GM & CHRYSLER TO BUILD FUEL CELL VEHICLES FOR FLEETS!

From Automotive News

DaimlerChrysler AG and General Motors will join the U.S. government in building fleets of fuel cell vehicles for on-road testing over the next five years. GM is spending $44 million, and the Department of Energy is kicking in another $44 million to produce 40 fuel cell vehicles.

GM will operate the vehicles in Michigan, California, Washington and New York. DaimlerChrysler says it is spending $70 million on the project and has a range of fuel cell vehicles in development. They include fuel cell variants of the Mercedes-Benz B-class car and Sprinter van. The government-industry program is an effort to accelerate development of clean-running fuel cell vehicles.

Fuel cells generate electricity from the chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen, with only water vapor as the exhaust. But several hurdles must be cleared before the technology can be used in mass production. The main obstacle is the cost of the fuel cell, which industry executives say must be cut to one-tenth the current level. Storage capacity is a major challenge. Enough hydrogen must be stored to give the vehicle a range of about 300 miles.

Fuel cells also must be able to function in extreme hot and cold weather. Another obstacle is the availability of hydrogen to refuel the vehicles. Shell Hydrogen LLC said it will support GM by setting up five hydrogen refueling stations in Washington, New York, a location between Washington and New York, and in California.

Other partners in the GM program include the U.S. Army at Fort Belvoir, Va., and Quantum Technologies in Lake Forest, Calif. Both will provide sites to store and maintain GM's fuel cell vehicles.