The hulking Hummer -- a symbol of gas-guzzling excess and the bane of environmentalists -- seems an unlikely avatar of the pollution-free vehicle. And the Republican Party may not leap to mind as the leading advocate of renewable energy. Yet California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger promotes clean energy behind the wheel of a hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered H2, and the Bush administration has pledged more than $1 billion for fuel-cell research. In fact, hydrogen may be the answer to our energy needs, and the first stop along the hydrogen highway is the automobile. Besides offering an alternative to the dwindling supply and soaring price of oil, hydrogen to power cars is attractive because, in essence, all that comes out of the tailpipe is hot water.

Momentum toward affordable hydrogen vehicles is slowly building. Last November, a Shell station in Washington, D.C., became the first in the nation to provide a hydrogen-fuel dispenser alongside its gasoline pumps. It was a largely symbolic gesture because the only vehicles that will need refilling are the six HydroGen3 minivans that General Motors maintains to give members of Congress and other muckety-mucks (plus a few journalists) a glimpse at the new technology.

Shell Hydrogen CEO Jeremy Bentham demonstrated how to fill 'er up by punching a PIN into the pump's keypad and inserting a cylindrical nozzle into the van's tank with a connector that prevents the gas from escaping into the air. The cost: $1.99 a kilogram, which produces about the same amount of energy as a gallon of regular gasoline.

Once the tank was filled, a GM engineer invited me to get behind the wheel and take it for a spin around the neighborhood. The van, a fuel-cell version of the five-seat European Opel Zafira, has a range of fewer than 200 miles on a full tank of the compressed hydrogen (a Honda Civic has a range of about 450 miles). The fuel cell converts hydrogen into the electricity that actually powers the van. It's as quiet as a golf cart, although there's an audible whir as it accelerates. The zero-to-60 acceleration time is an unimpressive 16 seconds, but on city streets the van handled well enough. The top speed is about 100 mph.

One big challenge is bringing down the cost of such a vehicle. GM won't divulge exact numbers, but by some estimates fuel cells are up to ten times as expensive to make as internal-combustion engines. "These are research vehicles built by PhDs in lab coats," says Tim Vail, director of business development in GM's fuel-cell group, offering one explanation for the high cost. Another challenge is to get enough compressed hydrogen into a vehicle so that you don't have to pull into the H station every 200 miles. Vail says GM is on track to solve that problem and to have an affordable hydrogen vehicle ready by around 2010.

GM isn't alone. Most major carmakers have built at least a few fuel-cell vehicles. Toyota has an SUV, based on the Highlander, which is in use in the U.S. and Japan. Tiny "F-Cell" Benzes, as well as hydrogen-powered vans and buses from DaimlerChrysler, are on the road in Europe and the U.S. Honda's FCX fuel-cell car is being tested around the world.

The Old-Fashioned Way

There's another school of thought on hydrogen cars: Convert the internal combustion engine (ICE) to run on hydrogen. BMW is at the forefront of this movement. One advantage is that an ICE that can run on both gasoline and hydrogen will provide a bridge to a better hydrogen supply network. Another advantage is you get clean energy without sacrificing the old-fashioned thrill of driving. BMW chairman Helmut Panke figures his customers aren't going to enjoy the golf-cart-like drive of the typical fuel-cell vehicle.

The company is already testing prototype vehicles based on the current BMW 7 series. Top speed is 133 mph, and the cruising range is 125 miles on hydrogen -- BMW prefers the liquid kind -- and more than 300 miles on gasoline. (The cars have a different tank for each fuel.) BMW says its goal is to bring a hydrogen-powered car to the consumer market as early as 2007.

Even if BMW and GM can produce affordable H cars on schedule, there are plenty of speed bumps along the hydrogen highway. Among the most daunting, says Peter Hoffmann, editor of the Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Letter, is building the distribution and storage infrastructure. You can also expect squabbles over the most economical and environmentally friendly ways to produce the hydrogen. Splitting water molecules is one approach, but the technology is expensive and uses electricity, which has to come from somewhere. Recovering hydrogen from coal and natural gas is cheaper but creates its own greenhouse gases.

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