Honda: Fuel cell cars mass-produced by 2018

Honda is claiming that fuel cell cars could be mass-produced by 2018. "In 2018, I believe the development (of a fuel-cell car) will have been very advanced," Honda president Takeo Fukui said in an interview with Kyodo News today. "It will become a real possibility to a large degree." (more)

A "real possibility"? Wow! We've been hearing about this "real possibility" for decades. Sure fuel cell vehicles might be mass-produced by 2018, but they might still cost more than 100,000 apiece, maybe even much more.

I became interested in hybrid cars because of my interest in the hydrogen economy and fuel cell vehicles. Ultimately, however, I realized that fuel cell cars were at least a decade away from reality and hybrids became, minimally, the short term solution to foreign oil dependency and global warming. Still, it appeared that hybrid vehicles, such as the Prius, were also providing a foundation for fuel cell vehicles. Consequently, I came to believe that investing in such hybrid vehicles made the path to fuel cell vehicles shorter. Even before full fuel cell vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles could utilize small fuel cells to increase their fuel efficiency - another step in making full fuel cell vehicles cheaper.

Lately; however, I have become somewhat annoyed by fuel cell vehicle talk. First, the vehicles cost almost $1 million apiece. Second, where are these vehicles going to fuel up? Third, the best of hybrid technology could be used, in just a couple of years, to mass-produce carbon-fiber plug-in hybrid vehicles with a capability of more than 100 mpg for a cost less than $50,000 apiece. Small hybrids could be far cheaper.

What the hell are we talking about 2018 for then? Let's do everything we can to today, not wait until 2018. Besides, mass-producing hybrids, especially next generation hybrids, creates a very nice platform to slowly develop fuel cells until costs can be driven down.