stimulation to be creative enough and have willpower enough.

 

Naive is good, keeps you from turning to grey hair too fast!

I don't know if you got news about the lame-duck emissions decisions at the G8 conference, but it basically stays the same - no decisions, just good shushi dinners for our politicians.

Anyway, Canada is a hypocrite. We sell China both the coal and the coal plants WITHOUT the clean-coal burning technology that we invested millions into, for their power plants, and then our Prime Minister says that no decision can be made until China and India clean up their mess. Where do have our dirty industries going - China.

Is the Netherlands sending a team to the Chinese Olympics? We've had reports that the sportsmen won't have the greatest air to breathe:
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/07/08/china-pollution.html

 

The official statement of The Netherlands regarding the Olympics, is that everybody is going, as the Olympics is not the right platform to make political statements (with regarding to human rights as in Tibet). I think it is BS. I think we are all responsible to say something if somebody is stepping over the line. It doesn't exclude anybody because they are athletes and I think a world event like the olympics is as good (or maybe even better) as any. But this is another subject. The air is something else. I have seen reports that the Chinese even have weathermachines!

The G8 is a laughing stock. The almost never come to any agreement and even if they would, the agreements are not binding!

The stimulance is still not big enough to take the next step for most countries (and people). Just thinking about once position is still more important and preveals above the common good.

But the internet has created a strong community which is enormous divers so new ideas get picked up on much faster. There will be always conman, but luckely there is a growing amount of people genuinly concerned and working towards a solution.

And about the power of the oil man, well, I think it is decreasing, but it reaches probably much further then I want to know. But I do agree that the otto engine is not going much further. I really can't imagine that we will come with something new that substatially increases mpg with these engines. (btw hybrids do help a bit, but all the power to power them still comes from fosile fuels, and I don't even know if we take the enviromental issues of tghe batteries into account what the netto profit is)

 

Senri, have you ever seen this site?
http://www.automotive-links.com/ind/ind.htm

Imagine if the UN or some global agency set one up so that people could find environmental solutions and products or forums to help themselves instead of having governments fly 20 or 50 officials and their wives and kids using 8,000 gallons of fuel each way from Canada to Japan to come back with nothing. In this day of video-conferencing, between live translators, that you'd build a decent relationship with another political leader?

We could have and actually have made improvements over the decades in the Racing hobby, the body paint and preparation industry (new finishes and techniques and safer, eco-friendly materials). But this time, its politicians trying to manipulate the speed and type of changes.

If forums like this one and how many others where listed by country, along with local incentives by their own governments or safety agencies, we'd have avoided this fuel mess today. Instead they blew millions or billions on Kyoto since the late 1980's, to have it resisted and failed. And they just keep trying to figure out how to control those dirty, polluting ingrateful voters who drive cars and trucks to work, who fly to meeting or vacation, who need special medical help in another country.

I wish a site like that one, that links to sites almost anywhere in the world to every brand of car there is could focus on home-energy, automotive alternatives, tips for small business energy savings, best vendors by type of products. That site model is a Global Automotive tool, without prejudice to any industry, any brands, any nation, and it came about because someone had the vision for it. We vote for leaders with vision, and we get hot-air.