State Shows Off Smog-Free Cars,
Cost Seen Still Too High Despite Benefits

SAN FRANCISCO -- Major automakers will introduce vehicle fleets of zero-emission cars to local jurisdictions and companies in San Francisco, Sacramento and Los Angeles as early as next year while California residents can have their own zero-emission electric cars by 2010. The California Department of the Environment spread this message today at a presentation of hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicles outside the Civic Center.

A department official regarded the replacement of gas-powered vehicles as “very important,” because oil is a security issue,” he said, and a potential motivator in a war against Iraq.

“We have big oil companies standing behind to make it (the replacement) happen,” said Jared Blumenfeld, director of the Department of the Environment. He added that San Francisco was very interested in becoming the first “hydrogen city” owing to its high level of environmental consciousness.

“We see a huge potential market in California,” said Kota Manabe, a principal engineer of Toyota Technical center, who just moved from Nogaya, Toyota’s Headquarters to Sacramento last year, “and we wish to develop a prospective customers’ network among government officials and university professors.”

Four hydrogen fuel cell vehicles were on display for the public, including Daimler Chrysler A-Class, Ford Focus, Hyundai Santa Fe and Toyota Highlander. While the cars looked essentially the same as their conventional versions, passengers who test drove the cars expressed excitement over the difference.
“It is great!” said Ron Dupuy, a 55-year-old science teacher at the Kneeland High School in North California. “It’s very quite and smooth with good acceleration system.”

These cars came out mostly from 1999 to 2001, and are all installed with a silver box of hydrogen gas beneath the hood called “a pressurized tank,” which has a holding capacity of 150 miles before it needs refilling. The fuel cell technology performs a chemical process that combines oxygen from the air with hydrogen fuel to produce electricity.

“In another word, fuel cell vehicles are just electric vehicles,” explained Manabe, who is responsible for motor testing of automobiles. “Water is the only by-product.”

The colorfully-painted cars attracted hundreds of visitors and the most frequently heard questions asked during the presentation were: “Are these for sale?” or “when will they come out in the market?”

Most visitors expressed interesting in buying, including San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, who test drove a Hyundai. Engineers estimated it would take another eight or ten years before they could reduce the cost to match the price of gasoline vehicles.

“Right now it costs, my god, millions of dollars,” Richard Fosmoe, a senior electrical engineer of Daimler Chrysler, shrugging his shoulders.

The biggest challenge is the costly membranes through which protons generated from the hydrogen pass to an electrode.

Although the new energy vehicles no long need recharging with gasoline, there is another challenge on hydrogen suppliers. Car manufacturers said it was difficult to build up the hydrogen refilling station infrastructure.

“There are only three (hydrogen refilling stations) right now in California,” said Fosmoe. “And I believe they are also the only three around the country.”
The lack of suppliers impedes electric cars from mass-productions that there are only two fuel cell Toyotas and one fuel cell Daimler Chrysler in the country.

Automakers called the development still on the “baby-steps”. In order to demonstrate fuel cell vehicles under real day-to-day conditions, nine automobile companies and four energy providers joined on the “California Fuel Cell Partnership” in 1999. They expected the new vehicle fleet program would help them with valuable feedbacks.

The Department of Environment said it was looking into the possibility of introducing the fuel cell technology to power buildings and ferry boats, but some experts from San Francisco Public Utilities Commission showed concerns.
“Each fuel cell installed in the building is a distribution generator,” said Fred Schwartz, a manager of energy supply on the commission, “I just wonder how they would affect the electricity system of the city because any generator has some impact.”