Are Hydrogen Fuel-Celled Vehicles the Future of Automobiles?

How would you like to get rid of the smelly fumes at gas stations? How would you like to stop polluting the atmosphere with CO2 emissions and decrease our dependence on fossil fuels? It could all happen with the development of hydrogen fuel-celled vehicles.

Hydrogen fuel-celled vehicles for general consultation are still years away from showing up at your local car dealerships. There are more than 125 of these vehicles being tested on the streets and highways around the globe. This includes buses and delivery vans, however a real world hydrogen fuel-celled car for everyday driving is still a long way off.

Automakers have been actively exploring hydrogen as an alternative fuel for over 20 years, and began serious research into fuel cells starting in the early 1990's. The first, at the 2002 Paris Motor Show was General Motors when it unveiled the Hy-Wire, a fuel-cell concept car that featured a "skateboard" chassis and electric drive-by-wire controls. Three months later, Honda and Toyota made headlines when they announced that the first hydrogen fuel-cell passenger vehicles in the United States were hitting the roads in California.

Honda turned over five of its four-passenger FCX vehicles to the city of Los Angeles for long-term test research. Toyota delivered the first two of six FCHV's a so-called fuel-cell hybrid based on the Highlander SUV, to the University of California also for testing purposes.

Many opponents of hydrogen-powered vehicles, including the environmental community believe it may not be good science or technology. An example would be the best way to obtain hydrogen is to separate it from water by using alternative energy sources like solar and wind power because the hydrogen is pure. The drawback is it is not cost effective yet.

The most likely source currently would be "transition" hydrocarbon fuels such as natural gas, gasoline and methanol, whereby using "reformers" makes hydrogen, which researchers say uses substantial energy and emits greenhouse gases.

A promising source is the hydrogen internal combustion engine. For close to 25 years, BMW has focused their sites on developing a hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engine vehicle. BMW's approach is a bi-fuel system, using both hydrogen and gasoline. They envision a hydrogen-powered BMW on the road before the end of this decade.

Ford recently unveiled a supercharged hydrogen combustion engine powered vehicle. This company says it is dedicated to the idea of fuel-cell power trains in mass produced vehicles. Since fuel cells are not ready for production in the near term, Ford considers the hydrogen combustion engine as a "bridging" strategy to stimulate a hydrogen infrastructure and related technologies.

Some industry analysts believe GM is ahead in the race to deliver affordable fuel-celled vehicles to the public. The type of fuel-cell that produces energy for vehicles, the protein exchange membrane (PEM), is also applicable for use in stationary power units that can produce electricity for homes and commercial applications. GM plans to enter that market where the benefit is volume production of fuel-cell components, which will help lower the cost of fuel-cell vehicles, giving GM a competitive cost advantage.