Cars! Cars! Cars!

Hydrogen On Demand

Honda is going to be putting its FCX Clarity on lease in California this coming summer. As in a production ready (more or less) fuel cell car. That's right!

Now, right, you're thinking, big freakin' deal. Even if they rock how can they be sold anywhere else? There's no infrastructure to deliver the hydrogen!

True. Or it was. Maybe. Some long-haired learnin' dudes might have cracked it:

"We now have an economically viable process for producing hydrogen on-demand for vehicles, electrical generating stations and other applications," said Jerry Woodall, a distinguished professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue who invented the process.

The new alloy contains 95 percent aluminum and 5 percent of an alloy that is made of the metals gallium, indium and tin. Because the new alloy contains significantly less of the more expensive gallium than previous forms of the alloy, hydrogen can be produced less expensively, he said.

When immersed in water, the alloy splits water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen, which immediately reacts with the aluminum to produce aluminum oxide, also called alumina, which can be recycled back into aluminum. Recycling aluminum from nearly pure alumina is less expensive than mining the aluminum-containing ore bauxite, making the technology more competitive with other forms of energy production, Woodall said.

Dude! On demand hydrogen production! On demand hydrogen production!

In unrelated news, Mr. Woodall has gone into hiding based on a hit being put on him by Exxon Mobil and BP and Texaco and...

Referenced articles:

From Physorg.com: New aluminum-rich alloy produces hydrogen on-demand for large-scale uses

Honda: Doeth!

Autoblog reports: GM cancels new DOHC V8 engine program.

OK, GM's new V-6s are teh awesome. So much so that they can boot the next generation V-8. Which makes us wonder about Acura. Sales were shite for 2007... So what are we getting at? There was all sorts of talk about Honda developing a new V-10 for the Acura line. We gotta wonder if that is still in the works.

Does anyone know if Honda is still working on a big engine for the Acura line?

Accord: 1, Others: Less Than 1

Well, Edmunds tested the family sedans (they missed the Altima, which is a little odd to us) and proclaim the all-new '08 Accord as the one that rules them all.

Edmunds reports: Revitalized Malibu Takes on Accord and Camry.

Surprisingly, the Camry came in third. Or is it surprising a Chevy beat a Toyota? In any event, neither of them were better than the Accord, so arguing who comes next is like (something funny here and make sure to link to Alison Krauss 'cause she's so purty).

We're still disappointed that cars seem to be getting bigger and bigger. The EPA's designation that the Accord is now a large car is a testiment to even green Honda getting sucked up in the bigger is better game. It's hard to argue, however, since the car, according to Edmunds, is still the best family sedan. Shame on Honda, however, since during the test Edmunds only saw 20 mpg from the 4-cylinder engine in the Accord.

That's a snap of the winner: 2008 Honda Accord LX-P.

Toyota: Say! That Ridgeline Is Purty Sweet

AutoWeek reports: Toyota brings A-BAT pickup to Detroit.

We don't have a lot to say since the thing is a truck and we're strickly a cars and Alison site, but, come on! Way to run of ideas, Toyota.

Shoulders make us swoon. And that's a snap of the Ridgeline -- the original funky truck.

Two Roads: GM Takes The One Often Traveled

We liked the contrast of these two articles (even though they weren't written to be contrasty or anything):

AutoWeek reports: 2008 GMC Yukon hybrid: Welcome, alien.

The Detroit News reports: Subcompact sales boom.

So in one article we have GM making a big ol' SUV use less fuel and the other we see how, for non-US makers, subcompact sales are booming.

We wonder which strategy will work.

GMC Yukon hybrid: $50k, 21 city/22 highway (2WD)
Subcompacts: $13k+ over 30mpg in every scenario

Speaking of subcompacts, we find it interesting that Nissan seems to be the sales leader with the Versa, yet it takes 69* days to sell one compared to just 22 days for the Honda Fit. According to the article, Honda would sell more if it could make more -- you'd think Honda would make it a priority. Oh, it's also interesting that Honda claims the Fit is not eating into the sales of the Civic. We have to bet that one of Honda's models is suffering (since Honda's sales aren't up that much -- 4.6% for 2007). Wow, the Element is off by 33% this year? Sounds like Honda's gonna have to move them suckas off the lot right quick -- deal time! Sorry this turned into a Honda post.

Anyway, it's interesting to us that GM is pushing a huge hybrid SUV (for $50k!) and many others are doing well with subcompacts.

*Alison, call us.

Errors Vs Forced Errors

The Detroit Free Press reports: ACCORD SLIPS: 2008 Honda's not bad but no longer leads midsize pack.

We're going to try some sports analogies here (we think), but sports elude us unless it's the Annual Krauss Competitive Trampolining event. Then we're glued, baby, glued.*

There's a difference between winning because you beat your opponent and winning because your opponent made a bad call. And while a win is a win is a win, one surely must be more satisfying.

Case in point is the all-new-for-2008 Honda Accord. Looking a little (to us) like the new Sebring, the Accord still exudes high quality, but based on almost every review we've read, it's sort of a dud.

Here's one example (from the link above):

It's taken 32 years, but the rest of the auto industry has caught up with -- and in some respects, passed -- the Honda Accord.

The all-new 2008 Accord isn't a bad car, but it's no longer the one car you should consider before buying anything else in its class.

It's fallen back to the pack. And not the front of the pack, for a number of reasons that include some surprising and troubling interior fit and quality flaws in the EX sedan I tested.

Fallen to the back of the pack? It's not just behind the... well, Mr. Phelan (the reviewer) doesn't mention which other cars specifically you should look at ("anything else in its class"), but every car in the class is better?

Let's take for granted Mr. Phelan is right and that the Accord has stumbled. Badly.

Is that as satisfying to GM and Ford as building a car better than the Accord when the Accord is at the top of its game?

Anyway, go, Detroit, and boo for Honda for dropping the ball some.

*By glued we really just mean sticky. Also, that's a snap of the 2008 Honda Accord. Yay or nay?

2009 Honda Fit

Edmunds reports: The Big Success Gets Bigger. Hey, we've been diggin' the Honda Fit since it first floated ashore. Now we're diggin' the '09 model even more. We particularly impressed with there being more room and the whole thing being stronger yet it only weighs 22 pounds more. Awesome!

Honda's New Navigation System To Warn Of Weather, Mothra

Forget the best or fastest route. Forget the worrying about traffic. Try heavy rain and earthquakes! It's true! Autoblog reports: Honda JDM navi warns of heavy rain ... and earthquakes.

Now we're starting to see some big improvements to this whole in-car communication dealie. Pardon us if OnStar does stuff like this, but we don't think it does.

Honda Azera

Jalopnik reports: Spy Photos: 2008 Honda Accord. Dammit, come on, Honda. We expect more from you. And this isn't a knock on Hyundai ('cause they are kicking arse all over the place), it's more an issue with the lack of imagination from the folks at Honda. They've done such a great job with the Civic, Fit and CR-V (which is hellasnazzy) that we're quite disappointed in the Accord. At least from the pics we've seen. At a quick glance. While we were busy.

We've mentioned Honda copying Hyundai before when we first saw snaps of the coupe... what's that all about? Or are we making a connectiont that isn't there?

Honda Builds a Hyundai

Autoblog reports: Spy Shots: 2008 Honda Accord Coupe pics complete the circle. As Starbuck would say, "What the frak?" Tell us this Accord coupe doesn't look like a Tiburon! Oh, Honda. We loves ya, but we don't currently like this coupe design. At least in picture form.

Are we crazy? This does look like a current Tiburon, right?