Hard sell for green cars

Fuel cell cars are regarded by many as the answer to all our environmental concerns but so far all we have seen are a few prototypes and a few buses.

The achievements of the fuel cell industry —

in particular — has been impressive; the ratio of kW/£ has improved dramatically over the past 15 years or so. In many respects the fuel cell car is competitive with the internal combustion engined car even today. The problems are in vehicle integration, materials cost, fuel supply and production, manufacturability and infrastructure.

The vehicles have come a long way. Not too many years ago, a panel van was the smallest possible fuel cell vehicle, as the system took up so much room. During the 1990s there was a rapid reduction in size and today's experimental fuel cell vehicles look uncannily like conventional internal combustion powered vehicles. In practice, the system still takes up a lot of space. The 'plumbing' of these systems is complex, and much work needs to be done to improve this.