Well, what most car companies who are involved in fuel cell technology are striving towards is keeping the current infrastructure of gasoline and having the engine convert the gasoline to hydrogen. That's what they hope for anyways. Sure, it still means we're using a non-renewable resource, but it sure does make a nice stop-gap so we don't have to convert the thousands of gas stations out there, or lay in more infrastruture.
Both the Insight and Prius are technological feats and they do get great gas mileage, but they're not really for the American consumer. They're both really small, don't accelerate quickly (we're talking 13-14 seconds 0-60 time for the Prius), and eventhough they may get great mileage, they're extended range on the highway is limited to how long the battery lasts (that 1.3 ltr inline 3 doesn't make enough horses to keep the car going along at 80 miles an hour by itself). And, both Honda and Toyota are taking losses on these vehicles: at least $3000-4000 per car, just so they can be the first to have hybrid electric vehicles on the market. But, I guess both Honda and Toyota should be applauded for their efforts.
Slashdot Mirror
Well, what most car companies who are involved in fuel cell technology are striving towards is keeping the current infrastructure of gasoline and having the engine convert the gasoline to hydrogen. That's what they hope for anyways.
Sure, it still means we're using a non-renewable resource, but it sure does make a nice stop-gap so we don't have to convert the thousands of gas stations out there, or lay in more infrastruture.
Both the Insight and Prius are technological feats and they do get great gas mileage, but they're not really for the American consumer. They're both really small, don't accelerate quickly (we're talking 13-14 seconds 0-60 time for the Prius), and eventhough they may get great mileage, they're extended range on the highway is limited to how long the battery lasts (that 1.3 ltr inline 3 doesn't make enough horses to keep the car going along at 80 miles an hour by itself). And, both Honda and Toyota are taking losses on these vehicles: at least $3000-4000 per car, just so they can be the first to have hybrid electric vehicles on the market. But, I guess both Honda and Toyota should be applauded for their efforts.