Hydrogen Cars

A hydrogen vehicle is a vehicle that uses hydrogen as its onboard fuel for motive power. Hydrogen vehicles include hydrogen fueled space rockets, as well as automobiles and other transportation vehicles. 

The power plants of such vehicles convert the chemical energy of hydrogen to mechanical energy either by burning hydrogen in an internal combustion engine, or by reacting hydrogen with oxygen in a fuel cell to run electric motors. Widespread use of hydrogen for fueling transportation is a key element of a proposed hydrogen economy.

Hydrogen fuel does not occur naturally on Earth and thus is not an energy source; rather it is an energy carrier. It is most frequently made from methane or other fossil fuels, but it can be produced using sources (such as wind, solar, or nuclear) that are intermittent, too diffuse or too cumbersome to directly propel vehicles. 

Integrated wind-to-hydrogen (power to gas) plants, using electrolysis of water, are exploring technologies to deliver costs low enough, and quantities great enough, to compete with traditional energy sources.

Toyota plans to start selling a zero-emission hydrogen fuel-cell powered car in the U.S. next year, right along with similar models from Honda and Hyundai. The new model made its U.S. debut at the Consumer Electronics Show this past January.

"It really provides all the benefits of a plug-in EV without the range anxiety and without the time it takes to recharge it," says Bill Fay, group vice president of the Toyota division, in a interview at the Chicago Auto Show.

Since most battery-powered cars are limited to about 100 miles per charge, the term "range anxiety" has come to mean the worries that owners face about running out of juice before they can limp home or to a public charging station. Hydrogen cars can go hundreds of miles on a fillup, and the fillup only takes about five minutes, Fay points out.

At present, California, the state that once had planned a "hydrogen highway" of stations, has nine. But the state has plans to vastly increase the network, says Bob Carter, a senior vice president for Toyota.

Studies have shown, he says, that fewer stations than might be expected can support the needs of a lot of drivers. Only 68 stations can meet the needs of drivers of 10,000 cars.

Hydrogen fuel cell cars, Carter says, will "fundamentally change" how America thinks about alternative fuel vehicles.

Question:  Why are we not reading about American Auto Manufacturers doing this?