Hydrogen to power up
future auto industry
Hybrids may be the new
environment-friendly craze,
but hydrogen-powered cars
are the wave of the future
Roman Gokhman
Campus/City Culture Reporter
Hydrogen-powered vehicles
might still be a generation away,
but hybrid and electric vehicles
are serving as a transition be
tween gasoline-driven ears and
the future.
Several hybrids — combination
gasoline and electric-powered ve
hicles — were on display at the
Eugene Earth Day Celebration on
Saturday. Officials at the event
said the vehicles hold potential,
but still need improvement.
“Electric cars are not quite
there in terms of mainstream use,”
said Eugene Water and Electric
Board Marketing Coordinator John
Mitchell. “Once they go longer dis
tances, people will buy more.”
Electric cars, such as the Giz
mo, one on display at the celebra
tion, can be recharged overnight
from an ordinary outlet. The Giz
mo, a cross between a golf cart and
a baby carriage, seats one driver.
There is no steering wheel, but in
stead two levers at the sides of the
seat. To turn left, for example, the
right lever needs to be pushed for
ward and the left lever back.
Hybrid vehicles are typically
equipped with a four-cylinder en
gine and a 300-volt battery. When
pressure is applied to the vehicle’s
brakes, the battery is recharged
by the engine. It is therefore
unnecessary to recharge the bat
tery overnight.
One of the vehicles nn disnlav
Electric cars,
such as the
Gizmo, which
was displayed at
the Downtown
Eugene Earth
Day celebration
on Saturday, can
be recharged
overnight from
an ordinary
outlet The
Gizmo seats one
driver and has
two levers at the
sides of the seat
instead of a
steering wheel.
Danielle Hickey
“The more (hybrids) we sell, the
more apt the factories are to make
more,” Spresser said.
Lane Regional Air Pollution Au
thority spokesman Morris McClel
lan said that in the next five years,
every major car manufacturer will
have a hybrid in its catalogue, and
that next year, Ford is planning to
market the Escape, a hybrid SUV.
“People perceive hybrids to be
little tiny cars ... but the technol
ogy can be used for everything,”
McClellan said.
However, McClellan said problems
with electric and hybrid cars in
clude the cars’ range — the distance
they can be driven before having to
be recharged — and the pollution
that would remain because of the
burning of coal needed to create
electricity. Another problem, ac
cording to McClellan, is the future
rpsfllp valiip nf rhf> vp>hir*1pc
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the hydrogen into the vehicle.
“It’s tough to get a lot of hydro
gen into a small space,” McClellan
said, adding that experiments are
being done to try to condense hy
drogen, create hydrogen tanks
that could be attached to vehicles
or make engines that separate hy
drogen from oxygen in water.
McClellan said hydrogen fuel
cell vehicles will not be available
in the near future because it will
take a while to set up the
resources needed to distribute
hydrogen at gas stations or their
equivalent.
“It will happen, but it will take a
long time for the technology to de
velop,” he said.
Contact the reporter
atromangokhman@dailyemerald.com.
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was Honda’s newest hybrid car
the 2003 Civic. While the car haj
all the features of the regular ver
sion, the gas mileage is better. The
car sells for about $20,000 anc
comes in three colors. Chuck
Spresser, a representative foi
Kendall Honda in Eugene, saic
buyers are often surprised wher
the hybrid Civic’s engine shuts of]
every time the car comes to a stop
and turns on automatically wher
the gas pedal is pushed — a con
servation feature.
“If this were a regular Prius,” he
said, pointing to a hybrid Toyota
Prius, “I’d know what it’d be worth
in 10 years.”
The next step in automobile
travel is the hydrogen fuel cell
powered vehicle. This car, which is
still in the development stage, will
utilize hydrogen cells as batteries.
It will have no emissions, except
for water and water vapor.
“It’s just like a tea kettle,” Mc
Clellan said.
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