| Today, a host of vehicles powered by hydrogen will set off for a first-of-its-kind trip across the country. The Hydrogen Road Tour, will visit 31 cities in 18 states over 13 days, giving people across America a chance to see first hand the vehicles and see how they are fueled.
Catherine Dunwoody, of the Fuel Cell Partnership said the fuel cell vehicles (FCV) in the caravan will drive roughly 20,000 combined miles and use domestically produced hydrogen to reach Los Angeles on August 23rd. She said that most reports agree that fuel cell vehicles will reach the commercial market with hundreds of thousands of vehicles in the 2017-2025 time frame.
Fuel cell vehicles are electric vehicles that create electricity from hydrogen stored on board the vehicle. FCVs are 2-3 times more efficient than a gasoline vehicle, and more efficient than a hybrid vehicle. The only tailpipe emission is water vapor.
Today, at 10:00am (East Coast Time) in Portland, Maine’s Fort Allen Park, the caravan of hydrogen-powered vehicles got the green flag to head off for the California Science Center. Vehicles participating in the Hydrogen Road Tour include those from BMW, Daimler, Ford, GM, Honda, Hyundai-Kia, Nissan, Toyota, and Volkswagen, as well as buses from transit agencies and universities.
At each point on the tour, the public will have an opportunity to hear various experts speak, as well as to test drive any of the 10 hydrogen-fueled vehicles that are being showcased in the program drive. The US Department of Energy and state agencies hope the national tour of demonstration vehicles will fuel interest in hydrogen vehicle technology and lead to more political support and more buyer interest.
As the hydrogen vehicles travel from Maine to California, they will fuel at several of the 61 hydrogen stations that are operational today. For the most part, the vehicles will use mobile stations from Air Products & Chemicals, Inc., and Linde.
Hydrogen is a highly combustible, naturally occurring element that can be manufactured in a variety of different compounds. Most of today’s US hydrogen is created from natural gas. According to well-to-wheels studies, when hydrogen from natural gas is used in a FCV, greenhouse gas emissions are about 55% less than a comparable conventional vehicle. When the hydrogen is made from renewable sources, such as water or biomass, the Green House Gases (GHG) are zero.
Fueling stations that make hydrogen on site and stations that have hydrogen delivered are both feasible options for near-term deployment. A rough estimate for capital costs for early stations is approximately $2 to $4 million (USD), excluding land and operating costs.
In the early years, hydrogen could cost approximately $8-13/gasoline gallon equivalent (GGE) untaxed. When considering the increased efficiency of a fuel cell vehicle, that compares to gasoline at $4.00 to $6.50/gallon (untaxed) on a mileage basis. Prices will come down with experience and economies of scale.
The Hydrogen Road Tour is organized by the Department of Transportation, the Department of Energy, the National Hydrogen Association and the California Fuel Cell Partnership. X
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