In new energy vehicles, electric vehicles are more common, hydrogen energy vehicles are also in the Winter Olympics, what is the methanol car?
In the 355th batch of new product announcements of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the "Road Motor Vehicle Manufacturers and Product Announcements", we found a methanol hybrid sedan - Emgrand Alcohol Electric, and saw its declaration chart and some information. Based on the 4th generation Emgrand, the model is equipped with the world's first methanol engine and a 3-speed hybrid electric drive DHT transmission, which can be seen as the Hoshigoshi L Hi · The three-cylinder gasoline engine on the X was replaced by a 1.8-liter methanol engine. 100 kilometers of alcohol consumption of about 9L, no need to charge, the cost of travel per kilometer is less than three cents, the drive motor power is large, the power is not weak, and the "low energy consumption" and "strong power" are truly achieved. Why has such a good new energy vehicle not been popularized so far?
Strictly speaking, methanol vehicles are not yet new energy vehicles
From a literal point of view, in addition to gasoline, diesel as fuel, other energy sources are considered new energy, including electric energy, hydrogen fuel, methanol fuel is also considered new energy. However, in terms of national policies, methanol vehicles have not yet been included in the category of new energy vehicles, and they cannot enjoy the policy benefits of electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel vehicles, so the scale and industrialization of methanol vehicles are slow. In 2022, Li Shufu once again suggested that the application of methanol vehicles should be fully promoted in the mainland, methanol vehicles should be included in the development system and management of new energy vehicles, methanol vehicles should be given the same policy support as new energy vehicles, driving more enterprises to invest in the research and development of methanol vehicles, and accelerating the realization of carbon neutrality in the transportation field.
What are the reasons that restrict the inclusion of methanol vehicles in new energy sources?
The main reason is that its shortcomings are too obvious. The main defect of electric vehicles is mileage anxiety, the main shortcomings of hydrogen fuel vehicles are high in the production and transportation costs of hydrogen fuel, and it is temporarily difficult to generate profits on industrial roads, and the problem of methanol vehicles is not so simple as mileage anxiety and low profits, it has certain safety risks.
For people, methanol has a certain degree of corrosiveness and toxicity, the minimum dose of oral poisoning in people is about 100mg / kg body weight, oral intake of 0.3 ~ 1g / kg can be fatal, in addition to it is volatile, in the transportation and use of danger, so many people express concern about methanol cars, if methanol cars and methanol supplementation stations in the future large-scale use, the ensuing danger is greater; for the car, methanol and its insufficient combustion products have a certain corrosiveness, will reduce the durability of the engine and other parts, This is also a technical difficulty developed by car companies. Therefore, the policy has not yet included methanol vehicles in the new energy type.
Due to the lack of policy support, the development of methanol vehicles lacks effective policy guidance, and there are fewer enterprises involved in methanol vehicles and industrial chains. At the same time, in the case that the degree of science popularization of methanol vehicles is far less than that of pure electric vehicles, consumer groups do not understand methanol vehicles and hold a wait-and-see attitude, which restricts the development of methanol vehicles.
The disadvantages are obvious, and methanol cars have advantages that cannot be ignored
Compared to gasoline vehicles, methanol is more environmentally friendly. Under the same working conditions, the emissions of hydrocarbons, nitric oxide and carbon monoxide of methanol vehicles are reduced by 80%, 95% and 59% respectively; compared with electric vehicles, the charging time of methanol vehicles is short, similar to refueling, and the endurance is minimally affected by low temperature weather; compared with hydrogen fuel vehicles, methanol extraction is easier, and the raw materials for the production of methanol are mainly coal, natural gas and coke oven gas, etc. The continent is rich in the storage of such resources. In addition, methanol, as a renewable clean energy, is liquid at room temperature, and the transportation and storage process is close to that of traditional fuels, and the overall cost of use is much lower than that of hydrogen energy.
Individual defects in methanol vehicles can be solved by hybrid technology
Methanol has a lower calorific value, less than half the calorific value of gasoline, so the power will be more than doubled at the same speed. However, this shortcoming can be avoided by hybrid technology. Taking Emgrand alcohol electricity as an example, under low-speed working conditions, methanol engine is used to generate electricity, charged into the power battery, and only needs to meet the power demand with a high-power drive motor. At the same time, its 3-speed electric drive DHT transmission can realize the parallel connection of the engine and the motor earlier, the low-speed electric drive mode, the high-speed parallel connection, and the engine only plays an auxiliary role in power, which solves the power problem very well.
Write at the end
New energy is the future, but today's electric vehicles, hydrogen fuel vehicles and methanol vehicles have their own shortcomings and cannot become the ideal future alone. In the process of developing from fuel oil to new energy in the future, any form of fuel with advantages and disadvantages should not be missed, perhaps one day its defects can be solved, or it may only be used in special occasions to avoid drawbacks. I think it is more likely that in the future, electric vehicles, hydrogen fuel vehicles and methanol vehicles will complement each other and be applied in different scenarios and different regions to jointly reduce carbon emissions.