Hydrogen Bombshell: Fuel Cell Vehicles Arrive
Published Jul 09, 2008
Honda’s FCX Clarity models are being leased in three areas.
What if there were a vehicle that emitted water vapor from its tailpipe instead of pollutants, ran on fuel produced from renewable energy sources and filled up at half the current cost?
In California, just such a vehicle is starting to gain notice. It’s the latest in eco-friendly, state-of-the art transportation: the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle.
The technology is being advanced by the California Fuel Cell Partnership, which comprises automakers, energy companies and public agencies. The partnership’s main purpose is to assist with the transition from a transportation system based on the internal combustion engine and fossil fuels to one powered by fuel cells and hydrogen.
The California Fuel Cell Partnership already has put several hundred such vehicles on the road, one of which is driven by Executive Director Catherine Dunwoody. Not surprisingly, she’s a big fan. “The vehicle performs really great,” she says. “It runs just as well as a normal car.”
A fuel cell uses an electro-chemical process combining hydrogen and air to create an electric current. The only emissions are water and heat. Adopting a transportation system based on fuel cells, Dunwoody says, would greatly reduce gas emissions that contribute to global warming.
While car companies are targeting a substantial rollout of fuel cell vehicles between 2012 and 2015, for some drivers in Southern California the future is now. Honda says its FCX Clarity is ready for the road, with a limited number being leased in the Irvine, Santa Monica and Torrance areas where hydrogen fuel stations exist.
“When you really look at replacing the mainstream vehicles in America today,” Dunwoody says, “the fuel cell is the answer. It’s the endgame.”
Story by Jon Brooks
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