You have to respect GM’s commitment to fuel cell vehicles despite the company’s sliding sales and the technical obstacles. GM says they are still on track to produce competitive fuel cell vehicles by 2010, which although I recently heard the same from fuel cell maker Ballard, would be very surprising if it happens.
IF (and that’s a big one) fuel cell vehicles become reality here within the next decade, we will largely have the state of California to thank. The state is funding the California Fuel Cell Partnership, California Hydrogen Highway network, and National Fuel Cell Research Center, which are leading the country’s research efforts.
Sadly, these three organizations had little to report at their joint “state of the fuel cell” press conference at the California International Auto Show this week. There was zippo about fuel cell cost and performance milestones, although they did mention that there are now 31 fuel hydrogen fueling stations in the state, and 100 fuel cell cars are being tested on the roads.
