The hydrogen-powered Mercedes

One often-cited alternative to gasoline-powered cars is hydrogen. Editors Michael Kanellos and Brian Cooley took a look at one example of a hydrogen-powered test car, a small Mercedes. To keep Kanellos from endangering himself and said vehicle, they set the top speed on this hydro-chariot at only 85 miles per hour. Take a look.

[acerides]

Its About time!......its time to roll with this on

We have been waiting and in need of this for way to long. I wonder how much help the Bush Admin. is helping with this? America should have NASA developing this before we explore space any further. This is truly great! Kudos!!

http://hitmanpro1.com

[albizzia]

H2 fuel cell cars will never be practical

The PEM fuel cells used in these cars are extremely expensive, due to the need for costly catalysts and membranes. Cost of PEM fuel cells is far higher than LiIon battery packs, or even solar cells. PEM fuel cells are also short lived, requiring replacement in less than 85K miles.

H2 is an extremely bulky fuel, all methods of automotive storage (compression, liquification, metal hydrides, etc.) consume a lot of energy, are expensive, heavy, and still take up a lot of room to get even a modest driving range.

There are several methods of making H2, all of them expensive and inefficient. Currently, the cheapest is by reacting fossil fuels with steam at high temperatures to get CO2 and H2. H2 fuel costs more per mile, and "electric fuel" costs much less per mile, when compared to gasoline.

Water electrolysis is only 60% efficient, PEM fuel cells 50%, subtract energy needed to store the H2 and overall efficiency is less than 24%. Compare that with 85% efficiency for charger and battery, and it's obvious - battery electric cars are far more efficient, and "electric fuel" will always cost much less than H2.

H2 fuel cell cars have been promised "real soon" for over 30 years, but the've already been rendered obsolete. The future is electric.