I’ve been eyeing a 62 Alpine that’s been with same owner for 18yrs. I have been talking to the owner for some time, just very hesitant to buy it right now with everything else that’s going on at home these days. former show winner.
there’s a reason why I haven’t owned one 
Same reason the only one I’ve ever owned which I bought last year was replaced with a German car after 4 months
It’s funny. I used to think Capris were a bit naff but looking back they were quite stylish.
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## Ford (Ferguson) Capri 4x4 (1971)
“Did you know that there was a four-wheel drive Capri? Well, we’d forgive you for not knowing, as it never got beyond the prototype stage. Just 17 were built to demonstrate the possibility, but just one it seems survives, and you’re looking at it.”
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That’s the Ford memorial garage isn’t it? Recognise it from an episode of TG.
Yes, near the Dagenham Plant in Essex - Well spotted 
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I think Leccy motors will be short lived - it’ll be hydrogen that does it.
The FIL just downgraded from his Cayenne to a full electric Skoda Enyaq VRs. The thing goes like the clappers (particularly in sport mode) and is surprisingly well built. Not sure I’d have one though personally, especially in that bright green colour!
Do you mean a hydrogen internal combustion engine? I suspect that’s a non-starter, simply because of the lack of efficiency. A fuel cell engine may have some utility but that needs an electric motor.
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Yes that’s what I mean - saw some press releases on it recently. Lots going into it - if they can solve the efficiency, it would take over. Like all things, we think its not going to happen, then the scientists work it out and it does happen.
Batteries/Cells require a lot of precious/critical minerals - they are finite and already come from very questionable mining operations. The waste from those batteries, once they are spent, will also be a big problem. Makes me laugh when leccy car owners get on their high horses about being “green” - what about the rest of the problems!
Well, the advantage of using a fuel cell is that you don’t have huge batteries. There is a tank of hydrogen that is converted to electricity in the fuel cell. This is around twice as efficient as an internal combustion engine but less efficient than batteries. However, it is potentially much lighter than a battery car for a given range and it doesn’t have the huge lump of metal that an internal combustion engine requires.
The problem with the traditional internal combustion engine is that it only achieves peak brake-specific fuel consumption in a tiny speed and load range. Mostly they are operating in a sub-optimal manner. One way around this is to use them as a generator and to charge a small battery which then drives electric motors.
All of this leads back to one thing which is that electric motors work much better than combustion engines. Even with fancy gearboxes, turbo-chargers and hybrid systems the best that can be managed is trying to emulate what an electric motor does natively.
Think we went over this a few months ago, Hydrogen is an absolute bitch to contain as it just leaks as it’s so light. Transportation and distribution is a problem yet to be even vaguely solved.
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Yep…will be interesting to see if they can solve it.
I think some tangible progress has already been made on recycling, and also developing batteries to be more recyclable. I remember reading that there is quite a bit of commercial interest because it’s essentially boosting the supply of such metals, which battery manufacturers would be glad to hear.
Again, as the debate has been done to death, fossil fuels aren’t exactly any better from the extraction processes, including the pollution throughout the whole process from extraction, refining, and then combustion.
I’m personally not sure hydrogen has a future either, simply for the reason @Klopptimist states, it’s just not viable for transport. Ever since I’ve been into cars, for a couple of decades now, hydrogen fuel cell cars have always been just round the corner. I’m wondering if Toyota’s solid state batteries will come before then.
The only question with regards to the environment and ethical concerns, is what material these batteries would be made of.
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Lambo were making a car powered by super capacitors 20 years ago. Still waiting for that one. It’s like fusion, just round the corner as it has been for 50 years. I wonder if ITER will generate energy positively in my lifetime. Musk will land a rocket on mars first I suspect.
I don’t know enough about it all, so thank you for sharing your knowledge - missed all the discussions that have been had!
I suppose there are two things at play. One is proof-of-concept over scale. With fusion, they have made advancements with the technology but there is yet to be a demo reactor that can sit there and produce a couple of free watts without major intervention.
The other thing is competing technologies. There are hydrogen powered vehicles in existence. It definitely works but it has to weigh it’s potential advantages over batteries or other technologies compared to it’s potential disadvantages. Ultimately, it could come down to a format war like VHS vs Betamax. VHS won but only because it became the dominant format early on and had the better support network in terms of rental shops and so on.
There are electric vehicle charging stations all over the place and, in theory, this could include every residential home in the world. At the moment, there are only 168 Hydrogen refuelling stations across Europe:
The tech has to advance or somebody has a very clever idea. Doing a road trip round Europe in an electric car right now would be a challenge. Impossible with hydrogen. Like falling off a log with an IC engine.
Like alcohol, imagine petrol was discovered today (with elec vehicles being the norm) we have this new stuff which enables us to build massively complicated engines which need serious TLC to keep running. They emit loads of shit and my god you don’t want to see what happens when the tank goes up. (Every driver should be forced to watch a coke can quantity of petrol set on fire) Oh and we need to store the stuff and allow the public to dispense it in towns across the country. You couldn’t get out of the meeting fast enough.
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