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Technology Stocks : Ballard Power -world leader zero-emission PEM fuel cells -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Thomas Stewart who wrote (3531)	12/26/1998 3:59:00 AM
From: Sleeperz	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5827

It all comes down to cost. Why bother with the expense of adding in a battery pack and electric motor controller, etc when a FC should be able to supply all the electrical power requirements of the vehicle. With a battery pack on the bottom and hyrdrogen tank on the top, that will be one big Hybrid Boat. If the FC vehicle offers impressive accleration, reliabilty, and low maintenance costs and is cheaper to boot, then by all means bring it on. But the fact of the matter is FC vehicles are currently a concept vehicle and will not see commercial production any time soon. The hybrids are being sold on the showroom floor by Toyota and Honda soon. Hybrid HumVees are also used by the military. Hybrid Buses are also being manufactured ready for sale. But is anyone currently driving around in a FC vehicle for transporation even a retrofit? So to be realistic, Hybrids will come before the FC vehicle. If FC vehicles come in cheaper and better then so be it, I'll be first in line to buy one. If Warp Drive Star Ships come out even Cheaper I will be inline too. Please clarify. Evidently you are saying "why bother" with fuel cells because hybrid cars create so few emissions. Are fuel cells not worth the candle because 70 mpg is good enough and no one will want to "bother" with, e.g., 140 mpg cars? That doesn't make sense to me. However, maybe I have misunderstood you and there is a technical problem that I don't understand. So: 1) is it THEORETICALLY possible to create a fuel cell powered hybrid car? And if so, I would not know since like FORD and GM and the other top auto makers I do not posess a $3 Billion R+ D lab with a CRAY computer to theorectically simulate the relative effiency of an ICE Hybrid versus a FC Hybrid. Perhaps someone who has connections at Ballard can obtain the fuel efficiency records of the Ballard buses in testing. But a guess would assume any efficiency gains by a FC Hybrid from regenerative braking would be lost in the weight gain from the battery packs and ancillary equipment. 2) Would such a car be more efficient than an ICE hybrid car?