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BMW Hydrogen 7 is unveiled as first for luxury performance space
While plenty of car manufacturers have been working hard to bring hydrogen-based vehicles to the everyman, it seems BMW has been taking an alternate tact, and instead got bizzy squeezing a hydrogen drive into a 7 Series model. The car's engine can run on either hydrogen or gasoline, and includes tanks for both. You can manage around 124 miles on hydrogen and an additional 311 miles on gasoline, which should cut down on the whole "stranded in the middle of nowhere since there aren't enough hydrogen stations yet" situation. Performance is passable, at 0-62mph in 9.5 seconds, but this ain't no Tesla. The switch between power sources is performed automatically at the push of a button, and the car will be produced in a limited series for selected users, meaning you probably won't even have a shot at one. All the same, it's good to see alterna-fuel vehicles getting so close to reality -- and BMW seems convinced that in reality, the future won't just play host to compact boringcars.
Casio develops methanol-based micro liquid fuel cell
Speaking of liquid fuel, we've just caught wind of another liquid fuel cell that may be available a little sooner than LG's ebook concept laptop. Casio has apparently developed a new prototype fuel cell that could make our long-standing desire to live a totally wireless life possible. According to DigitalCameraInfo, Casio's new technology draws in methanol "to produce an electrolyzed liquid that is emitted as hydrogen gas." Then, apparently after some chemical hocus-pocus, the power source can remain autonomous and continuous. The Cas says that it's made this system work in a digital camera and also said that it will be shipping the micro fuel cell technology beginning next year, which we assume means they've worked out the volatility issues we mentioned before. Assuming all goes as planned, our next question is: where's our nearest supplier of methanol?[Via DigitalCameraInfo.com]
SAIT and Samsung team for smallest fuel cell charger
There's a big difference between "smallest" and "small enough," but SAIT and Samsung SDI might've just crossed the gap with their new joint-developed fuel cell mobile charger. The device, which the companies claim is the world's smallest fuel cell charger yet, can pump 2W of juice, and supposedly charges mobile devices in 1/5 the time of competing offerings. At 5.3 ounces, and measuring a mere 5mm thick, it shouldn't be much of a problem at all to slip this into your bag, letting you extend the life of your PDA, phone, camera or PMP. In tests the charger has completed 200 continuous charges, and is nearly ready for market -- with over 120 patents involved in making this thing tick. The unit is based on small user-replaceable methanol cartridges, providing "limitless" power if you're willing to spring for enough fuel cartridges. There's no exact word on when these things will hit retail shelves, but Samsung expects chargers like this, along with fuel cell-based laptop batteries to be commonplace in 2-3 years. [Thanks, Mike]
Toshiba's fuel cell-powered "Segway competitor" in the works?
Sure, we've seen plenty of Segway wannabes, but Toshiba is reportedly planning to go head to head (or wheel to wheel, depending on perspective) with the human transporting giant by releasing a "competitor" of its own. While details are scant at this point, photos have surfaced that showcase Tosh's presumably forthcoming fuel-cell powered scooter, and it apparently boasts a safer, sturdier design than the hopelessly recalled Segway. Interestingly, the mysterious device is said to sport "LED lights" and communication sensors on the front to "prevent collisions" with other riders and "auto-navigate" when possible. Considering that the manually-driven Segways are illegal on Japanese streets, this functionality would hopefully legalize the machine for public use, but matching up this bad boy with a HT-V1A on a deserted street would give a whole new meaning to Tokyo drift, eh?[Via Crave]
EnerAge plans to power your laptop with a hydrocarbon fuel cell
If all goes well for fuel cell designer EnerAge, you may soon be able to fill up your laptop at the same time that you fill up your car's gas tank. CNET is reporting that by early 2007, the Los Angeles-area company claims that it will demo a 25-watt fuel cell that will keep your laptop juiced. While we've already seen a few fuel cell hopefuls, this new one is potentially among the most innovative. EnerAge's fuel cell allegedly will burn any hydrocarbon fuel, including methane, butane, methanol or ethanol -- so it would seem that burning diesel or gasoline is within the realm of possibility as well. While there have been countless previous attempts at fuel cells, EnerAge's design is a "direct oxidation fuel cell," which CNET explains as such: "It mixes air with a hydrocarbon. When the materials come in contact with the membrane, electrons are released. The reaction also results in byproducts like water and CO2." However, there still remains a huge engineering puzzle to get around, which is that the fuel cell itself can reach temperatures of as high as 600 degrees Celsius (that's 1,112 degrees Fahrenheit). Yikes. And let's not forget the carbon dioxide factor -- exactly what we're trying to get rid of from automobile and coal emissions (to name a couple). As you can imagine, we're skeptical at best, but any solution that might enable increasingly plugless computing is worthy of a second glance by us.
Toshiba still whittling away at their fuel cell prototypes
We can't say portable fuel cell power has really "arrived" yet -- perhaps when it no longer doubles the mass of the device it's attached to, then we can talk. But at least Toshiba isn't giving up on the technology, and they showed off some prototypes at CEATAC 2006 to demonstrate the fruit of their many years of labor. It doesn't look like they've managed to do much slimming since the last time we saw a couple prototypes this June, but the unit they've slapped onto the V30T looks promising, and the laptop version (peep after the break) seems at least more integrated than the last one we saw. No more word on when these things are going to get real and start providing us with that power-cord nirvana we've always dreamed of, but it's nice to know that we could always swipe one of these at a temporarily unguarded tradeshow booth. You know, for emergency use. Or something.
GM developing home-based hydrogen filling station
If you're tired of waiting for your neighborhood gas station to bust out a hydrogen pump for filling up your fuel cell vehicle that you bought on the black market, have no fear. GM is prepping a hydrogen refueling station that can be set up in your home, and is powered off of electricity or sunlight. The expectation is that early adopters will be able to fill up their own vehicles at home while they wait for the hydrogen infrastructure to be built out. Honda has had already built a similar system, and it looks like it'll be a long while until we can find that sweet, sweet hydrogen nectar at our corner pump, so this might be the best we're going to get for a while. GM also recently announced that they're prepping 100 fuel cell-based Chevrolet Equinox SUVs to be put in the hands of "consumers" (i.e. 100 highly visible, photogenic and PR-friendly people) across the US. As for a publicly available fuel cell vehicle, it looks like you'll have to wait until 2011 to have a legitimate excuse to pick up one of these refueling stations.[Via AutoblogGreen]
Suzuki Motors unveils MIO: the fuel cell-powered wheelchair
If you're trying to get away from that gas guzzling wheelchair, but feel a bit awkward rolling in the less-than-glamorous solar-powered edition, Suzuki Motors has got your back. Taking a leap forward from its previous lead-acid battery-powered electric wheelchair, the MIO is a motor-driven cart that gets its juice from an ultra-green fuel cell. The cell works in conjunction with a "large capacity Li-ion secondary battery," and while we aren't certain of how quickly this bad boy can streak down the quarter mile, it can supposedly cruise for 25 miles on a single fill up (four liters) of methanol solution. Aside from the power source, the MIO sports armrests that serve double duty as safety barriers, ergonomic handlebars, a comfortable mesh seating surface, and even an LCD panel that shows such useful data as fuel level and power status. While Suzuki insists the unit is simply a prototype, and refuses to hand out pricing details while it "judges consumer interest," the MIO should still be a bit easier to acquire than the sold out Tesla should it ever hit stores.[Via Far East Gizmos]
South Koreans make hydrogen solid for a brighter fuel cell future
While storing hydrogen as a solid by fusing it to titanium isn't an entirely new idea, a team of South Korean scientists look to be the first to find a reliable and efficient method of doing so. The solid-state storage of hydrogen has long been a goal of fuel cell systems, since it does away with those nasty explosive notions of storing hydrogen at a high pressure and low temperature. Apparently the new method being unveiled by the team from the Korea Institute of Science and Technology not only manages to bind hydrogen with titanium into the form of a stable solid that has much less requirements for pressure or temperature regulation, but it takes "absolutely no energy input" to store as such, and "relatively small amounts of energy" to extract. The process still needs further testing, but hopes are high for this discovery to lead toward fuel cell vehicles that are a bit less of a bomb-on-wheels, and more efficient to obtain energy for -- which was the idea all along, right?
Siemens VDO shows off eCorner motor-in-hub concept
We've seen various implementations of all these assorted next-gen car technologies that Siemens got ahold of for their new eCorner system, but they've managed to squeeze them all into a single wheel, creating quite an interesting system for use with fuel cell or hybrid cars. First off, there's an electronic motor integrated into the wheel hub, allowing for more efficient power use and independent rotation from the rest of the car. Next up is an active suspension system and Siemens' very own electronic wedge brake (EWB). Finally, the independent steer-by-wire function built into the wheel allows for some very interesting maneuverability. Siemens expect cars that would use such functionality to be common in 15 years or so, but we hope we don't have to wait that long for all the fun and power savings this system promises.[Via Autoblog]
Woz and Buzz to take Hydrogen Hummer to South Pole
Before we dive into the actual story, lets just take a minute to sit back and appreciate just how fantastically bizarre that title is....Ok then! Mac daddy Steve Wozniak has announced that in December 2007, he and Moon man Buzz Aldrin (second person ever to set foot on the Moon) will participate in an expedition to the South Pole in which the intrepid explorers will be conveyed by Hydrogen fuel cell powered H1 Hummers. The Apple co-founder revealed his plans at Stanford University's AlwaysOn conference. The modern day eco-friendly adventure will be filmed using 3D cameras for use in an upcoming James Cameron film. According to Woz, the team has received significant input from the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, which runs three of its buses on fuel cells. [via Cult of Mac]
Just add water: NTT DoCoMo to demo new fuel cell charger
Countrywide 3G coverage: check. Plethora of gorgeous 3G phones in all shapes, sizes, and platforms: check. 4G development well underway: check. Dismal standby times: check. With battery tech having largely stagnated over the last few years, Japan's NTT DoCoMo has turned their attention to powering all that buttery, broadband goodness via more creative means, showing their direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) recharger last year. The DMFC wasn't a bad first effort, but how about shrinking it by a factor of four, doubling the output, and swapping methanol for water? That's what they've managed to do through a partnership with Aquafairy Co., pumping out a prototype polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) that rocks 800mAh at 3.6V -- enough juice to recharge your average FOMA handset in the same time as a wall wart. The new unit gets shown off this week at Wireless Japan 2006 with production plans slated for next year; availability outside Japan is (as usual) an open question, but with battery life falling to under a day on some modern smartphones, we can only hope manufacturers' hands are going to be forced on this one.[Via The Raw Feed]
Voller's "ABC" fuel cell charger, with USB
Sure, Voller's fuel cell-based Automatic Battery Charger (ABC, isn't that clever?) can power your iPod for a whole week of tunes, but you've got to ask yourself: "can my playlists take that kind of heat?" Remember, there's only so much James Blunt the world can take, and he's quickly reaching his quota. Luckily, the ABC can handle some much more reasonable tasks, since in addition to a USB port, it can pump power through a cigarette-lighter socket and a regular ol' wall socket. The device runs on hydrogen stored in a Polymer Electrolyte Membrane fuel cell, stored in a removable tank. Not quite the pinnacle of fuel cell tech, and a far cry from efforts of those like Toshiba who are trying to squeeze this power source into a laptop, but its clean energy and quite plentiful, so we can't complain.
UltraCell launches XX25 Micro Fuel Cell
We were understandably skeptic when we heard in March that UltraCell was hoping to have some of their rugged laptop fuel cells ready for sale by the second half of this year, but it looks like they're standing by their word. They've just announced the immediate available of their Military-grade UltraCell XX25, which claims up to three days of power for a laptop off of one hot-swappable fuel cartridge. You can also have the unit configured for longer life if you need a longer duration for something like remote surveillance. UltraCell hasn't mentioned prices yet, and we're guessing you won't be able to walk out of Best Buy (or onto an airplane) with one of these any time soon, but if you've got the cash and the industry cred you should be able to nab your very own fuel cell and start enjoying life untethered.[Via gizmag]
MIT developing hairy capacitors, Energizer Bunny weeps
Check it grandpa, 'cause your 18th century inventions are set to change modern portable electronics in a big way. Those neomaxizoomdweebies over at MIT have discovered a process whereby capacitors -- those little stored energy devices knocking dim-witted TV tinkerers on their asses for decades -- can be slathered at the electrodes with nanotubes thereby increasing the surface density to store more energy. So just like a thick fuzzy towel soaks up more slop than a bedside sock, these new capacitors can be kept small and store the equivalent energy of today's chemical batteries. Why do you care? Well, the device could potentially be recharged hundreds of thousands of times and in only a matter of seconds saving you time and the environment, heartburn. Prototypes are expected within the next few months with actual product hitting the market in less than five years. Fuel cells, fool cells, bring on the capacitors!
Toshiba shows off latest laptop fuel cell prototype
We've been rooting for fuel cell laptops ever since we were able to form sentences that long, and while they're still a ways away from store shelves, Toshiba has a promising working prototype that they've been showing around. After four years of work, it looks like Toshiba's main battle has been getting this methanol-powered unit down in size. Currently they've got its bulk down to that of a largish and heavy laptop dock, but at CES they showed a version that sat completely in the footprint of a laptop, and which should be released sometime after the dock-style unit is released in 2007. The current version can power a Portege for about 10 hours, and has been generally well received by testers of various disciplines. The main complaint so far is a vague fear of methanol -- Toshiba is quick to stress the numerous safety features of their device -- and the clicking a whirring noises made by the fuel cell's pumps and valves. The refills can also be a bit of a pain, so hopefully Toshiba works out these kinks as they continue to shrink and refine their device, but we're looking forward to the future of laptop power as it haltingly emerges out of the lab and onto our laps.[Via Slashdot]
