Photos: Hydrogen-powered vehicles rally

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  • Photos: Hydrogen-powered vehicles rally

    Photos: Hydrogen-powered vehicles rally

    A Ford Focus, modified with fuel cells and batteries, was available for a spin Sept. 29 at Golden Gate Fields in Berkeley, Calif., where major carmakers showed off 20 prototypes of hydrogen-powered vehicles.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • Photos: Hydrogen-powered vehicles rally

    Photos: Hydrogen-powered vehicles rally

    Inside Volkswagen's HyMotion, a zero-emission car that can accelerate from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour in 14 seconds. The car has a top speed of about 87 mph (140 kilometers per hour).

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • Photos: Hydrogen-powered vehicles rally

    Photos: Hydrogen-powered vehicles rally

    Nissan representatives invited the public and media to drive its fuel-cell vehicle, a compact SUV that seats four. A member of the Nissan hydrogen team said that the experimental car cost just under a million dollars to make. Keeping manufacturing costs reasonable is one of the key challenges to producing the cars for the public.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • Photos: Hydrogen-powered vehicles rally

    Photos: Hydrogen-powered vehicles rally

    Under the hood of Honda's FCX, a stylish and smooth-running hydrogen-powered fuel cell compact SUV. According to a Honda representative, the car is the only such vehicle certified by the Environmental Protection Agency as meeting federal emmissions standards. A prototype is currently being leased to a family in Southern California.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • Photos: Hydrogen-powered vehicles rally

    Photos: Hydrogen-powered vehicles rally

    Honda's FCX is especially well adapted to run in cold weather.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • Photos: Hydrogen-powered vehicles rally

    Photos: Hydrogen-powered vehicles rally

    UC Davis, which has a school for transportation studies and hosts a hydrogen fueling station, shows how the technology works in miniature form.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • Photos: Hydrogen-powered vehicles rally

    Photos: Hydrogen-powered vehicles rally

    General Motors' Hydrogen 3, a compact minivan that seats five, operates on liquid and compressed hydrogen. It can store the hydrogen at up to 10,000 PSI, at which pressure hydrogen is a liquid. It can power the vehicle for 250 miles.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • Photos: Hydrogen-powered vehicles rally

    Photos: Hydrogen-powered vehicles rally

    The fuel cell sits in the center of GM's Hydrogen 3 minivan. Hydrogen and oxygen come in from the sides to create an electrical current that powers the motor. The natural byproduct is water, which comes out the tailpipe.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • Photos: Hydrogen-powered vehicles rally

    Photos: Hydrogen-powered vehicles rally

    GM showed off its modified fuel-cell Chevrolet Silverado, which took more than a million dollars to build. In April, the U.S. military began testing the truck, which can generate 188 kilowatts and 317 foot-pounds of torque, about the same motor torque generated by GM's 5.3 liter V-8 engine.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • Photos: Hydrogen-powered vehicles rally

    Photos: Hydrogen-powered vehicles rally

    Staff of the California Fuel Cell Partnership's 2005 Road Rally help the media and public into a rotating cadre of hydrogen-powered cars so they can test-drive the vehicles in the Golden Gate Fields parking lot.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

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Photos: Hydrogen-powered vehicles rally

GM showed off its modified fuel-cell Chevrolet Silverado, which took more than a million dollars to build. In April, the U.S. military began testing the truck, which can generate 188 kilowatts and 317 foot-pounds of torque, about the same motor torque generated by GM's 5.3 liter V-8 engine.

Caption by: Bill Detwiler

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