Hydrogen Fuel Cars - Do They Exist?

There are hydrogen fuel cars on the roads of some cities. However there are two methods by which hydrogen can be used to power cars. The first way is to use hydrogen to actually power the internal combustion engine, in much the same way as numerous cars use Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG). The second way is to use the reaction of hydrogen with oxygen in fuel cells as a battery, which makes the car a kind of electric car.

The dream of producing hydrogen in the car whilst driving along by electrolyzing water is still a long way off, so we are still at the stage of batteries and filling the tank with hydrogen gas. This is the nub of the problem for potential users and manufacturers. There are merely sixteen hydrogen filling stations in Los Angeles and none in 99% of other cities worldwide.

In fact, some of the big name automobile manufacturers have pulled out of the race to put the first commercially feasible hydrogen powered car on the streets. Ford and GM have announced that they are pulling out in America and so has Renault in France.

However, the Japanese firms are pressing on. In fact, Honda introduced its first hydrogen fuel cell car in 1999. It was known as the FCX and they are now poised with introductory models of the second generation hydrogen cars known as the FCX Clarity. Guess where they are available for sale? The one city in the world? Yes, Los Angeles, because of its filling stations.

Honda reckons that, they could go into full-scale production of the FCX Clarity by 2020, if the world is ready for them by then. Hyundai have on-going plans to manufacture fuel cell (FC) cars and say that they will be in place to launch full-scale production by 2012. Daimler also declared that they would be producing 100,000 FC vehicles in 2012-2013.

Then there are hydrogen powered buses in quite a few European cities including Amsterdam, Barcelona, Hamburg, London, Luxembourg, Madrid. Porto Stockholm and a few more. Lotus, the makers of London taxis, have announced that they intend to set up a fleet of new, hydrogen powered taxis in time for the London Olympics in 2012.

So, the hydrogen vehicle and the hydrogen passenger car is out there and the numbers will be swelling fairly soon. The buses, talked about above, go back to their depot, where an electrolyzing machine converts water into fuel for them to fill up on and the same will be the case for lots of of London's taxis. Regrettably, procuring fuel is not the only difficulty for the average motorist, some of these vehicles, like the FCX Clarity cost about $300,000 each.

However, here are a few interesting facts for those who like trivia. Francois Isaac de Rivaz designed the first hydrogen powered car in 1807 and Paul Dieges filed a US patent for a conversion to the internal combustion engine in 1970 which enabled a petrol engine to run on hydrogen and 200 years later we are still trying to get it right.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on several topics, but is now concerned with where to get Stapletons tyres. If you want to know more, visit our web site at Car Tyres For Sale.