By David Holzman
August 13, 2008 -
If you live in Massachusetts, and you're among the roughly one in a million Americans that drives a hydrogen-powered car, you can refuel it without crossing state lines. The The Lowell Sun reports that PowerTap in Billerica, near Boston, is now open for biz, courtesy of Nuvera Fuel Cells. The hydrogen station opened just in time to replenish a parade of H-powered cars on a 13-day cross-country cavalcade from Portland, Maine to LA. The cross-country parade included a Honda Clarity, VW Tiguan, Toyota Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle, Nissan X-Trail, Merc S-Cell and BMW H7. Speaking to your intrepid reporter, the Director of Technology and Communications for the National Hydrogen Association revealed that these and other H-powered vehicles can fill-up at 62 stations nationwide (25 in California, 'natch). Serfass also proudly pointed out that the hydrogen provided by these stations is produced entirely via renewable energy or natural gas, although he doesn't know what percentage comes from which source.
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POWERED
August 13th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
Hmmm. Has anyone seen or heard of this:
http://automobiles.honda.com/fcx-clarity/home-energy-station.aspx
August 13th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
At $3.50/gal, what type of MPG do these hydrogen vehicles get?
http://www.topix.net/forum/source/lowell-sun/T5ID46ICOJ9B9ATV2
August 13th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
I think Serfass told me 74 mpg-equivalent for the Clarity.
August 13th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
the hydrogen provided by these stations is produced entirely using either renewable energy or natural gas
Last year in the United States, there were over $40 billion in sales of my belly button lint and DVDs.
August 13th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
I checked out the Hydrogen vehicles when they were in Maine on Sunday. I really only looked at the VW models though. Along with the Tiguan, they also had a Touran. What a nice vehicle that was. I don’t get why they’re not selling it in the US. The model they had was also a European spec model, so it had a metric only speedometer, and headlight levelers. Awesome looking vehicle. If they offered one with a TDI, it would be sitting in my driveway right now.
I got behind one of the BMW Hydrogen 7 cars on the way back from Fort Williams park, where they were on display. It was turning a lot of heads with pedestrians because “BMW Clean Energy” is plastered on the side in giant letters. BMW had their semi and trailer parked in the Walmart parking lot of all places!
August 13th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
Hydrogen drivetrains, the home of negative EROEI.
August 13th, 2008 at 11:16 pm
@nonce :
Last year in the United States, there were over $40 billion in sales of my belly button lint and DVDs.
50/50 or 60/40? great comment!
August 14th, 2008 at 8:56 am
One million Americans drive hydrogen powered cars? LAFF
August 14th, 2008 at 9:15 am
@Steve_K
NO! One in a million. There are, in Serfass’s words, “several hundred” H cars in the US. When asked for more specificity, “more than 200, less than 500.” The population of the US is now officially roughly 303 million.
August 14th, 2008 at 9:31 am
now they tell me
Just got a call from Danielle Andre of Nuvera. The “station” is really just for Nuvera’s use and occasionally “events” such as this parade of H cars. If an H car suddenly landed in my lap, I could call them and see if they might be willing to refuel me, but no guarantees. This is not a public refueling station. Which leads me to wonder about the other 61 H refueling stations.
August 14th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Maybe hydrogen is a good idea for auto fuel and maybe it isn’t but to make dumb jokes because H vehicles don’t instantly have all 87 flavors that GM produces and will take a while to have a station on every corner and don’t yet make as much noise and heat as your Dodge Ram just indicates you are afraid of the future.
When gasoline cars first came out people had to visit hardware stores to buy gas, put it into jars, and carry it out to their cars.
Please don’t forget that we animals still breath air and even if there are 1,000 years of oil still available maybe we shouldn’t be burning it.
Let’s welcome new ideas and see what works.
August 15th, 2008 at 3:28 am
Some of these comments are a real GAS
August 15th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Hey, I know this Mr. Serfass! I went to school with his eldest son and we were in the same Boy Scout troop. When I last ran into his son, I found out that he was working for his Dad. I guess they’re some kind of hydrogen lobby org.