Still Better Than The Hindenberg
We have seen the future of hydrogen-powered vehicles, and the future is ... well, not now. This Reuters story reports on a 13-day cross-country drive completed by hydrogen-powered cars from nine different automakers. At first glance, this is a pretty encouraging story--hey, maybe hydrogen-powered cars are right around the corner! After all, if nine cars can drive from coast to coast on hydrogen, not only is that a great test of the in-car technology, but it's a testament to improvements in the much larger and thornier issue of fuel availability and distribution.
Well, no. The smoking gun is in the second paragraph--hydrogen filling stations are so scarce that the cars rode across much of the country on flatbed trucks, including one stretch from Missouri to New Mexico. If the object is to achieve zero emissions and infinite fuel efficiency on the back of a truck, well, a 1976 Chevy Impala would work just fine. Actually, unobtainum-powered cars of my own invention would get the same results too.
If the message is that cars can successfully run on hydrogen but the technology is impractical until we have an established hydrogen distribution infrastructure, well, thanks for the memo. In related news, the sun rose in the east this morning and is slated to set in the west this evening. The single biggest practical barrier to any alternative fuel, including hydrogen, is widespread availability of that fuel, so this empty PR exercise really didn't accomplish much other than reinforce that barrier and provide some easy punchlines. Anyway, Gizmodo already nailed the snark angle, so I'll leave it at that.
--Chris H.
David Drucker on August 26, 2008 at 06:59 AM
Why, only half a century ago -- a mere blink of an eye -- the atomic-powered car was the just-around-the-corner magic bullet that would free us from dependence on oil. (http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=656)
Hydrogen is today's magic bullet, and it's even wackier. Where's my damn jet-pack?
Steaming Pile on August 26, 2008 at 08:05 AM
If we let automakers continue to distract us with vaporware like this, we'll all soon be driving vehicles powered by large draft animals.
Chris Hafner on August 26, 2008 at 09:01 AM
By the way, I don't mean to convey any derision towards hydrogen power for cars, or any other alternative fuels. I think alternative fuels are both important and deeply, deeply cool. Trailering around a car and then claming it as a success for that fuel? Not so much.
Mochi Mochi on August 26, 2008 at 02:03 PM
I'm not a believer or disbeliever in Hydrogen power it's too early to tell how this will all pan out. A number of manufacturers have been running hydrogen fuel cell cars for several years. You can make a car that actually works. The biggest hurdle of course is fuel availability. Honda seems to have done some of the best thinking in this area. Understanding the problems associated with fueling stations, resistance from oil companies, public and governmental ignorance, and general problems associated with building a fuel infrastructure, among those problems, Honda's recent design solutions include buying a car and a fuel station. The home based fuel station actually makes sense since it not only powers the car, but also your home. Only problem what that is the cases where you live in an apartment or tower. The problem is not the cars or the technology. It's the infrastructure.
There was a time when everyone had horses and you could always find hay and water. Finding gasoline was the problem. How to support the car? Filling stations were scarce or non-existent. We've gotten a little too used to that technology and infrastructure - and we have problems with it that have to be surmounted at some point. The good news is we have a network of gas stations. The challenge is getting them to start carrying other kinds of fuel. So the reality is that we are in a better place than we were when cars started to appear. But the fuel carriers have to start making other fuels (hydrogen as a possibility) available.
I'm still thinking about turbine engines as generator drivers in electric cars, and thinking about burning everything from alcohol to bio vegetable oils. Renewable low emission fuels really do need to happen.