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Fuel
Cell Vehicles Versus Hybrid Cars
The'Hydrogen
Highway' has been touted by American automakers,
especially GM, as the answer to America's energy problems.
Unfortunately, the hum of hydrogen and fuel cells has been
in the air for decades, yet the reality of the hydrogen
highway might still be decades away.
Even worse, lobbyists from GM, on numerous occasions, have
coaxed American Congresspeople not to enact stricter fuel
economy regulations because such actions would interfere
with the development of fuel cell vehicles. Essentially,
the huge profits margins that GM makes on foreign-oil
guzzling SUVs would be reduced and this would cut into
fuel cell development.
Thus, America's national fuel economy is no better now
that it was in the 1980s, and with more and more Americans
driving, our need for foreign oil regularly increases.
When Toyota and Honda began developing hybrid
cars, American automakers laughed and ridiculed them.
Only about a year ago, GM's Bob Lutz joked that hybrids
make a nice marketing story, but a poor business story.
Since, GM spends almost $3 billion per year on marketing,
I'll assume Mr. Lutz knows a lot about marketing.
Yet, I wonder if Mr. Lutz still thinks hybrids are a poor
business story? Toyota continues to rack up month after
month of great sales - without incentives - as the Toyota
Prius hybrid and Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive rack up
100,000's of sales. GM, on the other hand, loses more than
$1000.00 per vehicle when averaged across its fleet.
Don't worry, GM tells us, fuel cell vehicles are just
around the corner to the save the day. Never mind the fact
that fuel cell vehicles cost almost $1,000,000 per
vehicle, that they won't work in cold climates, that there
isn't any place to fuel them, and numerous other issues.
Still, GM says don't worry.
The hybrid leader, Toyota, also believes very heavily in
fuel cells, but Toyota believes hybrid vehicles are a
natural transition to fuel cells. In fact, Toyota hopes
that much of its current hybrid powertrain will be the
foundation of its fuel cell vehicles.
Still, lately, I find myself wondering, are fuel cell
vehicles even that important?
While current hybrid technology isn't enough to solve
America's oil crisis, what about the next generation of
hybrid technology? Plug-in hybrids, for example, can make
current hybrids, such as the Ford
Escape hybrid or the Toyota
Highlander hybrid, significantly more fuel efficient.
Moreover, other experimental hybrids have been
demonstrated to achieve as much as 250 mpg, at a cost that
is significantly less than fuel cell vehicles.
This has prompted cities such as Austin, Texas and states,
such as Pennsylvania, to seek ways to help fund
experimental hybrid vehicle development.
Yet, GM is still at least a couple of years away from
hybrid passenger vehicles. While GM still has time to get
into the hybrid race, I cannot help but wonder if they are
even serious about the move. Rather, it seems that GM has
risked its entire future on proprietary fuel cell
technology.
Hopefully, GM will succeed, but what if they fail? GM is
not just risking the failure of GM Corporation, but of an
important source of American jobs, and an incredibly
important part of the American economy.
Katrina, the strong likelihood of future hurricanes, and
the threat terrorism - let alone rising global demand for
oil - demonstrate the extreme vulnerability of America's
energy sector and the dangers of gas-guzzling.
Can fuel cell vehicles really be developed quickly enough
to solve this vulnerability, or must America - in the
short term - focus on second generation hybrid technology,
plug-in's and other experimental hybrid vehicles?
This will be the focus of Part II.
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