So - I’m sure you are all busy crafting tons of letters, right? Take a moment now and send one to Congress by going to http://capwiz.com/fuelcells/home/ or send something similar to the one below to your local newspaper.  The following is a sample letter-to-the-editor that we encourage you to use.  If you have other suggestions or want to share pieces of your letter, add them in the comments.  

Energy Secretary Chu has recently recommended that the federal fuel cell vehicle program be cut from the 2010 federal budget, believing that fuel cell vehicle technology and the hydrogen infrastructure are not yet ready for deployment.  The secretary would instead shift the Department of Energy (DOE) focus, and funding, to R&D of vehicles with more “short-term” promise, such as plug-in hybrids. 

But the reality is that - in the US alone - there are already 140 fuel cell cars leased to consumers.  These vehicles have accumulated 85,000 hours of operation and have been driven more than 1.9 million miles.  In addition, some northern California transit agencies are operating fuel cell buses in transit service, with more being added soon. 

So far, no auto manufacturer-produced plug-in battery vehicles are operating on America’s roadways and none are under demonstration evaluation by the federal government.  To be ready for consumers, advanced vehicle batteries will require lots of research, development and demonstration time, as well as technological breakthroughs, to attain good reliability and performance, decrease cost and reduce the significant battery size and weight.

Fuel cell vehicles are much farther along the development cycle than plug-in vehicle batteries, having made major strides in reliability, performance and cost-reduction and attaining significant real-world roadway demonstration time.  Hydrogen and fuel cells have met or exceeded nearly all of the technical milestones set out by US DOE and are on a path towards commercialization within the next 5-10 years. 

These road-ready fuel cell vehicles surprise people by looking and performing like today’s cars.  They are roomy and comfortable.  They accelerate quickly.  They are safe.  Refueling takes just a few minutes.  Plus they get more than 250-miles per tank and can achieve above 50 mpg (the Honda Clarity is EPA certified at 72 mpg).  Fuel cell vehicles operate at nearly 60% energy efficiency and produce absolutely no harmful emissions.

Additionally, hydrogen fuel is available nationwide today and is cost competitive with gasoline on a pennies-per-mile basis.  Hydrogen from natural gas is clean, energy efficient and low carbon, and opens the door to renewable and other low carbon sources. More than two dozen hydrogen stations are already open in California and getting hydrogen to American drivers as fuel cell vehicles enter the marketplace will cost a small fraction of the cost of maintaining today’s gasoline infrastructure. 

Terminating the federal fuel cell vehicle program - just as the technology is beginning to mature and commercialization is in sight - is counterproductive to our country’s goals of energy efficiency and reduced carbon emissions.  GM, Honda, Toyota, Daimler and Volkswagen all plan to continue their fuel cell vehicle development, with Toyota recently announcing that they anticipate commercialization of their fuel cell vehicle by 2015 or sooner. 

To prepare for our hydrogen future, continued government funding and strong clean vehicle policies are needed to support hydrogen infrastructure development and further fuel cell refinements.  Combining government funding and guidance with industry investment and know-how, these technologies can be brought to commercialization and cost-competitiveness much faster than when industry works alone.

Importantly, a recent National Academies of Science report concluded that, “the greatest possible reductions in greenhouse gases would occur if biofuels, fuel-efficient conventional vehicles, and hydrogen vehicles are all pursued simultaneously, rather than seen as competitors.”  So let’s not short-change fuel cell vehicles.  We will need a variety of clean propulsion technologies.  They all need our attention today in order to be ready for our clean driving future.

If you want links and resources to include in your letter, just let us know!