Electric Plug-in vs Hydrogen Fuel Cell Cars

The public is being taken for another ride, this time fuel cells. The government is sponsoring fuel cell development and been an accomplice to the suppression of electric plug-in cars. The two aren't in the same league- Electric is here today and available nationwide if we could buy them. They can be recharged virtually anywhere. Hydrogen fuel cells have to be recharged at refueling stations (like gas stations)and require 100,000+ facilities nationwide- it's just a replacement business for oil! Oh yes, and it is more expensive than oil. What do we gain from that?

Here's a letter I sent to Honda Motors on the subject:

American Honda Motor Co., Inc.
Honda Automobile Customer Service
1919 Torrance Boulevard
Mail Stop: 500 - 2N - 7D
Torrance, CA 90501-2746

Dear Honda,

While you have pursued a hydrogen powered vehicle in the Clarity, it appears to be another folly intended to appease environmentalists while not really addressing our energy problem. My understanding is hydrogen production is very expensive and ties the drivers to specific refueling stations. The fact that Shell has installed a hydrogen refueling station is a clear statement that the oil companies see a future in manufacturing fuel using oil. What’s to be gained by doing that?

I also don’t understand why you invested in the electric car over ten years ago and then abandoned it just when lithium ion batteries have progressed to a point where their range could be very viable. Most people would be very satisfied with 100 mile recharging range. Also, we can recharge a plug in electric car within the existing electrical infrastructure, at home, at work, at parking meters, or at the mall … and not have to drive around town looking hydrogen stations.

In these times you have an opportunity to really do a great thing- lead us to oil independence by remarketing the EV Plus with new batteries and sell it for heavens sake. People don’t want a lease. They want a car we can drive for 10 years! All my friends would buy an electric car. The times have changed- You’re on the verge of missing an opportunity to lead the world into a new era. Hydrogen fuel isn’t practical, good old AC in the garage is practical!!!

I look forward to your carefully forged defense of hydrogen fuel cells, but I would really like to know why you’ve given up on the plug in electrics when they seem so much more viable and can be mass produced today and sold nationwide!

Thank you,


Gary Way


cc: CBS 60 Minutes
NBC Dateline
New York Times
National Public Radio- All Things Considered

Do Catalytic converters help or hurt Global warming?

Given the correlation between the widespread use of catalytic converters in cars since 1970 and the increase in the earths temperature, is there a possibility that we have created the problem with catalytic converters? When they were mandated in automobiles the issue was not global warming. It was smog. The smog is the result of the biproducts of combustion that creates nitrous oxide (N2O) and lays low in the atmosphere and makes our air unhealthy to breath. CO2 is the biproduct of catalytic converters and CO2 is the single largest element causing global warming. Is this a major source the global warming problem? Shouldn't we be doing something to change this trend?