daverea.com

[As promised, the following is an update to my previous mini-post, which went up early this morning while I was waiting for my toast to be done...]

It’s not every day that you see an Opel Zafira (a small minivan that’s manufactured and sold in Germany) cruising down Main Street USA. It’s even less frequent that you see one whirr by that has never smelled – much less burned – a drop of gasoline.

Yesterday, I enjoyed the unique treat of driving the General Motors HydroGen 3 minivan, a modified Zafira that’s driven by a Hydrogen-powered fuel cell propulsion system. The van I drove is one of only eighteen in the world, which are located in Meinz-Kastell Germany, Washington DC, Torrance CA and … Honeoye Falls, NY.

Gallery: Driving the GM HydroGen 3

The HydroGen 3 I drove was recently retired from service in DC, where it was used to showcase Fuel Cell technology as a reality, not just a pipe dream. Another model is still there, being used as a mail delivery vehicle by the US Postal Service.

Driving the HydroGen, or “H3″ as it’s come to be abbreviated, was nothing short of a jaw-dropping experience. Even though I work on fuel cells every day, and sit at the controls of tomorrow’s fuel cell engines five-days-a-week, feeling a fuel cell engine on the open road was – pardon the pun – moving. While it drives like any other car, the sound of the H3 was worlds apart.

Rather than the cranking of an engine, you’re greeted by a beep and the whirr of the compressor when you turn the key. On the road, you hear nothing but the wind through the cabin (we had as near a perfect day as I could ask for) and the slight whine of the electric motor.

Lots of car companies like to advertise that their cars inspire or move you. Countless ads tout the emotions you’ll be filled with by the cars they showcase. But as much as I like the feel of soft leather or the sound of a well-tuned engine as it climbs through the revs, today’s cars just can’t evoke the excitement that I felt yesterday: The excitement of knowing that the future of transportation as we know it is embodied by the car that you’re piloting. The hope that the work you’re doing will bring that future closer, faster. And the honor of knowing that you’re driving a vehicle that’s twenty times rarer than a Ferrari Enzo, infinitely cleaner than any automobile that’s ever filled up at a gas station, and that embodies the hard work, vision, determination and hope of countless people who genuinely earned the legacy and believe in the future of their craft.