From Wired:
Less than a week after its biggest Japanese rival touted the economic and ecological benefits of hybrids, General Motors made a case of its own on Monday: only hydrogen-fueled cars will survive in the endgame.
… Larry Burns, GM’s vice president of research, development and planning, said zero-emission fuel cell vehicles (FCV) will eventually make gasoline-electric hybrids obsolete, rejecting Toyota’s view that hybrids will remain on the road even after FCVs become affordable for the average consumer.
Well, Larry. I would be the first in line to buy a fuel cell vehicle… if GM offered them for sale.
Obviously, fuel cell vehicles will make hybrid (and conventional) cars obsolete. But the comments by GM make it seem as if the hybrid manufacturers are wasting their time. I think not. Hybrids have been on the consumer market for 5 years now, while there’s no such thing as a fuel cell vehicle on the consumer market. And won’t be for at least 7 more years on GM’s overly optimistic schedule. (Ironically, the only fuel cell vehicles currently available are for lease only, and come from… ready for it? Toyota and Honda, the hybrid sellers.)
So, in other words, GM – who has no hybrid car – is pissed off because Toyota is continuing to refine the hybrid design and actually make money by doing so… rather than just keep showing concepts at auto shows.
As Toyota as often said, the hybrid is an interim step toward a zero-emission vehicle in the future. It doesn’t require an entirely new fueling infrastructure and it’s a good compromise for the present. And the new Prius has an electric infrastructure designed to migrate to fuel cell operation in the future with a minimum of redesign.
Sounds like Toyota’s being a lot more realistic. GM is still stuck with those grand, cool, futuristic ideas that lead nowhere – sounds like an exhibit at the 1960 World’s Fair.
