Fueling the future

Associated Press

DETROIT — Automobile industry experts call it "the holy grail" — a new type of fuel that would make gasoline obsolete and replace car fumes with a harmless mist.

But even with the partnership announced between the federal government and automakers to develop fuel cells that breathe hydrogen, it could be a long time before drivers trade in their gas guzzlers for cars that run on the new technology.

Fuel cells, first used by NASA in the space program, create electricity through a chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen. If pure hydrogen is used as a fuel, the only emission is water vapor.

Hydrogen is an extremely flammable gas, however, requiring heavy tanks that can withstand collisions. The industry is working to develop lighter tanks that also are crash-worthy.

The alternative to hydrogen is more easily available fuels such as gasoline, methanol, propane or natural gas. But using those fuels in the cells requires an extra piece of equipment called a reformer to extract the hydrogen from them, adding heat, cost and weight. The vehicles produce some polluting emissions, although to a lesser extent than internal combustion engines.

The other major challenge to what automakers call "a hydrogen society" is a lack of a refueling infrastructure, or hydrogen filling stations.

One of the goals of the partnership announced at the North American International Auto Show last week, called Freedom CAR, is to develop such an infrastructure

"Because the government is going to focus on hydrogen as the ultimate fuel, the debate over whether we use gasoline, methanol or hydrogen becomes less important," said Thaddeus Malesh, an expert on fuel cell technology with the market research firm J.D. Power and Associates. "They can let the manufacturers focus on using hydrogen, which is the cleanest and most effective fuel."

The fuel cell partnership, announced by Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, replaces a Clinton administration program to develop high-mileage vehicles.

"If this works, this is the holy grail, this is the breakthrough," GM president and CEO Rick Wagoner told an industry conference Monday. "We’ve done enough work, we think there are risks, and the payoff is not just for the automotive OEM’s (original equipment manufacturers), it’s the whole economy."

Environmental groups such as the Sierra Club hail the advent of fuel cells. But they are skeptical of the motives of Freedom CAR, believing it is just a way to stall legislation that would raise corporate average fuel economy standards.

"Now that they’re coming out with Freedom CAR, they say, ‘Don’t raise CAFE now, wait 20 years,’ " said Sierra Club Washington representative Ann Mesnikoff. "The partnership makes no pledge to make or sell anything to the American public."

One reason the automakers cite the delay in mass producing fuel cell vehicles is the cost.

When the first prototype fuel cell vehicles were shown in the late 1990s, the automakers estimated the engines would cost roughly 100 times more than an internal combustion engine. Malesh says that cost has been cut 90 percent since then, but is still too expensive for the mass market.

GM chairman Jack Smith says having the government’s vast research capabilities involved in fuel cell research could help bring the price down.

"It’s like night vision in a car," he said. "The vision system came from the M1 battle tank, but that system cost $20,000. We had to get the cost down to $1,500 a vehicle."