In the article from Nature, Jeff Tollefson points out that although fuel cell development seemed to disappear into obscurity for nearly a decade, fuel cell vehicles may be the cars of the future. After the increase in funding towards fuel cell research in 2003, fuel cell progress fell out of the public eye due to the beginnings of electric vehicles. Yet research in hydrogen fuel continued and multiple car manufacturers - including Dailmer, Ford, GM, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Renault, Nissan, and Toyota - signed a statement in 2010 that declared that fuel cell vehicles were going to come out by 2015. However, there are many problems that fuel cells still face, some are close to being solved and others will need lots of work. For now, researchers continue to argue over hydrogen and electric vehicles, trying to decide just which one would be best in the long run.
The second article is from USA Today and describes that hydrogen fuel is regaining its popularity among automakers. As of 2012, Nissan was added to the list of manufacturers that were promising hydrogen fuel cell vehicles by 2015. Over the last, decade fuel cell cars have only been available at auto shows but the talk centered on the new plug-in electric vehicles. With these vehicles receiving some criticism for their short range and high cost, hydrogen seems to be back in style. Automakers have now made brand new announcements on new cars including Nissan's TeRRa and Honda's FCX Clarity. Interestingly enough, GM, a leading company in fuel cell research, has yet to announce a new vehicle. According to Charlie Freese, the director of GM's research, fuel cell cars are a "challenging business case going forward," but there are problems that need to be solved. There are too few hydrogen stations, meaning there is no way for hydrogen cars to be released publicly, at least not yet.
Both of these articles, written within two years of each other, cover the same basic idea that hydrogen fuel is beginning to get public attention again after popularity went down in 2003. The articles agree that fuel cell cars would be a great technology to have in the near future, but there are many problems that still need to be solved. With multiple automakers working on these futuristic vehicles, hydrogen fuel cell cars are bound to be the cars of the future.
The most important point that comes from these articles is that hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are a near possibility and have come a long way, but they still have a ways to go to be released to the public. Researchers are doing what they can to improve fuel cell engines overtime, but it is possible that it may be a while for them to make it out and be available for anyone on the market. Then, it's also important to note just how many models are actually available as hydrogen vehicles. Many popular automakers are dedicated to making a fuel cell vehicle, one that the public will accept both in price and in style. Lastly, it is important to keep in mind that fuel cell vehicles face and will face criticism. Just like with the first electric vehicles, hydrogen fuel cell cars will have to overcome public scrutiny.
MLA Citations:
Tollefson, Jeff. "Hydrogen vehicles: Fuel of the future?" Nature 29 April 2010: 1262-1264. 5 March 2015. <https://hal.weber.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=49787283&site=ehose-live>.
Woodyard, Chris. "Automakers take fresh look at hydrogen fuel cells." USA Today 2 October 2012. 5 March 2015. <www.usatoday.com/story/driveon/2012/10/02/hydrogen-fuel-cells-2015/1605229/>.
APA Citations:
Tollefson, J. (2010, April 29). Hydrogen vehicles: Fuel of the future? Nature, 464(7293), pp. 1262-1264. Retrieved March 5, 2015, from https://hal.weber.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=49787283&site=ehose-live
Woodyard, C. (2012, October 2). Automakers take fresh look at hydrogen fuel cells. USA Today. Retrieved March 5, 2015, from www.usatoday.com/story/driveon/2012/10/02/hydrogen-fuel-cells-2015/1605229/
Hello, fellow group member! This sort of reminds the problems that electric cars are facing, though this dealing with Fuel cells, and I don't know much about those. It's also pretty interesting that there's another fell source that could be coming like Hydrogen! Good Job on this!
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to know that both articles state that since the popularity has done down that hydrogen fuel is starting to pick up the attention again. It shows that people are hopefully becoming more open to the idea of being more sustainable!
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