Alternative Fuel Vehicles You Can Buy Today :: Automobiles Environmental Gas Economics Essays

Alternative Fuel Vehicles You Can Buy TodayFrom the earliest eld of the automotive industry alternative fuels have always competed with petroleum for powering vehicles. Nicholas Cugnot do the first-year self-powered road vehicle in 1769 with a steamer locomotive engine, and the first gasoline automobile didnt appear until over 100 years later(prenominal) from Karl Benz. Through the late 19th and early 20th century steam and electric power remained strong contenders. The invention of the self-starter for gasoline engines by Cadillac in the end proved the undoing of the early steam cars, which required warming up. electric automobile cars act upd to be produced for a while longer, but the expanding road entanglement gradually made their short range of 8-15 miles between charges too inconvenient for many uses. Today we understand that the wholesale burning of petroleum cant continue forever. As the new century opens alternative fuel vehicles are meet more and more common. Majo r manufacturers such as Ford, Daimler/Chrysler, and Fiat tin dual fuel cars and trucks now. These vehicles allow you to choose between gasoline and pissed natural gas (CNG) for cleaner emissions. Other large manufacturers such as General Motors, Toyota, and Honda are concentrating on electric vehicles. These global automakers are late moving from conventional to alternative power as the technology is actual and refined. Current battery technology allows a maximum range of slightly 125 miles per charge. The leading edge of electric vehicle technology is occupied by much smaller companies. Bombardier, Pivco AS, and S-LEM AG have designed small, light city cars intended for daily use in dense urban environments. Corbin-Pacific and Zebra Motors have chosen to concentrate on performance. Both companies produce worthy sports cars that just happen to be electrically powered. Do you have an head that you think will work for an alternatively powered vehicle pattern? The U.S. Depart ment of Energy invites small businesses (500 employees or less) to submit grant applications on hybrid electric vehicle technology. Applicants may receive up to $75,000 US for a Phase I grant to develop the feasibility of the idea.Hydrogen VehiclesFuel DescriptionHydrogen is the almost abundant element in the universe, but is rarely found in its uncombined form on the earth. When combusted (oxidized) it creates only water vapor as a by-product (4H + O2 = 2 H20). When burned in an internal combustion engine, however, combustion also produces small amounts of nitrogen oxides and small amounts of unburned hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide because of engine lubricants.