Fuel Cell Savings

We've gone on record as saying fuel cells are at least 20 years away. But when will that make a big difference in our use of gasoline? A long, long time:

"The potential for hydrogen fuel cells having an impact that you'd notice is a long way away," says John Heywood, professor of mechanical engineering at MIT. The estimates assume that competitive fuel cell vehicles will be available within 15 years, an achievement that will require improvements, for example, in hydrogen storage and production and fuel-cell costs. But even if and when fuel-cell vehicles come with the price and performance that consumers want, it will still take decades more before such new vehicles work their way into widespread use.

MIT is talking 60 years of gasoline usage and nasty emissions before hydrogen makes a big enough difference for any of us to benefit from it. So what to do?

Use less of the stuff. But MIT knows that's not the American way:

Heywood admits these ideas might not be rapidly adopted: "It's not American to conserve. We seem to have drifted into that attitude. Our culture doesn't bring us up to think about conserving. It brings us up to think about consuming."

We are totally diggin' the new subcompacts from the big 3 of Japan and are honestly hoping our big 2.5 from home announce competitors to those vehicles rather than just more of the same.