Did
US automakers cry wolf on the hydrogen highway?
Friday, November 23, 2007
Hyundai's
Bibendum winning FCEV
There is a rumor in the automotive world that the US auto
industry and its lobbyists have long convinced the US
Congress and multiple executive branches that CAFE was an
inhibitor to fuel cell vehicles and the hydrogen economy.
This lobbying effort, the rumor claims, has gone on for
decades, although it has weakened since 9/11, Iraq,
Katrina, etc.
I don't know whether the rumor is real or not, but I've
heard it many times from many different sources.
The real point, however, is that in many circles, such as
those rounded out by environmentalists and energy security
hawks, the hydrogen economy is now believed to be fiction,
something that is always a decade or two away from reality
- something I have also believed, until recently.
If you test drive many of the new fuel cell vehicles you
realize the technology is road-ready. See my Chevy
Equinox fuel cell vehicle test drive, for example.
And, as much as I like the Equinox fuel cell vehicle, the Honda
FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle, seems a generation
ahead of the Equinox. Even more distressing, it seems
Toyota and Hyundai might also have surpassed any US fuel
cell efforts.
Ironically, even Indian automakers, such as Tata, are
quickly ramping up their hydrogen and fuel cell efforts.
America, however, seems to have stalled, or to even have
taken an unmarked dirt path off the hydrogen highway down
some unclear path into the future. Yet, sadly, it is the
hydrogen economy which holds the most promise for America
- not just in terms of transportation, but our entire
energy paradigm. Technology has been the constant
lynch-pin to our economic success in the last few decades,
but if the hydrogen highway is paved outside of America,
it might be time to kiss the American Dream goodbye.
While many might claim the hydrogen highway is too
expensive, even unachievable, the same was said of space
and the moon. Yet, the technological offshoots of the
mission to the moon completely changed the world and
brought untold prosperity and power to America. The
hydrogen highway offers similar potential, but only if
acted upon immediately.
So, why is America complacent? Did US automakers cry
hydrogen highway and fuel cell vehicle one too many times?
Have Americans become too skeptical of the hydrogen
economy just as much of the rest of the world, especially
the developing world, becomes optimistic of hydrogen's
potential?
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