Green Cars; The latest DNA for Automobiles

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The array of green-cars appearing in the centenary year of the Los Angles Auto Show is breathtaking to say the least. Ford, GM, DM, BMW, and Honda - suddenly everyone is coming up with hydrogen powered or hybrid vehicles. Only problem is - almost all of them are concept cars. These fuel-efficient and environmentally cleaner vehicles, however lucrative they might look, are not scheduled to be sold at the open markets very soon. Some of them might find way, but in limited versions. Yet, this is good news. Not just for the oil-hungry developing nations but also for the earth that we all share. This suggests that sooner or later, our tarmacs are bound to bear a changed fleet of future savvy transporters, that doesn't sigh lustily at the good fortune of the OPEC nations for each RPM it makes. Honda is leading the way. They plan to offer a limited number of hydrogen-powered fuel cell sedans in Japan and the U.S. in 2008, the company announced last week. And these are not blank shots. The automaker already has 20 of its experimental FCX cars on the road, including one being driven by a Southern California family. They have also come up with new fuel cells that claim to be 20 percent smaller and 30 percent lighter than the current configuration, but can deliver significantly more power. For the uninitiated, that's one significant step forward. The size and dimensions of the cell has been a major dampener till now. In any case their two seater Honda Insight, a hybrid variant, is already making waves in the market. GM is also high on electricity driven vehicles, and through this they are planning to beat Toyota in their own game. Their forthcoming variants aim to throw a straight challenge to Toyota Prius, another hybrid winner. Hybrid is a common word nowadays in Car techno-talks, but the actual meaning often lies shrouded in a haze of definitions - but GM claim to be different. They clearly explain - in the car they propose, the gas engine charges the batteries, and the electric engine returns the favor by taking over from the gasoline engine. Somewhat similar to the way submarines ("electric boats") operated in World War II. Remember the ill fated GM EV1 - that went down hook, line and sinker, without a trace. Well you might have forgotten but GM hasn't. Their new hybrid is planning to leapfrog the competition with the most appealing features of the misbegotten EV1 and the common hybrid. This is also scheduled in 2008. That's not all. The next big thing in the GM stable is a "plug-in hybrid" version of the Saturn VUE. A plug-in VUE is designed to charge its batteries from a household electrical outlet. This would evolve from the upcoming hybrid Vue Greenline that supposedly improves fuel economy by 45 percent over the standard VUE, a "crossover" car-sport utility vehicle. This will still take some time to come. Ford's fuel-cell version of the Explorer is already running quietly and efficiently on L.A.'s streets - but the problems like the absence of hydrogen fueling stations and the exorbitant cost of the technology are yet to be mastered. Direct competition to Hydrogen powered vehicles come from fuel-cell vehicles. More than 30 fuel-cell versions of the Ford Focus are in use in Vancouver, California, and Orlando, among others. The Focus has even passed crash tests designed for natural gas-powered vehicles. GM aims to have more than 100 fuel-cell vehicles in service by the end of next year. And yes, BMW is not willing to lose the race. They premiered their new BMW Hydrogen 7 in LA, which they are branding as the world's first hydrogen-drive luxury performance automobile. The Hydrogen 7 has gone through all of the rigorous product development tests of BMW, will be built in a limited series and only a fortunate selected few in the US and other countries will be able to drive it in 2007. The BMW Hydrogen 7 is also hybrid - based on BMW's familiar 7 Series model, with an internal combustion engine capable of running either on hydrogen or on gasoline. BMW plans to put 50 hydrogen-powered 760Li cars on U.S. roads next year. It hopes to build support for the technology by getting the vehicles into the hands of influential people. Hydrogen powered vehicles definitely have a long way to go before it becomes the world's main motoring fuel. Hydrogen is expensive, especially if it's made from environment-friendly sources. The process has just started. UK is another hotspot where green cars are carving a niche. There, according to the new fuel emission norms, only electric and battery driven cars get an 'A' grade. They claim their G-Wiz to be the world's largest selling electric car. Three DM Hydrogen fuel cell buses are already running on prominent routes. They are also planning to come up with a green taxi service very soon. Now the bad news - Britain has 9600 petrol stations, of which, a report says, just one has a hydrogen pump. The worse news - analysts say that even if the process starts now, it will take anywhere between 20 to 40 years to make all these pumps hydrogen enabled. That was just one example. Nonetheless, the signs are encouraging. Things do take time to happen, don't they? With the next global oil crisis, I am sure we will take many more of these significant steps forward. Even five years back, did anybody think that an entire Public Service System could be run on CNG in a city like Delhi? Let's think positive.