General Motors is following the lead made by Honda (previous post) by developing a home hydrogen refueling unit. GM's unit would use either electricity or sunlight to make the hydrogen. Developing an infrastructure to supply hydrogen for their fuel cell vehicles, besides making economical fuel cells, is the most pressing task that fuel cell automakers have. GM and several other auto companies would like to introduce, at least a limited number of vehicles, most likely for lease in the 2007-2011 time period. Wide scale production of fuel cell vehicles is thought by most to be at least 10-15 years away.
Just one week ago GM announced that they would build 100 fuel cell vehicles that would be deployed in California, New York and Washington, D.C. in 2007. It is highly probable they they would be use in those areas, at least in part, because there are some hydrogen fueling stations located in those areas.
Having a unit that would generate hydrogen from water or natural gas is one way for fuel cell car owners to use a fuel cell vehicle without developing an infrastructure. Honda is using a reformer to make the hydrogen from natural gas. GM did not say what process they would be using but a good guess would be electrolysis of water which uses electricity as it energy source.
To me the question remains, why fuel cells? The plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and the electric vehicle (EV) seem much more practical and less expensive. We already have a distribution system for electricity and Li-ion batteries have been developed that are perfectly suited for these vehicles. Production facilities for these vehicles require a lot less tooling than would be needed for fuel cells that have never been mass produced. The cost is still high, but much lower than a fuel cell and the likelihood is very high that they would be economical when they are in mass production for a few years.
The PHEV is necessary until EVs with a similar range can be produced economically. Short range EVs could be economical today, if the buying community could be convinced that many families could use one vehicle that has a limited range. We are facing an inevitable shortage of inexpensive liquid fuels, despite the recent downturn in prices, and the sooner we get PHEVs on the road. We have enough resources to fuel an entire fleet of PHEVs with biofuels, which would minimize the impact on the environment.
I see a place for fuel cells for power generation because they are potentially so efficient, but not for cars. If fuel cell vehicles are ever developed that can be produced as inexpensively as PHEVs and EVs then that is the time to spend the money for an infrastructure.
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Posted by: kcl | October 18, 2010 at 04:46 AM