AutoblogGreen's Sam Abuelsamid is one of the few people who has spent some time behind the wheels of both the Honda FCX and the Chevy Sequel concept vehicles. You can click on either of those names to read what he thought of the drives, and, if you're curious about how the two vehicles compare, you can also check out this post by Consumer Reports' Eric Evarts. In short, Evarts likes the more refined Honda over the futuristic Chevy.

It'll be a while before hydrogen cars are easily available to consumers (which is what I think Consumer Reports is interested in), and by then the kinks that are present in these concepts will hopefully have been worked out. Until then, reports like these will be everyone's link to what it's like to drive a hydrogen car.

Related:

• Honda FCX concept fuel cell car in depth
• Two Chevy Sequels go over 300 miles on real roads with hydrogen to spare

[Source: Consumer Reports]

Just yesterday, Sam wrote about the environmental clean-up measures that are taking place in China. These clean-up measures are necessary because China is on the development fast-track, so to speak. The country is being built up at an extremely rapid pace, much like the United States was during the Industrial Revolution. The buildup in China can be seen clearly in Shanghai, as the pollution levels in that city are similar to those found in Los Angeles, California, which happens to have the worst air quality in all of the United States.

China plans to do something about their environmental concerns before it is too late, according to this article from the Detroit Free Press. Might China be the first country to install a hydrogen infrastructure in a city? Possibly, and a date as early as in 2010 is mentioned in that same article. As automakers push forward hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, an infrastructure will be necessary in order to fuel those vehicles. If the target dates of 2010 from companies such as General Motors - which sells lots of cars in China - is to believed, then the 2010 date for the refilling stations would make sense. That is, if you believe the hydrogen as a fuel source makes sense in the first place. Speaking of the General, they have at the very least shown proof that hydrogen fuel cell vehicles could in fact be made, and can travel lengthy distances on a single tank, as Sam witnessed first hand.

[Source: Detroit Free Press]

That there is Larry Hagman. Mr. J.R. Ewing himself. He's a big green car advocate now, and he wandered the AFVI expo hall Monday afternoon looking over the cars and signing autographs for folks. Some of the cars he checked out were from ZENN and Zap! Other cars on the floor are the new police-duty E85 Interceptor, the Chevy Sequel, Zap!'s new all-electric ATV, the T3 scooter and more. Check out these galleries if you can't make it to Anaheim for the public day on Wednesday.

Here is the first of two videos that we will be bringing you today highlighting some of General Motors new green technologies. In this case, the GM Sequel, their latest effort into making a practical vehicle which is powered from a hydrogen fuel cell which generates electricity to power the electric motor which in turn powers the wheels. Dr. Lars Peter Thiesen, GM Europe Manager Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Deployment Strategy, calls hydrogen the answer to our automotive fuel needs for the future. This is certainly a controversial topic, but one cannot argue that pure water vapor out of the exhaust is about as green as you can get. What is debatable is whether a method exists or will ever exist of collecting the hydrogen needed to power the fuel cell in a practical, economically feasible way.

[Source: Youtube via Hugg]

"Hydrogen: Here And Now!" This is theme of the upcoming Hydrogen Expo in San Antonio, Texas, to be held March 19-21. The question is, should it be "Hydrogen: Here And Now? And, if not now, when?" To get a sneak peek at the possible answers to these questions, perhaps you should attend the expo. At the very least, you will have a chance to sit behind the wheel and even drive one of the fuel cell vehicles that will be there, including the BMW Hydrogen 7.

In addition to the cars, there will be examples of hydrogen fueling for your home, your portable electronics and generators. Will any of these technologies become commonplace in the future? Nobody really knows for sure. Judging from comments on our site, there are doubters. However, there are some very smart people working on how to make the "hydrogen economy" a reality. Why not go to the expo and find out yourself?

[Source: Hydrogen Expo via Earthtoys]

Click on the photo Bob Lutz with the Sequel for a gallery of high-res images of the fuel cell prototype

At a conference in Palm Springs, CA, earlier this week, Mohsen Shabana, the chief engineer of the GM fuel cell project announced that they would begin building a production version of the Sequel by 2010. The Sequel is GM's latest generation fuel cell concept using lithium-ion batteries to capture kinetic energy from regenerative braking and third-generation General Motors developed fuel cell. A single electric motor of the same type used in the Chevy Volt concept drives the front wheels, while the rears are driven by a par of hub motors.

Most likely GM will follow a model similar to the one Honda will be using starting in 2008 for the production version of the FCX. The FCX will be built initially in low volumes with availability limited to locations that have some hydrogen filling stations such as California and Florida. As hydrogen becomes more widely available, vehicle availability would be expanded. Currently, only two running Sequels exist, and GM's first large scale field trials will begin this year with a fleet of 100 fuel cell powered Chevy Equinoxes.



[Source: The Raw Story via eGMCarTech]

GM will "highlight" eleven vehicles at the Los Angeles Auto Show that starts next week. They are, in no particular order:

• Hummer HO 2 Design Concept (Design Challenge entry)
• Chevrolet Sequel
• Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell
• Cadillac Platinum Series (XLR, STS, DTS)
• 2008 GMC Yukon Hybrid
• 2008 Saturn Vue
• Cadillac DTS-L
• Saturn Aura Green Line hybrid
• Saab 9-5 60 th Anniversary Edition
• Saab 9-3 60 th Anniversary Edition
• 2008 Buick Enclave

GM's PR is promoting the efficiency of a lot of these vehicles, which makes sense. AutoblogGreen's been covering a lot of these vehicle recently. We've already taken a drive in the Chevy Sequel, and we just missed a chance to see the Equinox at the NextFest in New York a while back. We've heard of hydrogen powered Hummers before, and I wonder if the Saturn Aura Green Line will get better reviews that the Vue Green Line. The two hybrids listed are half of GM's hybrid line up for next year. On to the show!


[Source: GM]