With the ever-expanding market of electric cars that look to combat diesel car production, you might not have heard about the benefits of hydrogen engine conversion.
It is a great option for anyone looking to reduce their emissions that doesn’t necessarily want a completely new vehicle. Compare this to an HHO (oxyhydrogen system) which is a device said to improve fuel efficiency by attempting to improve the combustion process that unfortunately has very little information on third-party performance results. By completing a diesel engine conversion to hydrogen, you can limit your harmful emissions.
What is a hydrogen car?
A hydrogen car uses a hydrogen fuel cell or hydrogen internal combustion engine as its fuel for motive power. With hydrogen being such an abundant resource, many hoped back in the early 2010s that it would be the next alternative to diesel.
As a matter of fact, during George Bush’s presidency, he announced a scheme that would invest $1.2 billion to aid the development of hydrogen fuel use in vehicles. The aim was to decrease the number of vehicles using harmful fossil fuels on American roads.
Currently, hydrogen cars haven’t reached the peak the car industry was hoping for. This is mainly due to the price of installing a hydrogen pump at a petrol station and how expensive it is to produce a hydrogen car. These factors mean that stations with pumps are limited and the selection of cars available is small.
Using a hydrogen car kit
Using a hydrogen car kit is different from using any hydrogen-powered engine. A hydrogen car kit is a third-party piece of equipment that attaches to equipment around your engine. It can be installed by a mechanic or by following a manual you can do it yourself.
However, if you do attempt to make the conversion yourself then proceed with caution, Hydroden is a dangerous, explosive element and can be extremely hazardous in the wrong environment.
How to install a hydrogen car kit
This is how you can install an HHO:
- Install hose barb connectors, these adapt your tubing to the HHO generator
- Install the tubing connectors on the HHO
- Push in and rotate the tubing into the tubing connectors
- Locate a spot low on the vehicle to install it, we recommend between the grill and the radiator (needs good airflow)
- Then you connect the upper HHO hose to the upper reservoir and the lower HHO hose to the reservoir (the reservoir is a piece of equipment that comes with an HHO)
- Then connect the reservoir to the bubbler (another piece of equipment that comes with the HHO)
- Then connect the bubbler to the engine intake
If you need a visual guide you can use this youtube video to help you.
How do hydrogen car kits work?
Using a hydrogen car kit is predominantly used by those trying to increase their fuel economy. Many who use them swear by them, stating how it improves their MPG.
Oxyhydrogen (HHO) generators should work by taking power from your car’s battery or alternator and running a current through electrodes into water mixed with an electrolyte. This results in the water molecules splitting into hydrogen and oxygen, making oxyhydrogen gas. The gas then gets inserted into the engine from the intake. The gas should react to a point that an internal combustion engine can run on it.
It should reportedly protect the engine by lowering the temperature needed for combustion. Combustion is the process of creating heat that then becomes the kinetic energy to move the mechanical parts of the engine. Simply put, easy combustion means more kinetic energy with less fuel used.
Do hydrogen car kits actually work?
You will never find that using a hydrogen car kit works the way intended. Claims of increasing MPG by as much as 35% are invalid. Additionally, since these are attachments made to diesel engines you don’t get the benefit of using hydrogen to reduce the emission of carbon.
Important factors with a hydrogen car mod
Many places may suggest using a hydrogen conversion kit in the UK to improve your MPG. This claim simply isn’t true.
What can be done however is replacing a diesel or petrol combustion engine with a hydrogen engine. This hydrogen car mod allows you to refuel on hydrogen and when you run out of hydrogen it will use up the remaining fuel, either diesel or petrol, in your tank. Replacing an engine in a car is a highly technical process, so again, proceed with caution and use a qualified expert to install your hydrogen engine.
The two types of hydrogen engine car mods
There are two effective types of hydrogen engine car mods. This excludes the use of an HHO which is ineffective at its goal.
Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engine
This is the cheaper option between the two and mimics the process that a regular ICE diesel or petrol to work
Hydrogen fuel cell engine
These work by using ions to create charges to power the car. The electrons come from the hydrogen molecules and create the electricity needed for the car to move. These engines are more expensive but last a long time.
How to refill a hydrogen car after conversion
One of the biggest benefits of having a hydrogen engine car is the refill. It’s as simple as filling up a diesel or petrol car. Unfortunately, there aren’t as many hydrogen pumps available as an EV charging stations.
Despite this, the process of filling up a hydrogen-engine car is remarkably fast and can get you on the road faster than an EV.
EV cars are still superior
This being said the best option for a green vehicle is still an electric car. That’s because producing pure hydrogen, which is used for cars with a hydrogen fuel cell of hydrogen car mod, is less energy efficient to produce. You can find other benefits of buying an electric car in this article.
With electric cars, once you have generated the fuel they need to run on then transport is easy. The fuel is already in the state needed for use. With hydrogen, you need to get hydrogen existing in the atmosphere, make it pure through a process called electrolysis and then cool it for transport. Each step wastes energy generated by fossil fuels, therefore reducing the environmental aspect of using hydrogen as fuel.
That being said, developments in the scientific community are constant and in 10 or 20 years hydrogen vehicles may be commonplace on our roads.
Both are still more sustainable options than buying a diesel car. However, if you still are considering buying a diesel car you should read our article on why you might want to purchase a diesel car in 2022.
Assington Autos
If you are deciding to buy a new hydrogen car then you might want to get rid of your old car. Especially if you have a car in a non- or semi-functional condition then we can scrap any car.
Our scrapping service pays money for your scrapped vehicle fast. So, if you need money for a hydrogen car or any other vehicle our service is a quick and easy way to do that.
Visit Assington Autos for more information or give us a call at 01787 210 519 for more information.
