89silverpu

Bahaha nope just messin with ya

mastacox

Losses to heat are by far the worst part of efficiency in an ICE. It's a fairly good estimate that internal combustion engines in vehicles with no regeneration cycles (like the BMW "turbosteamer" concept) are about 15-20% efficient on average. Peak efficiencies may go as high at 40%, but these are instantaneously calculated (or calculated on a steady-state engine), not averaged over time. In an automobile, something around 50% of the total available energy from the reaction is lost as waste heat through the exhaust, another 20% is lost through the radiator, and about 10% through mechanical friciton.

The best ways to eliminate these losses lie in regenerative cycles and advanced ceramic parts to replace metal ones that cannot last in high temperatures. If an entire engine was able to operate at or close to the flame temperature of gasoline (say if the entire engine was made of high-temperture resistant ceramic) there would be little or no need for a radiator, and much of the losses in the exhaust could be reclaimed with regenerative cycles like BMW's system. Such advancements could in theory increase an ICE's efficiency to 60 or 70%, but ceramics are not yet available that have sufficient wear resistance.


Perhaps, but a vehicle's safety is not directly tied to the vehicle's overall weight, but rather its strength and ability to absorb energy. A properly designed vehicle can be "light" and still be equally strong, especially with advances in crumple zones, aluminum alloys, and composites such as carbon fiber.

This is very true, however I don't personally think that burning Hydrogen in internal combustion engines is the final answer to our problems. Hydrogen has very low specific energy available from its burning when compared to gasoline, diesel, or even alcohols like ethanol or methanol. As such, vehicles burning Hydrogen make a lot less power for a given displacement and air intake. This problem is rooted in the fact that internal combustion engines are inherently inefficient at extracting chemical energy from flammable products.

Take for example, the Hydrogen-fueled engine Ford designed and promoted a while ago made for "green" shuttle buses. It's a 6.8L V-10 with an intercooled supercharger pushing 20 psi of boost. It produces 235 horsepower, and 310 lb-ft of torque. I would guess that this same engine running on gasoline would produce easily double those numbers.

While it's true that current engines can be retrofit to run on Hydrogen or propane, future vehicles will need to be far more efficient, perhaps with some advances in new technologies such as fuel-cell hybrids.

TOYOTA 1

ok. i was begining to wonder.

Belize Off Road Team

you cant find a high MPG rock rig. even the new chevy 2wd tahoe hybrid gets around 14-16MPG ON THE HIGHWAY! feel lucky that you can get more than a new chevy hybrid 2WD 5.8L V8!!!! but i would like to see a hybrid 4Runner, just so i could laugh at it.

904_runner

Did any of you see the extreme 4x4 where they built that samurai to a diesel and ran it off vegetable oil and diesel? I think if you didn't want to keep paying for gas you could do that.

I'm not familiar with the system, but if you got free oil from restaurants and filtered it yourself, then it might be something to think about for a trail rig!

4Mogger

Pardon, but you are not thinking about the world as a whole. Ethanol is being pushed much harder worldwide than it is here. And it is the rest of the world (the US is positively rich in comparison) that cannot afford the premium price that has been placed on all food and many services that have been dramatically affected by the consumption of food as fuel--ethanol.


Yes, we may someday run out of oil. But that day is at least 50 or more years off by conservative estimates of known oil reserves. And we are finding more reserves every day. The sky is not falling...there is no impending doom that must be avoided by bankrupting economies to force a premature switch to unproven and risky alternatives. If people just chill out, the free market will respond as it always does. You think the oil companies will risk going out of business when the oil dries up? HA!
You think the car companies will team up with the oil companies to guarantee their extinction when the oil dries up?
Please. One thing we can count on in a free market...greed. And it is a damn beautiful thing too. The greedy car companies and big oil will satisfy the American (and the rest of the world) demand for function, style, power and affordability. And new technologies will emerge as demand increases. Supply and low prices will follow. One thing is sure, the government needs to stay the f out of the entire process. But they won't. Hillary will "take those profits" and prices at the pump will continue to soar. Obama will push idiotic alternatives that will further damage the natural order of the market and the world will suffer...both financially and sadly, in many cases, physically.


Planes run on what? Oil. We need domestic production on a massive scale and new refineries. People are lined up to fill the need. Politicians need to get out of the way.

I agree but I fear we may not agree on how we should achieve that goal. With the answer under our feet (domestic oil and natural gas) will we still pretend that we don't see it and continue the policies that destroy the economy and the families that rely on affordable energy?

AxleIke

Well, good luck with all the new age stuff.

I'm just happy with my Toyota truck the way it is, and gas isn't that bad here yet. I understand you guys in the expensive parts of the country to be sure, but it's only about 3.30 here.

Gas would have to get over 10 dollars a gallon before any of the "alternatives" would be economical for me. Too much "up front" cost for a vehicle that could be demolished in a wreck any day. A diesel conversion would take me close to 15 years to pay for itself in mileage savings, considering the cost of diesel. Biodiesel is a nice idea, but again, prohibitively expensive.

My truck isn't very dirty, doesn't pollute much, and doesn't get driven a ton. I lead a pretty modest life, so I have enough money to put fuel in my tank without any real issue. Its all about your priorities.

Anyway, post up pictures and write ups if you manage to pull off a conversion. I love looking at expensive builds!