Hydrogen Road Trip

A group of Hydrogen powered cars and sport utility vehicles lined up for public test drives in Phoenix as part of an unprecedented cross-country Hydrogen Road Tour to promote the fuel of the future.

The two week road trip, which started in Maine and ends this weekend in Southern California, toured more than 30 cities in the United states as part of a joint venture by nine auto manufacturers and the U.S. Department of Transportation to demonstrate to the public that Hydrogen powered vehicles are nearly ready for showrooms.

The hand built demonstration vehicles on the tour are all based on existing cars and small sport-utilities and were put into the hands of regular drivers so they could experience how pollution free driving is visualized for the future. The automakers involved include BMW, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai-Kia, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan and Volkswagen.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2008/08/23/20080823hydrogen23.html

Honda FCX Clarity Available In July

Honda has started production of the FCX Clarity, a new zero-emission four seater car that runs on Hydrogen and electricity.

According to Honda, the new car offers three times better fuel efficiency than a normal car. Honda is planning to produce 200 of the FCX Clarity cars, which for now will only be available on a three year lease for around $600 a month.

The first cars will be available for lease in July in California with a follow up launch in Japan later in the year. Actress Jamie Lee Curtis will be one of the first to have one of the new Honda vehicles.

http://www.enjoyfrance.com/content/view/1512/31/

New Fueling Stations for London's Hydrogen Buses

Air Products & Chemicals Incorporated announced that it has signed an agreement with Transport for London to supply Hydrogen fuel and a dedicated fueling station for 10 Hydrogen-powered buses. The deal is worth around $6.8 million, with extra being paid for the fuel. The company expects the buses, which will form a central part of London's Hydrogen transport program, to be operating by 2010.

Air Products is based out of Allentown, PA and is the world’s largest supplier of merchant Hydrogen, operating over 60 gaseous and liquid Hydrogen production plants.

http://www.eta.co.uk/node/10409

Seaworld To See New Hydrogen Buses

SeaWorld is unveiling two new Hydrogen-fueled shuttle buses that will be used to transport park guests and employees between its three theme parks (SeaWorld, Discovery Cove and Aquatica).

The shuttle buses are part of a pilot program between the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Ford Motor Company, Chevron Technology Ventures and Progress Energy. During the program, data will be collected from the SeaWorld vehicles to evaluate efficiency and best applications for Hydrogen-fueled vehicles.

http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/stories/2008/02/18/daily14.html

Cadillac Provoqs The Hydrogen Vehicle Market

General Motors has unveiled its new Cadillac Provoq Hydrogen concept vehicle at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, NV.

The Provoq contains two 10,000-psi Hydrogen tanks that feed a fuel-cell stack to produce up to 88kW of continuous power that charges a lithium-ion battery pack. This power is used to spin both a 70 kW co-axial electric drive system at the front wheels and two 40 kW in-wheel motors at the rear. Fully fueled and charged, the Provoq will run 300 miles and get to sixty miles per hour in a respectable 8.5 seconds and achieve a top speed of 100 mph.

The Provoq also comes with several nice options including dual battery charging ports in the left and right front fenders, a roof-mounted solar panel to boost the electric charge, and front grille louvers that close up at highway speeds to improve aerodynamics.

http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/01/cadillac-unveil.html

Hydrogen To Go

Millenium Cell Inc. and Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies have announced that they will be debuting a pre-production version of their HydroPak portable Hydrogen-fueled generator at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

The HydroPak will use disposable Hydrogen fuel cells to provide instant power in the place of traditional gasoline and diesel powered generators. The HydroPak has been designed to be lighter and quieter and will run indoors without problems thanks to the lack of harmful emissions. Just like a traditional generator it is able to provide continuous electricity for 14 hours to low-power devices like portable work lights, portable televisions, and communications networks. One Hydrogen fuel cell should provide enough electricity to recharge a laptop eight to ten times.

The generator should cost around $400, with refill Hydrogen packs costing around $20.

http://news.digitaltrends.com/news/story/15314/hydrogen-powered_generator_to_debut_at_ces