Driving without gasoline, running on hydrogen 2

July 23rd, 2008, 3:01 pm · Post a Comment · posted by John Gittelsohn

My wife, Debbie (holding leopard in photo), doesn’t know a lot about cars, but that doesn’t stop her from expressing her opinion. And she’s probably a pretty typical consumer in that respect. We went for a spin in the hydrogen-powered Equinox and here are some of her thoughts:

Noise. The Equinox scores high in that category, which is critically important for Debbie. She has sensitive ears and frequently complains about the cars outside our home that hit the brakes and then stomp on the gas as they negotiate the four-way stop at our corner. The Equinox, with its electric motor, is almost silent. “If this is the solution to noise pollution, I like it,” she said.

Safety. Debbie, like many of us, recalls the newsreel footage of the Hindenburg hydrogen-filled air ship explosion. A Web site called Hydrogen Now! argues that hydrogen is actually safer than gasoline, that the problem with the Hindenburg was not hydrogen, but the zeppelin’s flammable coating. As part of its information packet with the Equinox, GM includes photos of a car’s gasoline explosion, which looks like a Hollywood spectacle, and a hydrogen explosion, which resembles a giant — but relatively harmless — cigarette lighter flame. So the hydrogen looks better on paper. Debbie remains skeptical. Old newsreel footage is tough to erase from our memories.

Range. With 4.2 kilos of hydrogen, the Equinox is billed to be able to travel between 150 and 200 miles. During our drive through Long Beach and San Pedro, the dashboard display usually read that we were getting more than 50 miles per kilogram. But the indicator that showed how many miles were left in the tank seemed to fall really fast. I was so concerned about running out of fuel that I arranged to go to the only filling station in Orange County to tank up again (more on that later). “I like to go more than 200 miles to fill up,” Debbie said.

Ride. The Equinox is a typical American SUV, riding high and bouncy as a boat. Debbie noted that the upholstery, dash buttons, interior finishing and other details were pretty uninspiring. I told her what the GM folks had told me: The goal is to create a green car for the type of person who already drives an American SUV, something in the $25,000 to $30,000 price range. Decent price, she said, but it would be nice to get more for your money — of course.

Cost. That’s still the unanswered question. GM won’t say how much hydrogen costs. The economy of the vehicle ultimately depends on an unbuilt infrastructure to make and distribute hydrogen. We have the technology. We just don’t have the other part.

Debbie’s bottom line — and it goes back to the noise issue: “If this is the wave of the future, I like it.”

And, as all good husbands say, “I always listen to my wife.”

Click here to see a video of the Equinox by my colleagues Camino Alonso-Ponga and Maria Garcia.

Coming up: What’s the real cost/benefit of hydrogen?