Hyundai Preaches the Advantages of Hydrogen

Even though gas prices are falling below $3 a gallon, automakers are pushing ahead with alternative fuels like hydrogen. Several companies have jumped on the fuel cell bandwagon, working hard to change public perception of the fledgling technology and pave the way for future sales.

With this purpose in mind, Hyundai recently released a new blog post that preaches the advantages of hydrogen as a fuel source. It was written by Mike O’Brien, who is the Vice President of Corporate and Product Planning.

To start off, O’Brien says that recent advancements in fuel cell technology surpasses what anyone ever anticipated. Of course, he cites the Tucson Fuel Cell as one of the important milestones of the advancement of the alternative fuel.

After that, things get interesting. Instead of insulting full-electric powertrains and other ways of powering a vehicle, he takes the higher road and says that there can be more than one way of getting people off the fossil fuel addiction. He even states that there is no way one technology can meet all consumers’ needs.

One thing that many electric vehicle proponents constantly turn a blind eye to is the fact that people who drive long distances in a single day find waiting thirty minutes, two hours, or even longer for a vehicle to recharge completely unacceptable. Not everyone drives their car from home to the office and back, racking up maybe 40 miles on a daily basis.

After that, O’Brien mentions the things that Tesla and others hate to hear about fuel cell vehicles. They have a range that is comparable to gasoline-powered cars. Refueling takes about as long as filling up a tank with gas, and they can easily be made large or small, accommodating a wide variety of vehicles like delivery trucks, all the way to subcompacts.

Even more valuable is a 14-page PDF that details out the automaker’s response to 10 questions that were asked by John Voelcker, who is the editor of Green Car Reports. The responses should be interesting to anyone who wishes to know more about fuel cell technology.

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