Meeting fuel cell vehicle Challenges Together

Before FCVs make it to your local auto dealer, significant research and development is required to reduce cost and improve performance. We must also find effective and efficient ways to produce and store hydrogen and other fuels.

Automakers, fuel cell developers, component suppliers, government agencies, and others are working hard to accelerate the introduction of FCVs. Partnerships such as the DOE-led FreedomCAR initiative and the California Fuel Cell Partnership have been formed to encourage private companies and government agencies to work together to move these vehicles toward commercialization.

FreedomCAR

FreedomCAR is a new cooperative research effort between the DOE and the U.S. Council for Automotive Research (Ford, General Motors, and DaimlerChrysler) formed to promote research into advanced automotive technologies, such as FCVs, that may dramatically reduce oil consumption and environmental impacts. FreedomCAR's goal is the development of cars and trucks that are:

• Cheaper to operate
• Pollution-free
• Competitively priced
• Free from imported oil

California Fuel Cell Partnership (CaFCP)

The California Fuel Cell Partnership is a collaboration of auto companies, fuel providers, fuel cell technology companies, and government agencies demonstrating fuel cell electric vehicles in California under day-to-day driving conditions. The goals of the partnership are to test and demonstrate the viability of FCVs and related technology under real-world conditions, move them toward commercialization, and increase public awareness. The Partnership expects to place about 60 FCVs and fuel cell buses on the road by 2003.

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/fuelcell.shtml