Originally published December 29 2005
New fuel cell vehicle from Honda performs relatively well, analyst says
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
CNN Money analyst Alex Taylor III test drives Honda's FCX fuel cell vehicle, which converts hydrogen gas into electricity, and talks plainly about the challenges that auto makers face in developing an affordable fuel cell vehicle.
The car I was driving was the Honda FCX, and it may be the automobile of the future-one especially attractive to business owners hit by rising fuel prices.
The FCX is powered by a fuel cell that converts hydrogen gas into electricity.
(Fossil fuels are used on a smaller scale to refine and transport the hydrogen.)
Unlike clunky, earlier versions, this one drives like a regular production model.
Behind the wheel, the technology is almost transparent.
All the controls-accelerator, brake, accessory switches-are identical to those in a typical car.
The FCX makes hardly any noise and accelerates smoothly, with none of the gearshifting that you feel in a gas-powered car.
That's because, unlike gasoline engines, electric motors don't require different gears.
Two large tanks between the rear wheels feed hydrogen gas into a fuel-cell stack beneath the passenger area.
When oxygen and hydrogen combine in the stack, they create electricity, which powers an 80-horsepower motor under the hood.
A second source of juice comes from a battery-like device in the rear called an ultra-capacitor which stores electricity recovered in coasting and braking.
The FCX gets 190 miles between hydrogen fill-ups, but there are only 25 refueling stations in the entire U.S., 16 of which are in California.
Honda isn't saying, though General Motors has promised to have a production-ready fuel cell vehicle by 2010.
Honda is working to get the fuel-cell stacks out of the experimental stage and into mass production Those two big, pressurized fuel tanks are worrisome, but Honda claims that the FCX is as safe as a normal car.
Regardless, it is reassuring to know that the technology is available to free us from dependence on imported oil and asphyxiating ourselves with greenhouse gases.
Now if they could just work on that seven-figure sticker price.
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