Ford to offer hydrogen ICE shuttle buses to customers this year
Ford's gone and done it. The company announced yesterday that they would be the first in the world to offer customers hydrogen internal combustion engine vehicles. The H2ICE (Ford's name for the hydrogen ICE) will be a supercharged 6.8-liter V-10 that powers E-450 shuttle buses and will be available later this year. The company's assembly line started rolling yesterday to get the buses ready. Ford's announcement says that the H2ICE "can also be easily hybridized for further gains in fuel efficiency" but doesn't say that these hybrids will be made available. Ford and BMW are the only two major automakers seriously working on hydrogen ICE technology.[Source: Ford Motor Company, hat tip to Alexander Drummond]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Howard Lee Harkness 10:22AM (7/18/2006)
Prediction: This will be moderately popular with government bureaucrats and other organizations that can spend other people's money freely, at least until the true economics become clear to everyone.
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Charles S 11:56AM (7/18/2006)
Not that I do not find faults with the government, but above may imply that no government control is better economics. Certainly the lax in regulation of light trucks and no change in CAFE standards for decades are fine examples of our government not doing much to curb fuel consumption, pollution, and hazzards on the road.
The increase in fuel prices, partly due to higher demand for the last decade, certainly are costing us all money. Air pollution that causes respiratory problems amoung children and elderly certainly cost us money. Allowing unsafe vehicles such as SUVs to be on the road cost us more than money, but lives.
I am sure there are many who will not agree with my views, but I can tell you it will cost us SOMETHING; either it is because of an inefficient government spending, or chaos of a "free market". If some new disease is going to kill millions, which would you prefer? Wait for some corportation to come out with new drugs that only the richest can pay, or have our governments spend money to ensure that cure is available to the public? Without regulations and government support in R&D, fuel consumption will go out of control, and there will not be any new technology arriving quick enough to help us cope.
Personally, people who do not like government involvement in future planning should try to live in 3rd world nations that give little funding to social and developmental services. Surely the "free market" of Somalia will solve all its energy problems without any government intervention.
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