Honda unveils improved fuel cell – it can operate at freezing temperatures.

HONDA MOTOR CO.’S next-generation fuel cell for car is cheaper, smaller and overcomes a major problem of past models — it can operate at freezing temperatures.

By Yuri Kageyama, Associated Press The Oakland Tribune

Fuel cell cars are virtually pollution-free. They run on electricity produced when hydrogen stored in a tank combines with the oxygen in the air leaving water as a byproduct.

The world’s major automakers, including General Motors Corp. and Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp., are working to develop fuel cell vehicles.

But fuel cell cars have had problems running at chilly temperatures because hydrogen fuel freezes.

By using metal parts not used in past fuel cell stacks, Honda’s new version runs at temperatures as cold as minus-4 degrees Fahrenheit, Honda said as it unveiled the new cell on Friday. It said the new metal helps because it heats up faster.

Honda simplified the design of the fuel cell stack to require half the number of parts of Honda’s 2001 model. It also trimmed its weight to 106 pounds from 161 pounds. It will

be easier and cheaper to produce and can be recycled, Honda said.

"We have come up with a top-grade fuel cell car," Yuji Kawaguchi, Honda senior chief engineer, told reporters. "We expect to cut costs drastically."

Kawaguchi declined to give specifics on the expected cost cuts. But he said a car with the new fuel cell stack will begin test runs soon in Japan and the northeastern United States. The car will be ready for leasing soon but no plans have been finalized, he said.

The car, loaded with two of the new fuel cell stacks, delivered a quiet ride that is as smooth as a regular gasoline-engine car in a test drive for reporters. It can go 245 miles on a full tank, up from 220 miles.

Past fuel cell cars also required a wait before they could take off, but Honda’s new version is ready to drive about 10 seconds after turning the ignition switch, a fifth of the old wait.

The widespread use of fuel cells may take decades because of high costs and the scarcity of hydrogen-fueling stations.

Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger has called for promoting cars powered by fuel cells and proposed building hydrogen fueling stations along the state’s major highways.

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