Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology

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With gas prices frequently going up to levels that consumers are not happy paying due to our dependence on oil and gas, and an increasing number of people who want to be more environmentally friendly, it is not surprising that many car companies are coming up with designs for cars that run on alternative fuels. One of the more popular design ideas is that of hydrogen fuel cars. A number of different companies are working on these designs, though most are not yet available to the general public. However, some of these cars have reached the testing stage and are on the roads today. It will take a while before these become widely available though.

One of the options for hydrogen fuel cars that has been tested on the road by real people is the Chevy Equinox Fuel Cell vehicle. It doesn’t have any emissions, which is great for the environment. Another option is the Honda FCX Clarity, which is actually available for lease on a limited basis. These two vehicles have each won awards for their environmentally friendly designs, and they are a couple of the options that have come the furthest in development.

Many automakers have jumped onto the hydrogen bandwagon and are in the process of designing and producing hydrogen fuel cars, either those that run on fuel cells or those that use a combustion engine. There are also hybrid hydrogen cars on the drawing boards. Companies working on cars using hydrogen fuel include Audi, BMW, Chrysler, Daihatsu, Fiat, Ford, Guigiaro, GM, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mazda, Mercedes, Mitsubishi, Morgan, Nissan, Peugeot, Pininfarina, Renault, Suzuki, Think, Toyota and Volkswagon. Which of these cars will ultimately end up on the market? It is hard to say, especially since there are so many other options out there for environmentally friendly and hybrid cars.

The main problem with these vehicles is that there isn’t a real good infrastructure of stations offering hydrogen to refill your tank. California has the best infrastructure in the U.S. so far, but the number of stations still isn’t that great, and the quality of the stations varies. Before these hydrogen fuel cars can really take over the market this will have to be fixed. California is one of the states that purchases the most cars, so if they can get the hydrogen fuel infrastructure fixed, maybe the cars will take off and become popular enough that other states will get on board and start creating more hydrogen fueling stations.