Comments on: Road rally hawks hydrogen cars

Major carmakers showcase prototypes of fuel cell cars, promoting benefits such as reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

[bobby_brady]

Every five years, there are a new crop

of "alternative powered cars". Yet more and more cars are on the road using plan old gas. This will keep going on until gas hits $7/gal.

[Sboston]

Yeah buddy!

Get some of those H filling stations here in AZ. I'll take a truck running on Hydrogen in a heat beat.

[jsweatte]

Public isn't the hurdle

The goal of this week's fourth-annual rally: to warm the public up to the idea. I don't think the hurdle is the public. GM said they were going to make an electric car for decades...I guess they will finally get around to it now. Most of the people I know are very receptive to alternative types of automobiles they just want Detroit, the government, whoever to stop posturing and studying and prototyping and get in gear (pun intended)!!!

[Llib Setag]

Politics over progress...

The Gov't. required that all automakers have "alternative energy
- hybrid" cars as a percentage of its' car line by 2006 under the
Clinton Administration.
George Bush killed that requirement when he stole the election &
became the President. (Big Oil man from Texas...?)

The Big 3 automakers in America are obviously in bed with &
deeply invested with Big Oil. They have been pushing big gas
guzzling SUVs onto the public as "fun, safe, recreational
vehicles".
Now they are so big that some are classified as "commercial
grade trucks" which are exempt from pollution & gas MPG gov't.
requirements.
Big Oil is making record profits & they own the President & the
Big 3 auto makers.
This is all about politics & power NOT about technology &
ecology.
Even during Bush's recent speech about being "conservative"
with your auto trips & gas, he blasted the "environmentalist"
about holding back refineries being built which has cause a
supply & demand problem in America.
BS-Bush. If the American Government challenged the Automobile
Industry to "land on the moon" with NEW renewable / hybrid cars
with tax incentives for the Big 3 Auto makers, then America
would be leading the world in new technologies which we could
EXPORT for a profit & not be dependent on foreign oil today.
Millions of hybrid cars would be on the roads today.

INSTEAD, JAPAN leads the hybrid car sales & technology & they
cannot make them fast enough.

How much energy does it take to make a hydrogen fuel cell
compared to the amount of energy being saved by the car?

Funny, the same companies that drill for oil & natural gas are
drilling for hydrogen gas too... coincidence?

[franny195]

politics over progress

When do liberals get off your relentless attacks on Bush and come up with something original? I bought 2 small cars at the end of 2005. Guess what the big American 3 had when I stopped in their show rooms? A stupid looking cavalier, neon and a focus. That's it! That's the choice they offered. But when you look at foriegn cars everyone has not only small cars but all of them were cute looking, efficient and each one had several models to choose from. Roll back on gas milage only helped the big three. Not the foriegn car makers! If not for that thousands of auto workers would have been laid off from all three American car companies. All americans should get off their ass instead of complaining should replace their cars with Hybrids, or small cars. Even if I was pissed off at Bush, oil companies or GM, ford or Chrysler, I could not buy a decent small american car . And you know what? GM cars cost couple thousand dollars more than similar foriegn car because they have to provide retirement equal to their salaries. Finally they came around cutting or buying out the pension plans of x-employees. So if I bought a GM car I would be supporting their retirees who by the way made a hell lot more money than average american worker back in those days. So you liberals and alike..stop blaming everybody's mother for you problems and when it is time to replace you car go buy a small car. This the only way market forces work to get us fuel efficient cars.

[mark fox]

Hydrogen Economy - Haaaah !

I work for a manufacturing company that uses hydrogen in part of the manufacturing process. Well, Katrina as some of you have heard made a mess of shipping in the Gulf. Since most of the hydrogen moves through that port, we could not get any hydrogen. Yes, there is a hydrogen shortage crisis. Currently we are cracking Anhydrous Ammonia into hydrogen for our processes. Garnering hydrogen from the most commonly thought of source, water, is terribly energy intensive / costly.

So, I do not get it with the on-paper-looks-good-hydrogen economy. Unless something revolutionary happens it will be another ethanol in gasoline, let the taxpayers subsidize the heck out of the process rather than free market place.

Efficiency is the answer. Put a heavy yearly tax/fee on vehicles that get less than 20 mpg. Use that money to find a solution. Push the CAFE standards up 4-5 mpg. That will reduce our use of foreign oil by millions of barrels a day.

[heystoopid]

Good reading for conspiracy theorists!

Makes good reading for conspiracy theorists!

One step at a time?

Perhaps we will see high mileage gas vehicles like the SMART car or OBVIO from Brazil first as well as electric vehicles. Then as we build ou hydrogen infrastructure we will shift to hydrogen vehicles.