World's first individuals to lease a fuel cell vehicle, Jon and Sandy Spallino take their kids for a drive in their new 2005 Honda FCX.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- A Los Angeles-area family recently became the first private citizens to lease a fuel cell vehicle when they signed a two-year agreement to operate a Honda FCX.

Click on the link for details. (more)

The Sequel name is intended to signify a sequel to the first 100 years of the automobile.

by John McCormick

Building on the success of the 2002 Autonomy and 2003 Hy-wire concepts, General Motors has created the Sequel, a five-seat, fuel cell powered car with dramatic improvements in range and performance.

Click on the link for complete review of the Sequel including interviews with GM executives including Larry Burns and others. (more)

The Ford H2ICE E-450 uses a 6.8-liter V-10 engine that runs on hydrogen and emits only water as exhaust.

by John McCormick

Florida will be the first customer for eight hydrogen-powered Ford E-450 buses that will debut in 2006. In addition, the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport is working with Ford on plans for fleet use of the 6.8litre V-10, hydrogen-powered buses next year. (more)

Hyundai's second-generation fuel cell vehicle, based on the Tucson SUV, was unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 5 - Hyundai Motor Co.'s fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) program today unveiled its second-generation fuel cell vehicle, the Tucson FCEV, at the Greater Los Angeles Auto Show. The Tucson FCEV is Hyundai's first hydrogen-powered vehicle taking part in fleet operations to begin in the first quarter of 2005. (more)

Hydrogen record vehicle BMW H2R.

BMW's hydrogen-powered H2R Record Car is on display for the first time in the United States at the Los Angeles Auto Show in January. The hydrogen powered car set nine records for cars powered by a hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engine. (more)

Ford's announcement at the Challenge Bibendum. From left, Philip Chizek, marketing manager for sustainable mobility technologies, Susan M. Cischke vice president, environmental and safety engineering, Arun Jaura technical leader for hybrid vehicle development at Ford's Research and Advanced Engineering division and Bob Natkin, group leader for hydrogen ICE development.

by John McCormick

Shanghai – Ford upped its effort to create transitional steps towards a full hydrogen economy by announcing the “world’s cleanest internal combustion engine” here at Michelin Challenge Bibendum.

Fueled with hydrogen and using a lean NOx Trap (LNT) aftertreatment, Ford’s 2.3-liter supercharged four-cylinder engine is claimed to meet the most stringent SULEV-Bin 2 emissions standards. (more)

VW's Touran HyMotion with program manager Marcus Romba on the VW electric vehicle/fuel cell team.

by Rob Cleveland

Volkswagen rolled out one of the latest introductions to the global fuel cell prototype fleet this week at Challenge Bibendum in Shanghai. The Touran-based HyMotion carries a standard Ballard fuel cell stack, producing roughly 90kW and a 350-bar compressed hydrogen tank giving the HyMotion a 160-km range. (more)

Exploring Nissan’s fuel cell program

Taro Hagiwara, general manager of the Nissan FCV (Fuel Cell Vehicle).

by Michael Coates

Nissan takes a broad view of the environmental challenge that fuel cell vehicles play a role in answering. According the Taro Hagiwara, general manager of the FCV (Fuel Cell Vehicle) engineering department in the company’s advanced vehicle engineering division, his group faces the daunting task of simultaneously addressing vehicle tailpipe emissions concerns, CO2 reduction because of global warming issues and all-encompassing goal of freedom from fossil fuels. (more)

Walking Ford’s fuel cell vehicle ‘assembly line’

Ballard electric motor and DC/DC converter

by John McCormick

At this early stage in the development of fuel cell vehicles, production of more than one or two prototypes at one time is unusual. So Ford’s move to produce a batch of 30 FCVs for fleet use next year can almost be considered high volume production. (more)