Posted: Apr 18, 2017 8:50 pm
Stupid idea.
Iron may have the energy content of hydrocarbons, but is 8 times the density.
For the same amount of energy as a 50l tank you'd need 400kg iron.
Worse is that once you burn it, you still have to carry it as spent fuel for recycling. It will weigh even more - 550kg.
added weight is not necessarily a penalty issue as it carries additional kinetic energy as long as it does not impact drag and rolling resistance it can be a plus.
In stop and go traffic weight is an issue unless there is regenerative capture. That's why a hybrid would work well and speaking of 400 kg ...isn't that what a EV battery weighs?
In addition one assumes an iron fill up implies the iron oxide gets dumped.