Local Fire Department at the ready — “Just in case.”

Recently the parking lot at Golden Gate Fields in Albany, California was outfitted with a test track and various invitees were allowed to test drive a variety of Hydrogen Fuel Cell cars including a General Motors developed Army pickup truck that is in actual use despite its $1 million value. All the main auto companies were present although I do not recall Chrysler being there. All the engines shown in the photos below are one-off hand made systems as slick as they look.

The hydrogen fuel cell technology is not ready fro prime time do to the storage limitations for the fuel itself. GM engineers told me that the latest technology has made it so they can compress the gas to 10,000 pounds-per-square inch and they are toying with liquid hydrogen to get to the magic 300-miles-per-tankful of fuel range that is necessary for commercialization. People in the gas business (as in helium, argon, etc.) are doubtful this will ever be possible without imposing other limitations that are unacceptable including public-relations issues. And I’m not sure I’d like the idea of driving around a 10,000 lbs/sq/inch potential bomb around myself.

Much of this research is underpinned by government mandates and comments by President Bush among others that we are actually going to make this work.

This much I can tell you. These cars actually run. The do go from point A to point B. They are not hot rods, but they go fast enough. Many make an annoying high pitched whine as the fuel cell is pressured to the maximum gas flow. “You stop noticing it after a while,” I was told. It’s definitely different than the sound from glass paks hanging off a 426 hemi.

The cars were previously driven down the California coast from up North and along the way ad hoc fueling stations were ready for them. Both Shell and BP seem ready to do an infrastructure build-up if they have to. One of the drivers who made the long trip was surprised mostly by the fact that the fueling was actually rather fast.

Here are a few pictures I captured at the event.

The GM new generation “engine”

Star of the show — actually in use

Disconcerting warning light inside Army truck. Instead of a tach, note the KW meter.

Cute Nissan

Toyota Cell

Yes, Shell hydrogen

The Ford

Cutaway view of car innards. Besides the equipment under the hood there is this gear underneath. The pressurized tank of gas is on the right.