Prototypes will be released soon, with real production in a couple of years. They will be hybrids, with gas and hydrogen powered engines.
This is a huge step forward for alt energy. The cars be be able to run on hydrogen and emit only water vapor. Prices will be the same as a current top end BMW.
Sounds great, the only thing I don’t like is the price tag for a Bimmer! But this initiative sure can spread to cars with a lower price-tag.
I haven’t looked at the chemistry of hydrogen-powered cars for some years, but I would assume that engine temps will also produce degrees of NOx and some peroxides, all of which will react with the hydrocarbon emissions from gasoline-powered vehicles. It would be interesting to see a model as to whether the wholesale replacement of a significant quantity of existing vehicles with hydrogen-powered vehicles would do to air pollution. My guess is that that there would be some savings since the hydrogen cars aren’t emitting any hydrocarbons, but that the reduction would be less than proportional to the percentage produced until the percentage of hydrogen cars was around 50 percent or more. Still, it’s doubtless an improvement in the environment, even if the thermodynamics are not necessarily in favor of hydrogen.