This just in: Hydrogen fuel cell cars are still dead

Years after everyone else, GM and Toyota execs skeptical about hydrogen cars

Posted by Joseph Romm (Guest Contributor) at 1:48 PM on 06 Mar 2008

That Saturday Night Live-esque headline was inspired by a story in The Wall Street Journal yesterday:

Top executives from General Motors Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp. Tuesday expressed doubts about the viability of hydrogen fuel cells for mass-market production in the near term and suggested their companies are now betting that electric cars will prove to be a better way to reduce fuel consumption and cut tailpipe emissions on a large scale.

Really? Hydrogen cars of dubious viability? Who ever could have guessed that in a million years? And electric cars are "a better way to reduce fuel consumption and cut tailpipe emissions on a large scale"? I'm shocked, shocked that anyone could come to that conclusion.

Speaking at the Geneva auto show, GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz told reporters that recent advances in lithium-ion batteries indicate that future electric cars might be able to travel 300 miles, or nearly 500 kilometers, before they need to recharge, making them much more practical as a mass-market product.

"If we get lithium-ion to 300 miles, then you need to ask yourself, Why do you need fuel cells?" Mr. Lutz told reporters. He added that fuel-cell vehicles are still far too expensive to be considered for the mass market. "We are nowhere [near] where we need to be on the costs curve," he said.

So who feels stupid about killing the electric car now? (I can hear Lutz on a new show, Law and Order: SUV, saying "I'm so sorry. It was all a terrible mistake. Yes, I ... I ... really love electric cars. I always have. I would never intentionally do anything to harm them. You've got to believe me ... Of course, global warming is still a crock of shit. But EVs are my life!"

At a separate event at the show, Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe echoed the concern about the high costs of fuel cells and noted the lack of an infrastructure to produce and distribute hydrogen fuel to a wide swath of consumers. These factors leave him with the impression that "it will be difficult to see the spread of fuel cells in 10 years' time," Mr. Watanabe said.

The comments indicate a shift in the auto industry's tone regarding fuel cells, especially at GM, which has spent the past two years highlighting its fuel-cell technologies as one of many initiatives it is pursuing to reduce petroleum consumption.

Looks like those premature obituaries for hydrogen fuel cell cars weren't premature after all.

This post was created for ClimateProgress.org, a project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

For story: This just in: Hydrogen fuel cell cars are still dead
7 Comments | Post a Comment

And you're mad...why?

Hold on. You're mad because they don't want to build the hydrogen car.

But Gristies are H28TRS. So you should be happy.

EV-1: C'mon it had a range of what? 40 mph...and overnight charging?

electric cars...pollution: sure, if you ever get those "giant solar collectors" to bring home the juice at 15 cents...

Batteries: SciAm just had an article about how Lead Acid batteries are still the better choice for storage (it's the weight). If we're still arguing that, it still seems like battery technology has a long way to do.

Anyway, by the time you guys finish arguing, they'll have drilled all the super deep oil wells and prices will go down to $10 a barrel.

Vroom.........

by jabailo at 2:40 PM on 06 Mar 2008

A Li-ion car did in fact go 300 km on a charge

in 2004, IIRC. About as far as liquid-hydrogen-fuelled internal combustion cars have gone, back in the mid-1970s when multiple serious efforts produced hydrogen cars much more capable than the FCEV things of recent years; they were so capable that it was said, I seem to recall, that they were within five years of mass rollout, or at most ten.

Look up the Hydrogen Car Timeline. This stuff isn't new.

How shall the car gain nuclear cachet?

by GRLCowan at 4:07 PM on 06 Mar 2008

*Sniff*

But I really wanted a fuel cell car.. they're soo cool! Oh well, I suppose that the logistics of a Hydrogen Infrastructure were always a bit much to overcome. At least, that's what most everyone has been saying for a decade or more.

Jabailo:
Come on, man. You're not even trying anymore! I find your posts amusing to the Nth degree and look forward to your deliberately unhelpful and random comments. But you've got to put some "umph" into it, man! Everyone has an off day and I understand that.. take the weekend off and come back swingin'. I have faith in you!

If you continue to do what you've always done you'll continue to get what you've always got. - Yogi Berra

by Matt at 7:42 AM on 07 Mar 2008

more fuel-cell SUVs

Another thing to note is that though fuel-cell vehicles themselves may emit nothing but water vapor, the process of producing fuel cells from hydrocarbons will just continue America's dependence on fossil fuels and leave behind carbon dioxide which sadly is the primary cause of global warming.

Major automakers are still optimistic about fuel cells, convinced they are even more cleaner and efficient compared to hydrogen internal combustion engines. Now I am more excited to see if plans will materialize about Nissan Frontier pickups and large cargo vans with greener truck parts that run on fuel cells and hydrogen.

I hope that the likes of BMW's Hydrogen Seven and Honda's FCX will not just be a thing of the past.

"if you can't win the race, make the one ahead break the record"

by Stan1624 at 11:42 PM on 11 Mar 2008

R.I.P.

A long deserved end to this waste of government and industry research funds.

But as usual the incredible Lutz (who thinks GHG climate change is a crock o' shit) serves his standard diversion. He is touting lithium, for all electric cars.

Instead of taking this excellent oppurtunity to point out that the plugin hybrid volt is ready right now to do the job, without 20k worth of lithium batteries. And without 10s of thousands of very expensive quick recharge facilities.

Heis counting on lithium batteries remaining tooexpensive for mass adoption of the all electric technology. He also knows that the financial barrier to building out very high amperage, problematic quick charge "gas" stations for all electric cars is prohibitive.

Don't underestimate Lutz, he is the king of all gas guzzler enthusiasts. he will keep up this effort to stall plugin hybrids forever if he can.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog John Schneider, Northern Wisconsin

by amazingdrx at 12:17 AM on 12 Mar 2008

Why?

I hope that the likes of BMW's Hydrogen Seven and Honda's FCX will not just be a thing of the past.

I sure don't.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,448648 ...
http://greyfalcon.net/hydrogen2.png
http://greyfalcon.net/hydrogen.png
http://greyfalcon.net/hydrogen4.png

-David Ahlport

by GreyFlcn at 5:29 AM on 12 Mar 2008

Global Warming

The earth has been warming and cooling since the beginning of time. No government or organization or world-wide effort can stop these cycles. Polar bears have survived an ice free pole and will in the future. The human contribution to global warming is less than 1%.

by BSTNH1 at 5:58 PM on 17 Aug 2008
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