Many companies have been working on electric cars for a long time now, but… there’s another type of power for engines. We have been told electric cars are quiet, don’t pollute much, and run on batteries instead of gas. Of course, with all these wonderful features, electric engines were seen as futuristic engineering, but with the passage of time this vision has changed. Now, China is already testing something totally unexpected… a car that runs on liquid ammonia! Yeah, you have read right. The same stuff that is usually used in farming, which could actually be a big deal for the future of driving. Let’s find out more about what China is doing.
China and these new cars
We have seen many changes in the automotive industry from gasoline and diesel to greener engines without hurting the environment. For example, electric cars run on batteries, don’t need gas, and are way better for the air we breathe. They are also super quiet and cheaper to run once you have them.
China saw the benefits and decided to build some of the most popular electric cars on the market. However, they’re already thinking about the future.
And that’s where ammonia comes in…
Maybe not many people know what ammonia is, but let me tell you one thing: this element is key for the making of clean engines because it doesn’t release much carbon dioxide when it burns, the main cause for global warming. Another great thing about it is that there’s plenty of ammonia in the world, so it could be a smart, clean fuel for the future. It sounds amazing, isn’t it?
Ammonia can power a car
GAC, a Chinese company, has been working on a special 2.0-line car that uses liquid ammonia, so no more electricity or gasoline. Let’s have a look at this liquid usage benefits:
- It gives off way less pollution than a regular gas engine — about 90% less carbon dioxide.
- It still has good power (161 horsepower), so it’s not a weak little machine.
- And it produces almost none of the dirty stuff that gas engines spit out.
Qi Hongzhong, GAC engineer, said the most difficult thing about the process was to find out how to burn ammonia fast enough to work in a car. They have succeeded on this task and they are already thinking about using it in regular cars, not just in labs or for testing.
But of course, there are some problems too
As it happens with every new idea, there are some problems. Ammonia is a tricky element that needs to be handled in a specific way, with higher pressure to properly work in an engine. So the car has to be designed carefully.
Still, GAC says they’ve already made big progress and that their updated engine is safe enough to be used in real cars, not just as an experiment.
This is meaningful for the future
If we talk about clean engines, electric cars are still the top choice, but China is coming up with new ideas that might actually go somewhere people don’t expect and surpass the popularity of electric engines.
Something positive we can take from this idea is that there are experts still working on making cars better in the sense of cleaner, safer and more affordable. So, maybe you will be driving cars with fuels you would have never imagined, like China is doing with ammonia. Now I know it sounds crazy, but we might be talking about the new revolutionising way of powering cars. Are you willing to drive these new ammonia cars? We will see what the future holds for the automotive industry.