Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Cars Of The Future

Happy Earth Day! To help celebrate Earth Day I want to help shed some light on the new Fuel-Cell technology. What are the perks, its downfalls, is it safe? Read on and decide for yourself.

Many wonder what the future of vehicles will look like. Some have speculated a world of electric cars, others solar powered. Honda, who is one of the most innovative car manufacturers on the planet seems to believe it to be hydrogen fuel-cells.

Fuel-cells work by storing hydrogen in tanks and converting it into electricity that powers an electric motor. Because the vehicle is not a hybrid it will be able to house a much larger and more powerful electric motor. The hydrogen has to be refueled by special refueling stations that don’t exist yet but analysists believe they will come. Fuel-cell cars promise to have the same performance you would expect from a gas engine except that in the case of hydrogen, the only exhaust is water vapor.

Okay so here’s the down sides. Hydrogen is a highly flammable/explosive gas that could ignite in a crash. Manufacturers will have to prove to consumers that these things are safe and that the chance of explosion are minimal.

If the idea takes off and all the kinks worked out it could be a very viable option. Hydrogen is easily extracted from water by applying a simple electrical current. Therefore water could easily be the new fuel. This however will not help the already depletion of fresh water supplies in the world. I wonder then if hydrogen plants couldn’t extract hydrogen from sea water? No matter what happens it is clear that consumers will have the final say in the value of hydrogen fuel-cell technology.

Image: Honda-World.com