Fuel Cell

By now, you've probably seen it: the new ad for the Toyota Auris Hybrid. But on the off chance you haven't, here's the Cliffs Notes version: Sometime in the future, a man and woman awake in their stylish apartment. It's got enough bells and whistles and Roombas to give Michio Kaku a heart attack...

Rust is usually something to be avoided in the automotive world, unless you're a hot-rodder looking for that sun-scorched appearance or a VW scene kid wanting the "rat look". But while most associate rust with decay, scientists are finding another use for it--and one which could improve hydrogen...

Fuel cells are often considered a significant part of the future energy mix, though that future always seems to be a few decades away. That's partly down to the inefficient and rarely particularly green methods used to produce hydrogen, but it's as much about the cost of developing fuel cell...

The puzzle is almost complete: General Motors and Honda have signed an agreement to work on the future of fuel cell technology. They're the latest large automakers to announce a fuel cell technology share agreement, as car companies continue to explore the future of alternative propulsion. GM and...

Would you buy a fuel cell car with similar range and at a similar price to the Tesla Model S electric car? Toyota will be hoping some customers will, as Bloomberg reports the Japanese automaker will show its fuel cell vehicle at November's Tokyo Motor Show. The new car is expected to debut in 2014...

Audi looks set to add another technology to its wide 'tron' roster--hydrogen power. As Autocar reports (via Motor Authority), the company is working on a fuel cell Audi A7, with trials due to begin at the end of August. Not a word was said about the model at Audi's recent future lab tron-experience...

Hydrogen is often lauded as a fuel of the future--a way to offer the combined benefits of electric vehicles and combustion cars in one, simple package. The reality is a little more complicated, as you might imagine. But one of hydrogen's long-standing issues, the cleanliness of its production...

Good news: Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are getting cheaper to develop all the time. Bad news: "Cheap" is a relative term, and when Toyota finally releases a production version of the car previewed by its FCV-R fuel-cell concept, it'll still cost anywhere in the region of $50,000-$100,000 to buy...

Nissan's Leaf is one of the highest-profile electric cars on the market, but the automaker is working on other alternative-propulsion vehicles, too. According to What Car, Nissan is planning the launch of a plug-in hybrid vehicle within the next two years, and even a hydrogen fuel cell car by 2017...

Our planet may have only gained 27 hydrogen filling stations in 2012, but California is hoping to have nearly 70 of its own in total by 2016. So says the California Air Resources Board (CARB), which provides a list of government-funded hydrogen stations in California on its website. Around third of...

It appears that the U.S. Department of Energy has had a change of heart. Four years ago, then-Energy Secretary Steven Chu was widely known as a skeptic about hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. Last summer, he appeared to relent--and now the DoE has said it will launch a campaign to promote hydrogen...

Leave it to the Germans to be blunt. Volkswagen Group CEO Martin Winterkorn has rendered his company's verdict on the future of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles: They're not viable. Fuel-cell cars suffer from a lack of infrastructure, he said, will be far too costly for consumers, and use a fuel that...

Fuel cell vehicles have been garnering more attention recently, with the high-profile agreements between Toyota and BMW, and Renault-Nissan, Daimler and Ford. Not yet ready for the mainstream, fuel cell vehicles have so far been restricted to limited-run production models like the Honda FCX...

Their part in the future energy mix for vehicles may be small, but several companies are taking a renewed look at hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. That's if recent partnerships are anything to go by, at any rate--Toyota and BMW recently joined forces, as have Ford, Renault-Nissan and Daimler. The U.S...

The speculation is over, as Daimler has signed a three-way agreement with Ford and the Renault-Nissan Alliance to jointly develop future hydrogen fuel-cell technology. The technology, expensive to develop and not without its drawbacks, has been explored by each company in the past, and the...

This morning at the 2012 Paris Auto Show, South Korean automaker Hyundai has announced its intentions to begin series production of a hydrogen fuel-cell electric car. Based on the i35 compact crossover SUV, sold in the U.S. as the Hyundai Tucson, the ix35 Fuel Cell will be built from December this...

The Renault Nissan alliance might be known for all-electric cars like the 2012 Nissan Leaf, 2012 Renault Fluence Z.E. and quirky Renault Twizy, but that doesn’t mean the two automakers aren’t interested in other forms of zero emissions cars. At this year’s Paris Motor Show, Nissan...

Much of the jury is still out on the viability of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, but they now have the blessing of the United States government. U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu had previously opined that light-duty fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) were in need of a few miracles to make them viable in the...

When anything is referred to as "not dead yet," it's usually dead--or very close. But despite the headline reference to a legendary Monty Python skit (NSFW), a recent post from Pike Research makes the case that hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles likely have at least a limited role to play in future...

Daimler might only have one full production electric car at the moment, in the shape of the 2013 smart fortwo electric drive, but the company has been experimenting with several other electric vehicles over the past few years. Many of these are set to compete in the third Silvretta E-Car Rallye, a...