FutureWire - futurism and emerging technology

Friday, March 18, 2005

Hydrogen Cars for Sale in 2012

The good news is that hydrogen-powered cars ar on their way. The bad news is that we may have to wait seven more years for them.

DaimlerChrysler, one of the automakers on the forefront of hydrogen fuel cell technology, plans to make hydrogen cars available to the general market by 2012. It has already shipped experimental hydrogen cars to several countries, including the US.



Though progress in hydrogen fuel cell technology is promising, DaimlerChrysler still has technical and logistical hurdles to overcome. Hydrogen cars, for instance, perform poorly in very cold weather. Fuel cells are also too large, expensive, and short-lived to be commerically attractive. And then there's the whole issue of infrastructure; without hydrogen filling stations, where will motorists tank up?

Sources: Wired, GeniusNow