What are some of the other alternative fuel vehicles?
Although research is continually progressing, there are no other alternative fuel vehicles available yet for mass consumption. A lot of research is being conducted into fuel cells, an electrochemical powerplant fueled by hydrogen that creates electricity for driving a vehicle’s electric drive motors. Its great advantage is that it’s more than twice as efficient as an internal combustion engine in transforming energy into power and it does this without combustion. Its sole emissions are heat and water vapor, with no greenhouse gases produced. An array of fuel cell vehicles from the major automakers are now in field trials in the U.S. and Japan. Most of this activity is centered in Sacramento, California, through the California Fuel Cell Partnership, although fuel cell consortia in other states, as well as in Japan, are now promoting highway demonstrations of fuel cell vehicles. Fuel cells, however, still face significant developmental issues that include durability and, especially, cost
