Comments on: Ford to unveil fuel cell Explorer this week

By: Random Jerk

Random Jerk — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 17:07:59 +0000

I suggest you look in the mirror Ic3child.

By: chevy490

chevy490 — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 00:30:31 +0000

the exployer looks so gay i would never own one i think the tahoe is one sweet ride!!

By: GT40

GT40 — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 23:19:03 +0000

deantj: STFU retard.

By: bigjob

bigjob — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 19:10:05 +0000

deantj…just jealous of the most powerful country on the Earth. We are the wild wild west, and that is why everyone wants to visit…including you!!

By: Kaptain75329

Kaptain75329 — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 17:26:12 +0000

deantj – Seriously.. get professional help.

By: megator

megator — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 02:00:13 +0000

Foster its electric it doesnt need a transmision. The torque curve for an electric motor is basicly flat meaning you dont need to shift. so there is room there. secondly hydrogen wont explode so easily. There are carbon fiber reinforced tanks that can take some major forces without rupturing. also u can store hydrogen in some porous metals, which is very safe. if the tank ruptures the hydrogen flows out slowly and is no more dangerous than gasoline.

By: 1c3d0g

1c3d0g — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 01:46:29 +0000

1234: or how about “you don’t know shit so shut your trap”? Idiot.

By: Richard

Richard — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 01:10:02 +0000

@Renton–

The only credible scenario under which you can get such a rupture is during a major crash. To explode, you need a ready source of a liter of oxygen for every two liters of uncompressed hydrogen. You are talking about the rupture of a 10,000 psi tank of hydrogen. This event will result in a very high speed stream of hydrogen. Rather than spilling on the ground, it will rise in the much heavier air. At worst, it will burn rather than explode. If you review the film of the Hindenberg disaster, what you see was the skin of the airship rather than the hydrogen fuel that accounted for the most dramatic of the flames. Also, the majority of the passengers, air crew, and ground crew survived.

The takeway messages are these:

1. The dangers presented by a hydrogen-fueled vehicle are not present until a crash, to which a gasoline or alcohol-fueled vehicle is no less susceptible.
2. A hydrogen fuel tank is probably less likely to rupture than a gasoline/alcohol fuel tank due to its rugged construction.
3. Hydrogen is probably less likely to explode than gasoline due to a lack of sufficient oxygen and the high speed at which the hydrogen gas would escape from a rupture.

By: Foster

Foster — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 23:28:15 +0000

DID anyone catch that the storage tank is were the transmission is. Well were the hell is the trany??

By: Cooper

Cooper — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 21:27:35 +0000

This is a full fuel cell driven vehicle not an ICE.

By: Renton

Renton — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 20:08:47 +0000

Richard–
What if it ruptures in an accident?

By: Richard

Richard — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 20:05:25 +0000

@Renton, Ricardo Nead, and Andre Neves–

Hydrogen can only explode if you mix it with oxygen. In the high-pressure pure hydrogen atmosphere of a hydrogen fuel tank, you are much safer than you are with gasoline. And Ford should know. Ask them about the Pinto.

By: suthuna

suthuna — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 19:15:53 +0000

This is their feeble attempt (like BMW’s) at keeping the ICE going for another hundred years. I’m sick of this lack of imagination. Hydrogen is all hype anyway. Ford, the American people are smart enough to know when they’re being duped.

By: Bertjan

Bertjan — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 18:51:12 +0000

Any idea how long it takes to develop this stuff? The Edge and Fusion were only concepts by then probably.

By the way, there are several ways to store Hydrogen safely, but only because of the one big hit with the Hindenburger people keep to the idea that it will never be safe again. And it is still not sure if the hydrogen or the skin was the cause of the fire…

By: Ricardo Head

Ricardo Head — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 18:20:05 +0000

Good point, A4. You think if anything they’d be tinkering with an Edge or Fusion and not an Explorer.

By: A4

A4 — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 17:56:02 +0000

maybe ford should figure out how to sell regular explorers before turning them into hydrogens

By: 1234

1234 — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 17:37:08 +0000

And thanks to that large hydrogen storage tank located in the space typically used for the 6-speed automatic transmission possible new names for the SUV include the the Ford Exploder or Edie Bauer Hindenburg.

By: Scott Kempton

Scott Kempton — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 17:29:24 +0000

Andre—the reason you aren’t seeing these prototypes and concepts put into production is because there is no infrastructure in place to refuel them. IF hydrogen turns out to be the big winner in the “next automotive fuel” race, it’ll take quite a while before you’ll be able to fill up your hydrogen-using car on any corner, like you can with gasoline now.

By: Andre Neves

Andre Neves — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 17:09:58 +0000

^LoL Union, NJ either.

By: Ricardo Head

Ricardo Head — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 17:08:21 +0000

Can’t they give it a tank of nitro?

By: Renton

Renton — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 16:44:24 +0000

Nice to know there is a tank of hydrogen right next to you.

This car is not allowed anywhere near Lakehurst, NJ.

By: Andre Neves

Andre Neves — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 16:27:14 +0000

I don’t get it. I see all the “prototype” & “Concept” hydrogen vehicles being shown, yet none of them produced. What gives? Am I wrong here, is there something I missed?

By: joshthenurse

joshthenurse — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 16:24:53 +0000

It’s about time Ford. I was looking forward to a possible Explorer Hybrid, but that project got scrapped a few years ago. I love my 2006 Explorer Eddie Bauer, but I have the V-6 and it only gets 13 mpg, and I don’t drive it very hard. It would be nice to see the best selling SUV in the country offer an alternative means of fuel. Hopefully some form of this will be offered to the general public.