Source: GM, US Army Team Up on Fuel-Cell Pickup | TheDetroitBureau.com The U.S. Army is enlisting some help from General Motors. They’re partnering on a prototype fuel-cell-powered Chevrolet Colorado that could eventually find applications at military bases and perhaps even on the front lines. The prototype, set to make its formal debut in October, is a joint project of GM and the Army’s Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center, or TARDEC. It’s the latest in a series of partnerships between the Detroit automaker and the U.S. military, GM earlier this year announcing plans to develop a hydrogen-powered deep sear research mini-sub that will be tested by the Navy. . . . The bigger challenge is finding sources of hydrogen in the field. Today, there are only a dozen or so retail hydrogen pumps available in the U.S. That lack of infrastructure has limited the availability of retail fuel-cell vehicles to a narrow region in Southern California. Embedded in the article is the curse, "Environmentalists like the technology..." but I suppose it makes sense to also mention: Nissan Takes Novel Approach to Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Power | TheDetroitBureau.com . . . According to a report on a Nissan blog, the maker is developing a fuel-cell vehicle, or FCV, that uses ethanol as the source for its hydrogen. The form of alcohol found in beer, wine and liquor, ethanol can be sourced from corn and other crops, rather than using hydrocarbons. “Unlike conventional systems, e-Bio Fuel-Cell features SOFC (solid oxide fuel cell) as its power source, affording greater power efficiency to give the vehicle cruising ranges similar to gasoline-powered cars,” Nissan said in its post, estimating the average gasoline-powered automobile has a range of around 373 miles per fill-up. . . . I'm with Musk on this, skeptical. Bob Wilson
GM & the military ... the procurer of $200 pencils. has GM ever sank their deep pocket leaching into a better organization? so starving people around the world can go pound sand ... more corn liquor to run my Hindenburg ! .
maybe the military will build out the infrastructure so desperately needed. this could be a home run for toyota.
