In the past Honda has pointed towards fuel cell powered vehicles as the future — Today at the Tokyo Motor Show, Honda CEO Takanobu Ito has again stated his company’s stance on the fuel cells saying that hydrogen energy is the best long term strategy for the auto industry.

Sure, Honda has some electric vehicles in the works such as the Honda EV-N and the Honda CR-Z but Ito says once the industry realizes the limits of batteries they too will turn to hydrogen.

What do you guys think? Is hydrogen the future or will we be seeing batteries stick around for a bit longer?

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It has been a while since we have heard of the F-Cell vehicle but today Mercedes has announced that the car is dangerously close to hitting dealerships. In fact, Mercedes says the hydrogen burning F-Cell will be made available in the United States sometime next year. Furthermore, they have let us know that the car will feature 136hp, 290nm of torque and a top speed of 105MPH.

As of now there is no telling where Mercedes plans to debut their F-Cell or at what price but considering the limited availability of hydrogen fueling stations, we’re going to assume it won’t be very widespread.

via jalopnik

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While just about every automaker is pumping out their own version of the perfect all-electric vehicle, Honda has generally stayed in the back instead focusing their efforts on hybrid and fuel efficient gas burning vehicles. Well, it seems that they dont’ have an electric vehicle cookin’ at all, instead they are hoping that Hydrogen powered cars will take off.

Honda’s head honcho of everything hydrogen, had this to say about the matter, “Fuel-cell cars will become necessary. We’re positioning it as the ultimate zero-emission car.”

I don’t know about you guys, but this whole push towards greener vehicles is looking a lot like the format war between HD DVD and Blu-ray. Until a clear victor is decided, pick your poison.

Read (Bloomberg)

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The entire auto industry is doing everything they can to please the market who is currently focused on getting the greenest technology they can. Toyota for one has decided to pursue the hydrogen path and hopes to have their first vehicle hit the scene sometime in 2015.

However, they don’t plan to just release a hydrogen powered vehicle onto the market, they hope to take the market by storm. In fact, AutoBlogGreen reports that when Toyota’s first hydrogen burning vehicle hits the market, the price will be so low that it will “shock” the U.S. auto industry.

Just how low will that be exactly? It’ll take a very low price to shock most of the market. Let’s hope you came up with something good, Toyota.

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Kia has recently detailed their intentions to bring hybrid vehicles to the UK within the next 3 years. Exactly what vehicles these will be, we have no idea, but let’s hope Kia comes up with something good.

Furthermore, Kia was also quoted to have said that they don’t believe hybrids will be around for much longer instead pointing towards hydrogen powered vehicles as the future:

Kia is committed to bringing a range of new technologies to UK consumers as soon as is viable. It will not be too long before we have hybrid vehicles but we see this as a step on the way to a fuel-cell powered future. This is the real answer to the problem of automotive pollution – even fully electric cars just push the pollution problem further up the chain to the generators. Hydrogen offers a real long-term solution to the challenge of individual mobility coupled with environmental sustainability.

We’ll keep you updated as Kia makes further statements.

via Autoblog

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Shell has recently released a press relesae detailing their intentions to release a slew of hydrogen fueling stations in New York. Today they have announced that a new fueling station has opened at the JFK International Airport. This will be in addition to the already opened hydrogen station in White Plains that originally launched in April of last year.

Furthermore, Shell says that they will open a third hydrogen fueling station somewhere in the Bronx later this month. This is all in an attempt to add to their growing number of stations in other places such as Tokyo, Shangai and Washington, D.C.

This is cool and all, and definitely a glimpse into the future, but perhaps Shell should have waited until more hydrogen powered vehicles hit the market. Right?

Read (AutoBlogGreen)

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The growing problem of reduce emissions has become a concern and various tactics to try and reduce them comes in various forms and resolutions. And if there is one driving factor that helps in reducing these harmful carbon emissions, it is that of financial incentive programs as proven by Emisstar LLC.

Emisstar Principal Glenn Goldstein said, “Our aim with this study was to analyze existing incentive-based emissions reduction approaches nationwide, and to recommend how a regional NGV financial incentive program could be developed and implemented in the New York area.” The Emisstar report was commissioned by NGV America, a national organization dedicated to the development of a growing, sustainable and profitable market for vehicles powered by natural gas or hydrogen.

The Emisstar report suggests a specific framework for a regional natural gas program that would offer incentives for the replacement of Class 6 through Class 8 diesel-fueled vehicles with new vehicles powered by natural gas. The report provides detailed recommendations regarding administrative processes and program criteria including vehicle eligibility, scrapping requirements, funding sources and thresholds based on emissions reduced.

(Source) Press

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Ever since 2007 when Toyota drove a hydrogen powered vehicle from Alaska to Vancouver, British Columbia the automaker has stated their intentions to inevitably release a similar vehicle.

Well, to the naked eye it may have seemed like Toyota has abandonded their hydrogen dreams for a more hybrid approach. However, in a recent shareholders meeting Toyota Vice President a Masatami Takimoto assured everyone that Toyota will in fact begin prodution of a hydrogen powered vehicle in 2015.

Will hydrogen be readily available by 2015? Will other automakers follow suit and produce their own hydrogen powered cars? Only time can tell.

Read (AutoblogGreen)

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The State of California takes its cue from the regulation made possible by Governor Arnold Schwarzenneger on Low Carbon Fuel Standard, calling for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from California’s transportation fuels by 10 percent by 2020.

The regulation encourages the use of four primary low carbon alternative fuels for transportation: hydrogen, electricity, natural gas and biomethane. Two of the four fuels, natural gas and biomethane, are in the form of fuel (CNG and LNG) provided by Clean Energy Fuels Corp., North America’s leader in clean transportation.

“The new standard means we can begin to break our century-old dependence on petroleum and provide California with greater energy security,” said California ARB Chairman Mary D. Nichols in making the announcement.

“This regulation confirms the value of using domestic natural gas as a low carbon alternative fuel for transportation as California and the nation seek to clean the air and reduce dependence on imported petroleum,” said Andrew J. Littlefair, Clean Energy president and CEO. “Domestic CNG and LNG already exceed the state’s 2020 goal of 10% carbon reduction.”

(Source) Press

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It was recently announced to the public that BMW has donated 2 hydrogen powered 2008 7 series vehicles to the Petersen Automotive Museum located in Los Angeles, California. While one vehicle will go on display inside the museum for all to see, the other will remain outside for use during on-road demonstrations.

This isn’t BMW’s first stunt to get awareness regarding their hydrogen powered vehicles out as Green Car Advisor reports they also gave around 100 of theses to celebrities, politicians, and other famous individuals.

The duo of hydrogen powered 7-series will join the likes of a coal and wood powered truck, a steam powered car, and a hydrogen fuel cell powered car among others.

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A new kind of car may be headed your way and it may not be the usual alluring vehicle you see today. Known as the MDI AirPod, the design is something that certainly needs a lot of improvement but it is really the concept that matters for now.

The MDI AirPod is a three-seat vehicle that runs on compressed air and was originally displayed last autumn. It has a range of 137 miles on a 46-gallon tank and will be priced around $7,500 when it rolls off the production line in the next two years.

What makes this vehicle unique of course is that it doesn’t rely on electricity or hydrogen to fulfil its claim of being a “zero emission” car – instead it uses air. However, much of this air would be produced from the energy from coal or gas fired power plans unless more renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, hydro and geothermal powers can be used. The compressors could then use this “clean air” to fill the AirPod and drivers could claim to have zero impact on the environment.

No official release information has yet been announced, but the MDI Airpod is expected to be rolled out in select European cities where high speeds are not an issue within 24 months.

(Source) The Green Car Website

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The car in the picture here is a Jaguar C-XC concept which was created by Philip Dean, a graduate of the Coventry University specializing in transportation design. Besides the impressive exterior, this Jaguar has something inside that will definitely convince you to buy it. The C-XC is powered by a hydrogen fuel cell which has a single-piece upper hull made of glass that covers the entire length of the car. The car is even eco-friendlier as it would be built with materials like vegetable tan leather and recycled plastic bottles. Will the C-XC be created any time soon?

via DVICE

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What will fuel the cars of the future? Will the cars of 2025 run on electricity, hydrogen combustion engines, ethanol or bio-diesel, solar power, or some hybrid combination of any number of these? Ethanol was touted by the U.S. government very briefly for reasons that seem in retrospect to be more political than practical. Ethanol has lower emissions than gasoline and can be produced right here in the United States, but recently studies suggest that it actually takes more energy to produce than is contained in the fuel itself, making the environmental impact kind of self-defeating.

Ethanol costs about $2 per gallon, which is less than Petroleum based fuel, but cars using E85 (an 85% Ethanol blend) get 10-20% few miles per gallon that run on regular gas. On the up side, some cars specially made to run on Ethanol based fuels (like the Chrysler Sebring, Ford F150, and GMC Yukon) are already on the market and are no more expensive than regular models.

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When will hydrogen powered cars be available? The answer is, they’re available right now… but they don’t come cheap. A 2009 Shelby Cobra with a hydrogen-powered engine starts at $149,000. Too pricey? Maybe a Nissan Frontier Pick-up with hydrogen fuel cells would be easier on the pocket book: Those start at about $99,000. If you already own a Hummer you’re in luck! You can get on of those converted to hydrogen for just $60,000 (which covers the conversion only, you provide the vehicle).

A kilo of hydrogen runs anywhere from $1 to $20 but gets about three times the gas mileage as an equivalent amount of gasoline.  The problem is finding a supplier. While gas stations are still open on almost every urban corner, hydrogen suppliers are much harder to find.  Buying a hydrogen car does have its rewards though if you have the money. The hydrogen-powered Shelby Cobra does 0-60 in four seconds and has a top speed of 140.

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