A couple of news headlines in the last few days have once again brought into focus two of the most pressing problems facing every nation on this earth today.They are the price of crude oil touching $84 a barrel and that the arctic ice is vanishing at an alarming rate.The former threatens to derail economic growth worldwide and the latter is a warning that we are on the brink of an environmental catastrophe with yet unforeseen consequences.This is exactly why hydrogen powered vehicles become so important.
Most people think that US automakers have surrendered technological leadership to their Japanese rivals for good.If one were to consider sales of conventional vehicles and the latest hybrids then nobody would have a choice but to agree.But fortunately things are not so bleak for the US auto industry as they may appear at first sight.
People tend to overlook the fact that one of the major reasons why US automakers have lagged behind in the development of hybrid technology is that they have concentrated on developing electric and hydrogen powered vehicles.
So how do hydrogen powered vehicles work?They work in two different ways.The first is that hydrogen is burnt in internal combustion engines in the same way as in conventional autos.The second is to use hydrogen to power fuel cells.Here hydrogen is reacted with oxygen to produce electricity which is used to power an electric motor through a battery.
Hydrogen can be produced from a multiplicity of sources such as natural gas ,converting coal into gas,biomass and other waste products apart from water.It is estimated that supplies of hydrogen are unlimited.
Presently there are about 200 hydrogen powered vehicles on the road in the US mainly in California.Companies have started offering hydrogen powered cars to customers but there are a couple of problems.For one the cost of the vehicle is very high and secondly the fuel is not easily available.However it is expected that mass production will lead to significant reduction in costs.
Although hybrid cars cut down emissions significantly, only hydrogen cars offer zero emission, the only emission being water vapor.Moreover these cars will drastically reduce the nation's dependence on imported oil.The US government is actively supporting this initiative and President Bush has allocated almost $2 billion to this program.Since one fifth of the nation's cars are sold in California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is trying hard to put in place an infrastructure which would ensure easy availability of hydrogen.Once costs come down and fuel is easily available there is no reason why hydrogen cars will not replace gasoline cars very quickly because performance wise hydrogen cars are a match for their gasoline counterparts.Moreover they are more efficient and give two to three times the mileage of gasoline vehicles per equivalent measure of hydrogen.
Hopefully it won't be very long before hydrogen vehicles are a common sight on the highway.
Lamborghini Builds $1.4 Million Car!
One day Feruccio Lamborghini,a tractor manufacturer and a car enthusiast went to meet Enzo Ferrari at the Ferrari factory to complain about the clutch in the Ferrari he owned.Enzo Ferrari told him to go away and drive a tractor because he was not fit to to drive cars.Lamborghini went back to his factory, had his Ferrari's clutch dismantled,and fixed the problem.
Encouraged by his success he decided to go ahead and build a sports car to his liking.The Lamborghini 350GTV made its first public appearance at the Turin Auto show in 1963.A string of successful cars followed and the company entered the small world of super car manufacturers.
In 1972 the company suffered a major blow when a large tractor order for a South American country was canceled causing large financial losses and forcing Feruccio to sell part of his tractor business.The car division flourished however and became profitable.The same year Lamborghini sold his interest in the car division a well and retired to pursue his hobby of wine making.
In the 1970's the oil crisis hit sales of expensive high performance cars and Lamborghini was no exception.Since it had a two year wait list many customers simply got fed up waiting for it.It also had reliability problems and needed expensive maintenance.The US also prescribed strict emission norms for automobiles. Unable to cope Lamborghini declared bankruptcy in 1978.
The company got a new lease of life after it was taken over by Chrysler in 1987.Today Lamborghini is owned by Volkswagen, and these cars are among the most powerful, expensive and exclusive cars on the road today.
Continuing the tradition of building exclusive, super expensive cars Lamborghini has unveiled the 'Reventon' at the Frankfurt international auto show.This is the most expensive car it has ever built and it costs $1.4 million to own one.It has already sold the 20 cars it proposes to build.It took them just four days to do it. The latest news is that ultimately 100 cars may be built.Most of the buyers are rumored to be businessmen from the US.Powered by a Lamborghini V12 engine the Reventon has a displacement of 6496cc. and delivers a top speed of 309km/h.The Reventon promises to be one of the most exciting Lamborghini models ever.
Encouraged by his success he decided to go ahead and build a sports car to his liking.The Lamborghini 350GTV made its first public appearance at the Turin Auto show in 1963.A string of successful cars followed and the company entered the small world of super car manufacturers.
In 1972 the company suffered a major blow when a large tractor order for a South American country was canceled causing large financial losses and forcing Feruccio to sell part of his tractor business.The car division flourished however and became profitable.The same year Lamborghini sold his interest in the car division a well and retired to pursue his hobby of wine making.
In the 1970's the oil crisis hit sales of expensive high performance cars and Lamborghini was no exception.Since it had a two year wait list many customers simply got fed up waiting for it.It also had reliability problems and needed expensive maintenance.The US also prescribed strict emission norms for automobiles. Unable to cope Lamborghini declared bankruptcy in 1978.
The company got a new lease of life after it was taken over by Chrysler in 1987.Today Lamborghini is owned by Volkswagen, and these cars are among the most powerful, expensive and exclusive cars on the road today.
Continuing the tradition of building exclusive, super expensive cars Lamborghini has unveiled the 'Reventon' at the Frankfurt international auto show.This is the most expensive car it has ever built and it costs $1.4 million to own one.It has already sold the 20 cars it proposes to build.It took them just four days to do it. The latest news is that ultimately 100 cars may be built.Most of the buyers are rumored to be businessmen from the US.Powered by a Lamborghini V12 engine the Reventon has a displacement of 6496cc. and delivers a top speed of 309km/h.The Reventon promises to be one of the most exciting Lamborghini models ever.
Buying A New Car? Consider A Hyundai!
When one plans to buy a new car the name Hyundai doesn't come readily to mind.Hyundai motors America is headquartered in Fountain Valley California.Hyundai vehicles are sold throughout the US through more than 755 dealerships nationwide.
Hyundai entered the US market in 1986 and has had a fair amount of success since then.This year it hopes to sell 500,000 cars and it has a market share of 3.1% which puts it ahead of better known rivals such as Mazda.BMW and Volkswagen.
The Hyundai models have improved a lot over the last few years.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration(NHTSA) gave five-star crash test ratings, the highest government rating under the agency's New Car Assessment Program, to the all new 2007 Hyundai Veracruz and Santa Fe for both frontal and side impact crash tests.The 2007 Elantra also scored five stars for frontal crash performance and Veracruz earned four stars for rollover performance.Sixty-three
models were assessed.
The Veracruz SUV utilizes the latest in active and passive safety technologies,including standard Electronic Stability Control, Anti Lock Braking System with Electronic Brake Force Distribution, anti whiplash passenger cabin and six airbags.The Veracruz has engineered crumple zones and a host of other safety devices including a Tire Pressure Monitoring system which alerts drivers if any of the tires is under inflated.In the area of safety the 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe ranked above the Toyota RAV4 and the Elantra beat out the Toyota Prius model in the compact car segment.
The Hyundai models perhaps lack the polish of their US and Japanese counterparts but they are darn close and if you consider that they cost about 20% less to buy, the difference becomes narrower still.In fact you no longer have to buy a Hyundai to save money.If you feel like saving money while buying something that is functionally as good and is a well conceived machine in its own right then a Hyundai is worth a second look.
The South Korean giant has aggressive growth plans and hopes to increase its US sales volume to more than 700,000 cars annually by the end of 2010, a 40% increase.Next week it plans to launch a new $150 million campaign in an effort to improve the Hyundai brand image.Its aim is to get rid of the image of being a value brand which sells only because of lower sticker prices.Experts acknowledge that its a brand issue and unless people have a good enough reason to change brands,they simply won't.With this in mind Hyundai plans to sell its total package rather than its price to consumers.Among other things it plans to offer attractive warranties and roadside assistance programs which are very important today to the consumer.
If this strategy clicks then we just might see more Hyundai cars on US roads in the near future.
Hyundai entered the US market in 1986 and has had a fair amount of success since then.This year it hopes to sell 500,000 cars and it has a market share of 3.1% which puts it ahead of better known rivals such as Mazda.BMW and Volkswagen.
The Hyundai models have improved a lot over the last few years.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration(NHTSA) gave five-star crash test ratings, the highest government rating under the agency's New Car Assessment Program, to the all new 2007 Hyundai Veracruz and Santa Fe for both frontal and side impact crash tests.The 2007 Elantra also scored five stars for frontal crash performance and Veracruz earned four stars for rollover performance.Sixty-three
models were assessed.
The Veracruz SUV utilizes the latest in active and passive safety technologies,including standard Electronic Stability Control, Anti Lock Braking System with Electronic Brake Force Distribution, anti whiplash passenger cabin and six airbags.The Veracruz has engineered crumple zones and a host of other safety devices including a Tire Pressure Monitoring system which alerts drivers if any of the tires is under inflated.In the area of safety the 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe ranked above the Toyota RAV4 and the Elantra beat out the Toyota Prius model in the compact car segment.
The Hyundai models perhaps lack the polish of their US and Japanese counterparts but they are darn close and if you consider that they cost about 20% less to buy, the difference becomes narrower still.In fact you no longer have to buy a Hyundai to save money.If you feel like saving money while buying something that is functionally as good and is a well conceived machine in its own right then a Hyundai is worth a second look.
The South Korean giant has aggressive growth plans and hopes to increase its US sales volume to more than 700,000 cars annually by the end of 2010, a 40% increase.Next week it plans to launch a new $150 million campaign in an effort to improve the Hyundai brand image.Its aim is to get rid of the image of being a value brand which sells only because of lower sticker prices.Experts acknowledge that its a brand issue and unless people have a good enough reason to change brands,they simply won't.With this in mind Hyundai plans to sell its total package rather than its price to consumers.Among other things it plans to offer attractive warranties and roadside assistance programs which are very important today to the consumer.
If this strategy clicks then we just might see more Hyundai cars on US roads in the near future.
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