Hydrogen Operated Vehicles Are Here

The largest blockade to hydrogen cars is no longer the technology. Sure, it isn't 100 percent perfect yet, but advancements are being made steadily that should see hydrogen become a perfectly viable alternative to gasoline in the next few years. Rather, the problem is infrastructure, and therefore dollars and cents from a business perspective.

Since a hydrogen car requires hydrogen refueling stations, just like a gasoline- or diesel-powered vehicle does, the introduction of these clean-burning machines much be accompanied by the introduction of hydrogen filling stations; and vice versa. This reality has led to a number of pairings between manufacturers and oil companies, the latest of which is a new strategic partnership between BMW and European petroleum giant TOTAL.

It isn't exactly a new pairing, as BMW and TOTAL have both been working with one another in Berlin on the practical testing of hydrogen as a source of energy. TOTAL itself opened a public gas station that incorporated both gasoline and hydrogen in March of this year, which takes the place of the pilot test station that had been operating in Berlin since 2002. Before the end of this year, TOTAL will finish construction on another hydrogen station in Munich near the BMW testing grounds, with a third station at an undecided location to come later.

As a leading company in processing and marketing petroleum products in Europe, TOTAL also wishes to play a leading role in the industrial and technical development of hydrogen as a fuel. As a source of energy and from the perspective of environmental care, hydrogen offers clear benefits already proven and substantiated in practice, emphasizes Michel Bzit, TOTALs Director General for Refinery Operations and Marketing.

The other half of this dynamic duo; BMW, isn't resting on its laurels either. After years of testing a fleet of hydrogen-powered MINIs and 7-Series sedans, Professor Burkhard Gaschel, a board member at BMW AG claims that in less than two years BMW will debut a production-ready hydrogen-powered 7-series. That's somewhat behind other manufacturers, such as Ford, which introduced a hydrogen-powered Ford Focus last year and has since distributed them in small quantities to municipalities around the USA and Canada.

Even farther ahead is German competitor Mercedes-Benz which recently celebrated its hydrogen test fleet of more than 100 cars passing the cumulative two million kilometer milestone. The vehicles, which are a varied array of hydrogen powered Europe-only A-class passenger cars, buses, and Sprinter cargo vans make up the largest real-life test of hydrogen fueled vehicles in the world, and Mercedes is looking to expand that even further by taking more hydrogen test cars to Japan, Australia, China, America, and Singapore for everyday use.

Our world-wide fleet trial is running at full steam, and after two million kilometers covered, we are gaining valuable results and findings for the further development of the emission-free fuel cell powertrain, said Prof. Dr. Herbert Kohler, Vice President Group Research and Advanced Engineering Vehicle and Powertrain and DaimlerChrysler Chief Environmental Officer.

Conversely, the third German luxury car manufacturer, Audi, seems to be lagging behind, with no news or rumours of a hydrogen test fleet or potential hydrogen cars since showing its A2H2 Fuel Cell Concept car at the World Environment Day in San Francisco during the summer of last year.