Prosper Takes a Hydrogen-Fueled Test Drive

Community Comments

Lean, Mean and Green

By Aaron Cheesman

The day before his inauguration, Gov. Schwarzenegger put an afternoon of exhibits and entertainment where his mouth is. Signaling that green technology and environmental management is to be a priority in the upcoming term, a pre-inaugural celebration called “Leading the Green Dream” was held on the south steps of the Capitol. Under the main tent, booths manned by businesses and nonprofits offered technology demonstrations and Costco-sized food samples.

A giant asparagus spear roamed the crowd fostering vegetable appreciation. Up front, a stage featured musical acts, speakers, Bob Saget as host, and cameo appearances by Smokey the Bear and Recycle Rex.

Hyundai and the California Fuel Cell Partnership (CaFCP) were donating fuel cell vehicles for transporting guests during the two-day inaugural fiesta. The California Fuel Cell Partnership, based in Sacramento, has taken a lead role in bringing fuel cell vehicles to market. Its 31 member organizations collaborate to promote fuel cell vehicle commercialization and to find solutions to common issues.

CaFCP communications director Chris White explained that building infrastructure for a hydrogen-fueled transportation system is already underway, with nine fuel cell buses in use throughout California and 23 “hydrogen stations,” in operation, including ones in West Sacramento, Davis, Oakland and San Francisco. She also pointed out that a fuel cell vehicle is “twice as efficient as an internal combustion engine.” It’s essentially an electric vehicle, but rather than plugging in for an overnight charge, it gets its juice from fuel cells which make electricity by reacting hydrogen (from the hydrogen station) with oxygen (from the air). The only emission is H2O: water vapor.

So did I want to get behind the wheel of a hydrogen-fueled Kia Sportage? Hindenburg, Schmindenburg. Give me the keys!

To answer technical questions and make sure I didn’t do anything stupid, I was joined by Hyundai/Kia senior engineer Tiger Jeong. (I suspect Tiger is just a nickname chosen to preempt pronunciation hazards.) Inside, it looked pretty much like a normal SUV. Except for those two buttons labeled “ESD” and “CSD” just under the hand brake.

“Don’t touch them,” said Tiger and explained that ESD stands for Emergency Shutdown. What sort of event might dictate that I initiate emergency shutdown, and what might happen if I didn’t, I asked. Alas, the language barrier made it difficult to get exactly the answer I was looking for. Tiger did explain however that there are two sources of power — the fuel cells in front and the storage batteries in back — and that the ESD button shuts down both sources.

“What’s the CSD button do?” I asked.

“Basically the same thing,” Tiger replied.

Tiger had already started the car, but I couldn’t hear any engine sounds. Just a subtle vibration could be felt on the dashboard. Still in park, I pressed my foot on the gas (I guess the term still applies) expecting to feel the engine rev. Nothing happened. The engine engages only to move the vehicle. I put the gearshift into drive, and we pulled away from the curb. Eerily, the only engine noise was a faint whirring sound. I wanted to see what this baby could do, but I didn’t wish to cause Tiger undue apprehension. Still, I had a few opportunities to discover it’s got plenty of guts.

After circling the block a couple times, we brought it back to the Capitol. I thanked Tiger for his time and wished him luck in his endeavors. After all, he’s got a lot of fossil-fueled vehicles out there to replace.

• Share
  • Digg This
  • del.icio.us
  • Newsvine
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
  • Furl It
  • !Y My Web
  • Google
• Email
• Print

Recommend This

Community Comments