ABSTRACT
The exhaust water vapor was continuously accumulated and drained off and "the water was found to be potable but somewhat oily and rusty tasting." With hydrogen, the situation is different: on-board fuel storage represents one of the key obstacles to the automotive "clean machine." Much of the reasoning behind the decisions by Billings and Daimler-Benz to opt for heavy-hydride storage for automotive use had to do with safety. The Perris project had obtained one of several assistance grants from General Motors to help prepare a Ford pickup truck to operate on liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen for the race. Unfortunately, the project was stopped by a variety of logistical and managerial problems. Fuel cells are devices in which hydrogen recombines with oxygen to produce electricity and water—a reversal of electrolysis, which splits water into hydrogen and oxygen. Methanol, a particular type of alcohol, is being advocated by some as the clean, liquid fuel for cars of the future.
