Company Unveils Hydrogen Hybrid Supercar: Available Fall 2008
Well, here it is folks. A company has finally gone and built the controversial hydrogen hybrid system (or hydrogen injection, or Water4Gas or HHO system – choose your poison) into what appears to be a true production car. Not only that, the car looks, well, stunning… to put it mildly.
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Ronn Motors of Austin, Texas, yesterday unveiled what they’re calling “the key to a new generation of “green cars.” The company’s Chief Executive Officer, Ronn Maxwell, had this to say about it:
“What we are revealing today is an innovation in the automotive industry and demonstrates American ingenuity at a time of real need. We’re designing and building cars with performance components and unique styling with the objective of making the new environmentally friendly vehicle stand out with never before seen style and approximately 40 mpg plus efficiency.”
I recently featured this type of hydrogen-on-demand hybrid system in a Gas 2.0 post about potential fuel saving scam devices. At the end of that post I had to say that the jury was still out on these types of systems. There was plenty of back and forth from folks who felt that hydrogen hybrids were scams and those that claimed they had installed the devices and they actually worked.
If Ronn Motors has truly built it into a production supercar, and it works, that would kind of put the kibosh on any naysayers out there now, wouldn’t it? Not only would the development and production of this car validate the functionality of hydrogen hybrids, it also could spur a broader public interest and recognition of the technology.
As of right now, it’s only a test car and some of the quotes from Ronn executives suggest they haven’t actually installed a hydrogen generator into the vehicle yet. But as the Hydrogen Cars & Vehicles blog puts it: “Move over Bugatti, Lamborghini and Saleen, the Ronn Motors Scorpion is a supercar that will scoot 0 to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds and achieve 40 mpg, too.” I mean, if it’s true, this appears to be an awesome development.
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Image credit: Ronn Motors
[...] Company Unveils Hydrogen Hybrid Supercar: Available Fall 2008I recently featured this type of hydrogen-on-demand hybrid system in a Gas 2.0 post about potential fuel saving scam devices. At the end of that post I had to say that the jury was still out on these types of systems. … [...]
I hope this thing isn’t fueled by water. That’s about as stupid as using corn for biofuel. We need to think about our precious resources and how we’re using them. Water is more important than gasoline. We don’t need to be using it as fuel. Most school kids realize that only 1% of all freshwater on this planet is available for use. There really is not much of it.
@Sheri
When water is converted to hydrogen and oxygen then ignited, it is converted back to pure water. So we won’t be using up water. We’ll be creating more pure water.
@Sheri
It isn’t entirely fueled by water. That would be the basis for a perpetual motion machine and then we’d be on really thin ice in terms of reality.
The Scorpion is a hydrogen hybrid which means that water from an on-board tank is split into its component parts and then the resulting hydrogen and oxygen gases are injected into the normal fuel line in small proportions to theoretically increase combustion rates and fuel economy. Whether this actually works is a point up for considerable debate. If this car actually delivers, it would merit serious further scrutiny.
First of all Sheri, your a frickin genius (sarcastic) second this car sounds like Jesus as in it runs on water (couldn’t resist) and third, this car looks great but the purpose is to save gas money so unless they make one that costs like $15,000, I’m not interested.
Running on only water isn’t the basis for a perpetual motion machine.
As I ‘understand’ it, a perpetual motion machine creates as much energy as it consumes. Therefore it can run forever. Running solely on water is only changing the fuel type, not how much energy it consumes or produces.
Sweet! I’m also eager for the Venture to hit the highway.
I think this is the starting point where sexy meets green. Where fuel efficient vehicles have the appearance that American consumers are looking for. No one wants to drive an ugly hybrid, but I bet you can get many bachelors to invest in this new sustainable vehicle. Finally, a company that understands the American consumer and the Y generation’s existence. I am looking forward to learn more about Ronn Motors new vehicle and how they will advertise this car. One thing that worries me is the price.
it looks expensive…but sexy
So essentially what they have now is a rolling chassis (sans hydrogen hybrid system) and a CGI mockup of what the body will look like. Granted, it’s a very pretty rolling chassis, but if they haven’t even tested the hydrogen hybrid part out yet I seriously doubt they’ll be ready for production by fall (I mean, there are a whole gigantic set of red-tape hurdles to building production cars unless you are doing custom build jobs, and if that’s the case these won’t be very affordable or profitable).