Fuel-cell cars gearing up

But practicality hurt by high price tag, lack of hydrogen stations

Gargi Chakrabarty, Rocky Mountain News

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Fuel cells aren't the stuff of science fiction anymore.

General Motors says it will offer 100 Chevrolet Equinox sport-utility vehicles this year that are modified to run on fuel cells. And a week ago, Japanese automaker Honda announced plans to offer FCX fuel-cell sedans in the United States next year.

And other carmakers are in the middle stages of coming out with their own models of the clean-burning cars.

The buzz with these hydrogen-powered batteries are not limited to Detroit. Utilities are hoping to power customers' homes with fuel cells.

Look only as far as Littleton to find a Colorado company that is getting millions of dollars from the federal government to advance its fuel-cell research for a power plant.

Fuel cells use a chemical reaction between hydrogen and air to make electricity. When used to run a car, the only exhaust coming out of the car's tailpipe is water.

"It's important to get fuel cells on the road," said Paul Taylor, chief economist of the Washington, D.C.-based National Automobile Dealers Association. "We've had fuel-cell buses running in Chicago for a while, but I don't know whether they can get through to Denver or not."

Local dealer Mile High Honda does not have any official confirmation from Honda about the delivery of fuel-cell cars, said Tom Easaw, the dealership's Internet sales manager.

"Honda has been developing FCX," Easaw said. "Filling up fuel-cell cars could be an issue unless you have hydrogen fueling stations. To my knowledge, there aren't any hydrogen fueling stations in Denver."

About a dozen states have hydrogen -fueling stations, and California accounts for most of them.

Honda hasn't revealed how many FCXs it will offer next year. Only two individuals lease the current models of FCXs for $500 a month.

The cars cost about $1 million each. The lease price, the company said, is to make owners pay what they would normally for a traditional car lease and have the same expectations.

The Japanese carmaker expects the 2008 FCX to get the gasoline equivalent of 68 miles per gallon in the city-highway combined driving cycle, according to newspaper reports.

Hydrogen containing the same amount of energy as a gallon of gasoline costs between $3 to $6. Because a fuel-cell car is more efficient, it uses less hydrogen to cover the same distance than a typical car that runs on gasoline.

Bob Stokes, who heads fuel-cell company Versa Power Ssytems Inc. in Littleton, said Honda's schedule for commercially launching FCX cars seems aggressive. Still, the Japanese company could pull it off, he added.

Versa is developing fuel cells for residential power generation. Those fuel cells would use propane, methane or other hydrogen-containing chemicals to produce electricity. A residential fuel cell could take another five to 10 years to hit the stores, Stokes said.

Last month, Versa won approval from the U.S. Energy Department to advance research into a clean-coal power plant that would use fuel cells, running on gas extracted from coal instead of hydrogen, to produce electricity.

Meanwhile, customers of the Delta- Montrose Electric Association are keen to have fuel cells light their homes and run their electrical appliances, said spokesman Tom Polikalas. The utility serves 27,000 customers.

DMEA has had discussions with Toyota and Plug Power about marketing fuel cells to customers. That, he said, could take several years.

"Nobody is ready to go," Polikalas said. "But we are always optimistic about a breakthrough."

What is a fuel cell

A fuel cell mixes hydrogen and air in a process that produces electricity and emits water. Stacks of fuel cells are used to power homes or run cars.

Fuel cells in Colorado

• Who: Versa Power Systems Inc.

• Where: Littleton

• What: Researches fuel cells that can be used in homes or in a power plant

More about fuel-cell cars

• Mileage: Honda expects the $1 million 2008 FCX will get fuel mileage of around 68 mpg in combined highway and city driving, with a range of 270 miles.

• Emissions: These electric engines produce water vapor created when hydrogen and oxygen combine to produce electricity.

• When can you get one: Car giant General Motors' fuel-cell vehicles will be available widely by 2011 or 2012.

• The future: BMW is working on a hydrogen-fueled vehicle. It boasts 286 horsepower, going from zero to 60 mph in less than six seconds. BMW reports that it was clocked at 187 mph.

chakrabartyg@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2976