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Has BMW Got It Wrong?
Part 3
By Twisted Rhodes
When I started to write about BMW’s plans to replace the gasoline powered internal combustion engine with a Hydrogen-fueled version, the research pointed me off in a different place than I intended. Since then, I’ve been thinking about the options automobile makers’ have for alternative powered engines and am now more convinced than ever that BMW is on the wrong track. I also have to admit that I was also off track two months ago when I wrote that BMW needs to get diesel powered autos in the U.S. market as soon as possible. At that time, I would have been encouraged to read in the April 2004 Roundel that BMW is seriously considering selling the X5 3.0d in the U.S. But no longer.
What changed my mind? Why the change of heart? Simple: hybrid cars. It all changed for me when the Toyota Prius hybrid appeared to rave reviews and awards for being a really good car, which just happens to have great fuel economy. How good? How about Motor Trend’s Car of the Year for 2004?
For this reason (and another which I’ll cover later), I’ve come to the conclusion that BMW is wrong in pursuing Hydrogen as the next method of motivation. Maybe “wrong” is too harsh. Hydrogen power, whether direct combustion or fuel cell-based, may come to market, but not after massive investment in development, infrastructure and time. Time is not on our side, so there has to be an alternative to help with the transition.
The little Toyota hybrid, uglier than Bangle’s crew could even pull off, is exactly the transitional technology that we need right now—it’s a watershed product for the automobile industry. It incorporates two quite interrelated ideas that dramatically improve fuel-efficiency without sacrificing power and performance. That’s what’s different about this car. Most new super efficient engine technologies I’ve read about previously don’t include performance as a feature—certainly something that turns off driving enthusiasts. Toyota did away with the power cord of pure electric automobiles, while leveraging existing infrastructure, and produced a small car that has power and performance. That’s the real key to getting someone like us to seriously consider buying a hybrid.
The first problem is that the amount of energy available for a given volume of compressed Hydrogen is quite limited. You just can’t get all that much Hydrogen in an automobile tank without slowing the atoms way down. That makes it very cold, which would be liquid Hydrogen (twenty degrees above absolute zero or -253 degrees F). Besides, cooling and compressing to that temperature results in a net 30% loss in energy that the liquid Hydrogen is storing. You would need a tank 3,000 times the size of your current gasoline tank to store the same amount of energy using Hydrogen.
We are a nation hot for horsepower, just look at the horsepower war being waged all around us. It’s hard to ignore how incongruous the ads for 500hp Dodge trucks and Concept M5s are when gas prices hover at all time highs (adjusted for inflation), and oil reserve estimates are being revised downwards. (Do a Google for “Shell” and “reserves” for a foreshadowing of what’s to come.) It’s hard to believe anyone seriously thinks this horsepower war can continue much longer.
The hybrid car offers good torque and gas economy. It has two motors working in concert to make the car get from A to B. In this case, an electric motor and a gaso-line-powered internal combustion engine that complement each other. Whereas a small engine alone lacks torque off-the-line, linking it with an electric motor— used to get the car up to speed—gives the car snappy torque. Electric motors need batteries for their power source, and to provide enough electricity for a decent range, you need a lot of batteries and some way to recharge them. The hybrid uses a smaller gasoline engine running at relatively constant speed (where it’s most efficient) to continuously recharge the batteries. Regenerative braking also helps replenish the batteries by converting the kinetic energy (motion) into electricity. That means no power cord, no corresponding outlet, and just a sip from the gas pump.
Most of the major manufacturers have plans for hybrids. Toyota has announced a hybrid Highlander SUV for 2005. Lexus has its RX400h (same guts, different sheet-metal as the Highlander), with rumored 35 MPG fuel economy. Ford has a hybrid Escape SUV with 35-40 MPG coming in ’05, too. At the last Tokyo Auto Show, Toyota showed off a Tundra hybrid pickup concept as a 2006 model. There are many more hybrids coming, and they look and drive more like mainstream vehicles than the weird little econoboxes we’ve previously associated with alternative technology cars. If auto makers can deliver a mainstream looking car with performance and a nearly 50% drop in fuel consumption, then people will be lining up to buy. I think BMW would be wise to pay attention.
Maybe some of you are thinking, “Not so fast. Hybrids cost more and weigh more due to the batteries, electric motors, and associated extra hardware. Besides, perhaps the engineers in Munich believe hydrogen power is more likely to uphold the heritage of “motor” as the company’s middle name.” All true— at the moment.
Kohei Minato and the inventor's breakthrough electric motor which uses permanent magnets to make power -- and has investors salivating
Source: www.rexresearch.com |
There’s a development that’s about to completely change the way we look at electric motors. If you don’t know the name Kohei Minato, you will soon. Mr. Minato has been working on a new way to build electric motors since the mid ’70s, but has only been devoted to it full time since 1996. He’s managed to do something no one has achieved before. His engines, using permanent magnets to make power, use almost no energy to produce power. The patent offices of 48 countries have deemed that his ideas work.
How significant is his work? Consider that an electric motor that uses 80% of the power of conventional motors is considered highly efficient. Mr. Minato’s motors can deliver the same performance using less than 20% of the power, and with significantly less heat and noise! Just how efficient are his motors? A generator using the same technology connected to one of his motors outputs more power than is used to drive the system—three times more! Has he solved the perpetual motion problem? It certainly sounds like it. The details can be found at www.japan.com/technology/index.php.
Can you imagine what the Minato motor could mean for automobiles? How about hybrids that don’t need heavy batteries? Or, electric cars that can perform as well as gasoline models AND can recharge their own batteries? If I were in charge at BMW, I’d have a crew of lawyers and engineers on a flight to Tokyo right now.
With this technology, I can envision a car with a pure electric-powered motor that’s worthy of BMW’s middle name. I’m already in line.
(Publisher's note: there has been a lot of controversy surrounding Minato and his motor. Currently there are serious charges that his motor is a fraud but he also has supporters. The jury it seems is still out. Read more at: www.rexresearch.com)
TwistedRhodes@ggc-bmw-cca.org
Copyrights 2004 -Die Flüsternde Bombe newsletter of the Golden Gate Chapter, BMW CCA 
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