Hydrogen fuel cell cars are unlikely to be affordable to the likes of you or me anytime soon. BMW’s glamorous launch of their new Hydrogen 7 ‘hybrid’ serves as a very important PR objective for the company, but downplays the huge expense of the technology for the short and medium term.Honda’s two FCX models, which are currently being leased as a PR exercise in Washington for $500 a month actually cost about $1 Million each to build.
BMW’s Hydrogen 7 is dual fuel, running also on petrol, which gives it a mediocre 25% efficiency advantage over the gasoline equivalent. Toyota, Honda, Hyundai and GM, who all use direct fuel cell technology, can claim up to a 50% improvement in efficiency.BMW’s strategy is more practical though for the short term, and offsets the problems of finding the nearest hydrogen pump. In California, where Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger champions hydrogen fuel cell technology, there are currently just 17 test pumps with a further 120 planned by the end of 2010. That’s a far cry from the 40,000 service stations currently in the US.This slow introduction of hydrogen at the pumps reflects the reality that few corporations in the hydrogen business predict affordable hydrogen transportation in the short to medium term for the masses.Timm Kehler, Vice President of Marketing Predevelopment at BMW, stated that hydrogen fuel cell technology for the masses is probably about 20 years away. See his interview in a test run f the Hydrogen 7 below.
Hidden costs of hydrogenAs a general rule, a kilogram of hydrogen in a fuel cell will get twice the mileage of a gallon of gasoline, however, it can cost anything up to $20 a kilo depending on where you can find it.And is hydrogen really green? According to the Bush administration’s National Hydrogen Energy Roadmap, drafted last year in concert with the energy industry, up to 90 percent of all hydrogen will be refined from oil, natural gas, and other fossil fuels…So even though there won’t be much mileage done by you or me in a hydrogen vehicle any time soon, there’ll be plenty of mileage made by the car and petroleum giants in terms of clean green publicity.
What can we do in the meantime?Want to be green? Like I said, we’re here to encourage you to think about buying pre-owned consumer electronics so that there’s less demand for new ones to be made in China, Want an iPhone? Buy one off someone who’s trading their one in for the 3G model.
Very soon trade 2 save will be launched, where you can buy pre-owned discounted products with a warranty that have been checked and graded so that you can feel confident in buying them, and where you can get them for free if you trade products in too. This isn’t as glamorous as hydrogen fuel cell technology, but for the moment it’s a lot more effective at fighting global warming.
