Mazda will lease RX-8 that uses-2 fuels

James B. Treece STAFF REPORTER YOKOHAMA, Japan - Within two years,
Mazda
Motor Corp. will lease an RX-8 that can run on either hydrogen or
gasoline.
The first few leases of the rotary -engine sports car will be to
government and corporate fleets to gather operating data on the
experimental cars.
That also has been the case for the leases of the handful of fuel cell
cars on the road.
Mazda will build a hydrogen fIlling station at its Hiroshima
headquarters in February for testing. Mazda will lease all of the cars
in Japan.

Ford Motor Co. owns 33.4 percent of Mazda.
Mazda sees the dual-fuel rotary engine as particularly well suited to a
time in the future when the world will shift from gasoline to hydrogen
as a fuel.
"We think the two can live together on the market," says Akihiro
Kashiwagi, the program's project manager.


The dual-fuel rotary engine, he says, would ease a driver's concerns
about finding a hydrogen filling station while the infrastructure for
hydrogen is being put in place.
Mazda unveiled its ninth and latest hydrogen-powered vehicle at last
year's Tokyo Motor Show, which was for passenger cars and motorcycles.
The first hydrogen-powered vehicle debuted in 1991.
Mazda will show a tweaked version of that ninth vehicle, the dual-fuel
RX-8, at the Tokyo Motor Show in November, which is for commercial and
barrier-free vehicles. Mazda gave technical details at a
press briefing at its Yokohama design studio.


The car has two fuel tanks, plus hydrogen leak sensors in the cabin,
engine compartment and just outside the pressurized hydrogen tank. A
driver chooses which fuel to burn before starting the car. The
RX-8 can drive 43.5 miles on its 19.2-gallon tank of hydrogen. The
hydrogen tank fills the trunk.
The 15.9-gallon tank of gasoline. is the same size and in the same
place
under the rear seat, as on the current production model. The hydrogen
RX-8 can be built or the same assembly line as the
gasoline version, unlike a fuel cell car.


Both fuel cells and hydrogen engines eliminate all carbon dioxide
emissions. Fuel cells also eliminate emissions of oxides of nitrogen,
Mazda says that rotary hydrogen engines cut NOx to "almost
Zero.

 

"The RX-8 can drive 43.5 miles on its 19.2-gallon tank of hydrogen. The
hydrogen tank fills the trunk."

I am underwhelmed.

You all thought that 12 miles per gallon was bad... wait till you get 2.2 miles per gallon of hydrogen..

1/8th the mileage, 1/2 the horsepower..... Sign me up!

Honestly, 43 miles is so absolutely impractical that I am surprised they let this dodo fly off the assembly line.

The only way I can see this work is those "home hydrogen kits" where you add water and make your own hydrogen via electrolysis... some manufacturer was marketing them.. honda or toyota? I can't recall.

But driving to a special hydrogen gas station so you can get your next 43 miles is silly.

 

Hey no one said it was good, just that it existed LOL

 

Yeah, I'm really hoping that was a typo... infact I really can't see how it wouldn't be.

Maybe they mean 43miles/gallon or 430miles?

Something isn't right there.

 

Hydrogen powered RX-8 has effective range of 390 miles

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6343414/


But I think that's taking both tanks into account.


Then again... it's still in testing.

 

If you take the 24 MPG EPA figure and 15.6 gallon tank.. that is already.. 374.4 miles. on gas.

I can see how they would try to spin it into a positive 390 mile range, even though only 1/10th of the range is via hydrogen.

 

Plus you need to find one that is closer then 43 miles else you might run out of fuel before you get there... sounds interesting

 

That's what the gas tank is there for :D

 

For a daily commute, 43 miles is probably pretty reasonable, wiith petrol for backup. You might have to fill up on gas once a month.

But it takes several hours to make enough hydrogen at home to fill up your car. And it takes electricity. Not sure how much more or less than the cost of a gallon of fuel, but with a 43 mile range... I wouldn't start counting the savings yet.

Hydrogen has a long ways to go before it becomes practical.

 

so that is why it has two tanks... awesome idea you go for your hydrogene using hydrogene and if it runs out of h2 you swith to gas... beautifull.. then you finally get to the station, pump your hydrogen, go home, run out of h2 on the way, but hey... you still has gas in your other tank... do the switch get home and now you need your hydrogene... amazing... remember to fill up your gas before your next trip for h2. I am ordering one now!!!

 

Indeed, but at least Mazda (or more probably, Ford) are looking into it and are already ahead of the competition. We're all laughing now, but we won't be in 2030 when we've ALL got RX-11 hydrogen editions for daily drivers.