Critics of hydrogen vehicles took great pleasure in writing obituaries for fuel cell cars following the Department of Energy’s FY 2010 budget that sought to eviscerate federal support for these programs.  Fortunately, engineers and auto company executives ignored the nattering from these pessimists and pressed ahead with their commercialization plans.  Interestingly, worldwide interest in fuel cells and hydrogen appears to be accelerating.

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General Motors, Honda, Daimler, Toyota, Hyundai-Kia, Volkswagen and Volvo all have reaffirmed their intention to pursue fuel cell vehicles.  Despite all the excitement surrounding plug-in vehicles, they understand that every technology has its limitations.  And if we expect to lower greenhouse gas emissions and provide customers with vehicles that are comparable with today’s internal combustion vehicles, batteries alone will not suffice.  We need fuel cells and hydrogen.  Even California’s Air Resources Board has called on the Department of Energy to reconsider its decision.  They’re convinced that a portfolio approach is the best way to help develop low-carbon vehicle platforms.

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– General Motors recently completed the largest demonstration of fuel cell vehicles by real-world drivers.  This successful endeavor has led to their announcement that commercially-available vehicles will be ready for market by 2012.

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– Honda’s FCX Clarity was named “World Green Car of the Year” and is currently being leased in small numbers in Southern California and Japan.  The Clarity received an EPA certified fuel economy of 72 mpg.  Honda’s head of environmental planning claimed, “A conventional battery-powered car would require a battery weighing two tons to match the range and performance of the Clarity, and it would take hours to charge fully.”  A fuel cell vehicle refuels in about three minutes.

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– Toyota, which plans to have commercial vehicles ready by 2015, released the results of an efficiency test of their Highlander Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle, which is capable of getting 431 miles out of a single tank of compressed hydrogen - more than 100 miles over the DOE recommended metric.  That averages 68 miles per gallon of gasoline equivalent, a 42 mile improvement over their conventional hybrid.

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– Daimler is also moving toward commercial products in the 2012-2015 time-frame, and the company has built over 100 fuel cell vehicles that have accumulated over 2.3 million miles of testing.  The company recently a began small series production this summer of its Mercedes-Benz B-Class F-Cell vehicle with plans to increase to tens of thousands of vehicles.

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Auto industry reporters have reason to be skeptical about overly optimistic commercialization timelines.  That said, the motivation for these companies to continue to spend time, money and effort remains consistent.  Hybrid fuel cell vehicles are efficient, quiet, clean and will provide us with the best means of diversifying our energy feedstocks.

In 1957, two weeks before the launch of Sputnik, Sir Harold Spencer Jones, a British Astronomer, confidently announced that:

“Space travel is bunk.”

Thank goodness we didn’t take his prediction too seriously.

~Bud DeFlaviis, USFCC