To stimulate development in hydrogen fuel cells and promote the vehicles to the public a new class of saloon racing should be introduced: The World HYdrogen-car Series Cup (WHYSC).
No matter what anyone says, they care how fast their car goes and frankly right now no kind of electric car is that quick. (Not to mention the fact that electric cars mostly create more pollution than petrol cars due to the way excess electricity is generated.)
I haven't worked out how the cars would be refuelled at pitstops. Probably the safest way is to remove the cell and plug in a new one rather than waving a big fat hydrogen hose around.
With the right marketing, it could become as big as NASCAR or F1, while doing something good for the environment.
One other problem; how to make an electric motor sound as cool as a 6 litre V8.-- zero5, Sep 27 2001 national electric drag racing association http://www.nedra.com/records.htmlsome electric cars *are* that quick [tenhand, Sep 27 2001, last modified Oct 17 2004] Canadian EV association http://www.evac.ca/...Benefits-Frame.htmlone of many places debunking the "electric cars create more pollution" myth [tenhand, Sep 27 2001, last modified Oct 17 2004] Would be good for desert rallies & such where speed per se isn't as important as just getting across blistering deserts & rough terrain.-- snarfyguy, Sep 27 2001 Make it a demolition derby and I'd watch.-- phoenix, Sep 27 2001 Nice idea - but the underlying problem is the lack of a a major hydrogen market (for vehicular use) with competing vendors. Thus little likely sponsorship.
A first step (maybe) - an event like this for electric cars using batteries, onboard generators, anything. Later go on to the pure H2.-- snagger, Sep 27 2001 The idea is to make the cars go fast in order to create the market. Sponsors would be those developing fuel cells. BP? Energizer?-- zero5, Sep 28 2001 Semi baked. There is a growing electric drag racing scene (see link), and there have been prototype hydrogen powered race cars (by GM?).
On the other hand, consumers tend to be willing to trust technology that's been proved in racing. Look at how many compact cars now advertise that they're using "racing style" construction.
I think EV's already sound cool. There's something nicely menacing about something towards you at 75Mph on little rubber feet.-- tenhand, Sep 28 2001 Refilling is not a problem: In F1 it was forbidden to refill at pit-stops in the late 80s (or early 80s?).-- Uute, May 24 2002 Excellent Idea! Electric engines, when supplied by a powerful fuel cell, can smoke any ICE (internal combustion engine) I'VE SEEN IT DONE! Try 0-60 in 3.8!!!-- nolanpro, Mar 27 2003 Well, dang! There's a race event I can really get into. Up here in GM-land, it'd go over great. The sound wouldn't be a problem. You could alter the output via software development, or have really interesting audio like the pod-racers in Star Wars. Sounds from Da-da-da to bBBBBBBbbbbb or a mister-bubble-esque effect.
All torque at zero RPMs, pressurised fuel stops, and we just have to figure out who'd sponsor the beast. Miller H20 Lite? Tammy Faye Bacon chips?-- hillbilly, Mar 29 2003 random, halfbakery