13 replies to this topic

[Canuck]

Anyone else see this?  Reads like the ultimate family sedan...ish...thing.

• 900 hp
• 2900 Nm per wheel
• 2800kg fully fueled (not very sporty for a "sport limo")
• 0-100 km/h 2.8 seconds
• 380 km/h top speed
• 400 - 600 km range
• 5257 mm x 2019 mm x 1357 mm (LWH)
• 2 x 200L "fuel" tanks

Oh - and it's fuel is salt water of course.

 

Slick website, slick promo video, all selling the fuel cell of course, not the one-off car.  I'm more curious about all the claims.  Seems to be a tremendous amount of available power from a salt water fuel cell.  Has it just been a question of cubic dollars to make this a useable idea or is there some genuine forward-looking potential here?

 

www.nanoflowcell.com/en#quant

[Greg Locock]

My guess is that it is an exercise by a media company or a website company. 

[Canuck]

http://m.autoblog.co...rtified-europe/

No automotive journalist / internet blogger has ever been hoodwinked or participated in a media exercise, therefore it must be true. I'm still waiting for the punchline. Maybe this is a long joke.

I admit to being intrigued if for no more reason than I'd like it to be so.

[gruntguru]

Their website devotes a whole page to explaining the priciple of the nanoFLOWCELL. I quote (in full).

 

"The flow cell battery is a beacon of hope because it is an especially simple and effective storage medium for electrical energy. Flow cells are chemical batteries that combine aspects of an electrochemical accumulator cell with those of a fuel cell. Liquid electrolytes circulate through two separate cells in which a “cold burning” takes place, during which oxidation and reduction processes happen in parallel and thereby produce electrical power for the drive train."

 

Sounds like they might be on to something!

[GreenMachine]

Cold burning?  Is that related to cold fusion?

[Catalina Park]

Maybe they meant to say coal burning?

[desmo]

Thermodynamics is such a buzzkill.

[Magoo]

They should have lied about the weight. Spoils the illusion. 

[imaginesix]

They were going to actually measure its performance, but then that would have altered the results.

[Kelpiecross]

Cold burning?  Is that related to cold fusion?

To be fair (and I hate being fair) I suppose a typical hydrogen fuel cell could be referred to as "cold burning".

The body shape of the Quant looks familiar.

[gruntguru]

The flow cell technology used in the Quant is related to the fuel cell. A flow cell is any galvanic cell (battery) where the consumable chemical is replaced continuously - usually a liquid or gas and the fuel cell is a sub-category.

 

The humble lambda sensor is actually a fuel cell combining hydrogen from the exhaust and oxygen from the atmosphere to generate electricity so most cars these day use fuel cell technology.

[bigleagueslider]

From what I could see, this basically uses a type of flow battery. And it is re-fueled by replacing the flow battery's liquid electrolyte. Personally, I have always felt that the technology that would make EVs truly viable would be some form of flow battery. In theory a much more practical way to store and replenish energy in an EV.

[Greg Locock]

Check out the vanadium redox battery. That uses an electrolyte that is pumped through the electrode chamber, and can then be replenished. It seems to have found a niche as regen on elevators. https://en.wikipedia...m_redox_battery

 

No good for cars the volumetric energy density is so bad.

[h4887]

'Oxidation and reduction processes happen in parallel' It would be a miracle if they didn't.