Devotee test-drives hydrogen fuel cars
I have seen the future, and it is today.
The Hydrogen Fuel Cell Car Tour recently stopped in Portland, and it let us devotees get some behind-the-wheel experience.
Hydrogen fuel-cell cars are the way to go. As a zero-emission vehicle, they will save us from air pollution and greenhouse gases. They refuel with hydrogen liquid much like our current gasoline-guzzling cars.
Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, but it’s always bonded to other elements, forming water, natural gas and other fossil fuels. In Oregon, hydrogen can be made from wood/biomass waste.
The drive and ride of these cars is a silent dream, with no noise. Even though they are silent, it’s just like driving a regular automatic-transmission car.
The cars look much the same.The difference is in the mechanics, an electric engine under the hood.They use a fuel-cell stack to create electricity instead of requiring a battery that must be recharged. This is the revolutionary change or paradigm shift.Combustion engines are so last century.
TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA / AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Honda’s FCX Clarity, foreground, and Nissan’s X-Trail FCV, rear.
I first drove the Honda FCX Clarity, the only car that is actually available to the public, in Southern California by lease for about $20 a day or $600 a month for three years. It’s by far the best that I drove, with a futuristic dashboard panel and new bio-fabric on the car seats. It was a noiseless dream to drive.
Then I drove the Nissan X-Trail FCV, also silent, but like an automatic SUV. Their point is to show the “future” cars are like current cars, and they did.
Thirdly, I drove the Chevy Equinox FCV, also like an SUV. Chevy should be doubling up to get this car to the masses so they don’t slide under the rug, but I was told by the engineer they hadproblems to work out.
Chevy/GM is having a huge challenge. Why don’t they just do fuel-cell cars, and get going?Honda is leasing their car. Why can’t Chevy do something? Is Honda smarter than Chevy?
I want America to win Car Wars.
Finally I drove the Toyota FCHV-adv, SUV-like, and nice. I have been very partial to Toyota because I have a Camry, but they are not out there yet. These last three and the other cars on the tour were concept cars (not generally available).
It’s good that the cars look very much like today’s cars, because people might feel a little nervous driving a space-age- looking car. To bring these vehicles to market, automotive and energy companies must meet consumer expectations for convenience, ease of use and familiarity.
Most vehicles average 100 to 150 miles on a tank of hydrogen. American consumers expect cars to average 300 miles before refueling.
Fuel cells must last the lifetime of a vehicle, about 150,000 miles. Hydrogen fueling stations must be convenient and plentiful, making it easy to fill a fuel-cell vehicle near home, work or school.
Refueling stations can produce hydrogen fuel on site, then a compressor compacts the hydrogen molecules, and high-pressure tanks safely store hydrogen until needed for fuel. How’s that for a convenient refueling operation?
I don’t like to see the U.S. auto industry in trouble, but why haven’t they been pursuing these other options like crazy, instead of doing the same old, same old? There are some challenges with fuel-cell cars, but I believe that we should just bust it through and get things going and work out the kinks.
Look at Henry Ford. He made cars available to the masses. Let’s do the same for hydrogen fuel-cell cars. They are a longterm solution to air- quality, energy-dependence and climate-change issues. They have great acceleration, are fuel-efficient and only emit heat and water.
Every region of the world can produce hydrogen from a variety of sources, using multiple methods. Hydrogen can be made from renewable sources of energy with almost no environmental impact.
When I look at the cars on the freeways, I imagine what if all the cars on the highways were fuel-cell cars? We would create the ultimate in green jobs, almost solve our air-pollution problem.
We need to look beyond the fluctuations in gas prices, and realize that we have a national security issue by being dependent on foreign oil.What if the Arabs and others decide to terrorize us by withholding their oil reserves to hurt us?
We need to throw off this oil addiction, develop fuel-cell vehicle technology now and hydrogen fuel production, so we are not at their mercy. We need to shake off the internal oil companies that would enslave us to foreign oil, because they are getting fantastically rich from it also.
Let’s get our American ingenuity to free us from this oil bondage and be energy independent, please.
