A recent blog item by Katrina served as a primer to hydrogen fuel cell technology. Personally, I believe this technology—for real-world, widespread use—is easily more than a quarter of a century away. Here’s why.
Even while such technologies as 3D modeling and rapid prototyping have slashed time to market and helped make manufacturers more responsive, the auto industry as a whole is a slow moving train on the tracks of internal combustion, fueled by an oil-dependent and –manipulated national economy. Fuel cells indeed hold great promise to help create a clean and green future, but that train’s not stopping anytime soon. Does anyone actually think that oil producers will say, “Yeah! Fuel cells are a great idea! All we have to do is make as much money from it!” It’s just not going to happen in the foreseeable future when we as a nation don’t yet understand the need to stop driving 9-mpg, 6,000-lb SUVs.
Such changes will only happen incrementally, using technologies already in use. We know internal combustion works. We love internal combustion. We weren’t thrilled about electric vehicles (the most notable being the General Motors EV1) with limited driving range and the need to charge ‘em up like cell phones. The technology held promise, however.
What about diesels? Bastardized by visions of black smoke-belching tractor-trailers and nightmarish GM (and mediocre VW) passenger car efforts in the 1980s, diesels nonetheless also offer great promise. (Smoke-belching typically indicates a fuel injection problem that needs to be fixed, and GM’s older ‘diesels’ were a half-hearted, half-assed effort at best.) Mercedes did it right even back then, but consumers either saw no advantage or couldn’t afford their offerings. Europe has embraced passenger car diesels for many years, not surprising with gasoline costs being many times higher there than here. The Big Three have finally found some success in diesels with their light truck offerings. Diesels still haven’t found a place in America’s driveway, however. Perhaps Jeep’s new Liberty Common-Rail Diesel will help, offering both impressive economy and massive torque. On paper, it’s an impressive 4-cylinder: 25% better fuel economy, 480-mile range per fill-up, and reduced emissions, and it also runs on corn-based biodiesel fuel. The trick, of course, is in the marketplace: will it be accepted?
Enter the Hybrid. President Bush wants significant numbers of hydrogen-powered cars in use by 2020. Of course, he also wants to put a man on Mars. Hybrid technology combining gasoline and electric motive power seems a much more likely way to lower emissions and increase economy without sacrificing performance, driving range, or family- and load-carrying luxuries to which we’ve become accustomed. Compared to electric vehicles, Hybrids won’t litter our landfills with toxic, spent battery packs.
While still relatively small numbers, consumers purchased more than 84,000 hybrids in 2004, led by the Toyota Prius. Expect Ford’s new cute-ute Escape and Mercury Mariner hybrid offerings to substantially increase these numbers this year. The Escape/Mariner are full hybrids, able to operate on gasoline or electric power independently or together. Mild hybrids, on the other hand, require gasoline engine operation all the time. The Escape’s city economy of 36 mpg is certainly impressive, all while meeting California AT-PZEV (advanced technology partial zero emission vehicle) emissions as well as Tier 2, Bin 4 Federal emissions standards. Click here for more information about CA AT-PZEV (PDF).
Hybrids meet many of our environmental and uniquely American needs now.
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Hydrogen economy and hydrogen fuel cells in the long run will be our final choice
I really love my Toyota Prius. I usually average 40-45 mpg. I had to really pay attention on “how” I drive to maximize fuel efficiency. Start-ups from traffic lights seem to use more gas, while more coasting potentials, e.g., going downhill, uses very little, if any. Navigation option is wonderful, no more wrong turns.