Fuel Cell commercials

No, but I did recently write a wiki on hydrogen cars which explains why I wouldn't get excited about them.

Here are two clips from youtube.   The first is an Edmunds review that provides tons of info on the FCX Clarity (one of Honda's fuel cell models).  It looks AWESOME -- super high tech, and it makes this slight electric whine that seems straight out of scifi movies.

This second clip is one of the commercials for it - my favorite -- that is like straight out of the matrix, ha.

Doesn't sound like a good thing...why do you think Honda is even going forward with mass production, given that technology may trend away from hydrogen (due to the cons you describe in your wiki)?

Well I think your first video above explains it well.  Right now they're only making probably 100-200 of these fuel cell cars for sale where hydrogen fueling stations are already in place (southern cal).  As explained in my wiki (see discussion on aluminum alloys), it's possible that in the future there will be a solution to the problems with hydrogen fuel, in which case Honda and any other auto maker developing fuel cell cars (i.e. BMW) will be in good position to take advantage.  However, as mentioned in the 'are alternative fuel vehicles really green?' wiki, GM and Toyota are moving away from hydrogen fuel cell technology.

"Top executives from General Motors Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp. Tuesday expressed doubts about the viability of hydrogen fuel cells for mass-market production in the near term and suggested their companies are now betting that electric cars will prove to be a better way to reduce fuel consumption and cut tailpipe emissions on a large scale."

For at least the next decade or two the trend is going to be toward electric cars for the reasons described in the wiki.  But if there's a breakthrough in hydrogen technology, it would be good to diversify our transportation so that we're not putting so much strain on the power grid (if the aluminum alloy hydrogen process works).

The second video you posted was really funny, but a little deceptive.  The only emissions from hydrogen cars may be water, but to get the hydrogen fuel you need fossil fuels, and the process emits CO2 just like burning gasoline.

Bottom line is that in the end, hydrogen cars are essentially just less efficient electric cars with major fuel source and infrastructure problems to boot.  Unless there's some sort of breakthrough in the technology, we're not going to see many hydrogen cars on the road.

This makes total sense.  I'd say, though, that it's certainly a positive to develop, market, and test alternative technologies like fuel cell, irrespective of their (albeit likely) short shelf-life.

I just had breakfast with a friend from Santa Monica who said they just installed a hydrogen fueling station at her local Shell station...wonder if Honda is in with Shell to do these sorts of installs to ready for the cars they're going to release in the next two years....