By John DeFore

Saturday marked the end of a tour hoping to convince Americans that hydrogen-fueled cars are not as far away from practicality as we might think.

The Hydrogen Road Tour ‘08 was an explicit (if partial) answer to the lament “what does it matter if I can buy a hydrogen car, if I can’t get fuel for it?”: Starting in Portland, Maine and ending in Los Angeles, the varied cars in this caravan covered the continent while running entirely on hydrogen.

We call it a “partial” answer because there’s something of a cheat involved: While the vehicles visited some permanent refueling stations along the route, there are stretches where none exist and drivers had to rely on mobile units being sent out specifically for them — not a luxury most everyday drivers can afford. One such unit, provided by Linde, seems to have been sent on the tour solely to refuel BMW’s entry, its Hydrogen Series 7.

Other companies participating ranged from the expected Japanese automakers to General Motors. The nature of stops along the tour varied: Some were invite-only affairs, while others not only welcomed public spectators but offered them the chance to take short spins behind the wheel.

Organized by the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Department of Energy, and other groups, the event was a P.R. opportunity to make the public aware that the “non-polluting cars of tomorrow,” as U.S. Deputy Secretary Thomas Barrett described them, are already on the roads around us: As the D.O.T.’s
Paul Brubaker notes, six U.S. transit agencies are already using hydrogen-powered buses; car dealers in California already lease hydrogen vehicles, and demonstration programs around the country have let hundreds of folks test the cars, which are nearly net-zero carbon-wise. They emit nothing but water.

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