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Why Advanced Technology Vehicles Matter
By Larry Burns
 To
understand why auto manufacturers around the globe are working overtime
on advanced propulsion technology, it is only necessary to consider
rising gasoline prices, growing concerns about energy availability
and global climate, and the phenomenal expansion of China’s
vehicle market.
Today’s global car parc, or the total number of automobiles
in the world, stands at about 750 million vehicles. Over the next
20 years, as worldwide demand for personal transportation explodes,
we expect this number to climb to almost a billion vehicles. This
can be a good thing – because automobiles offer many advantages.
They give us the ability to go where we want, when we wish, carrying
what we need, conveniently and securely. In the developed nations,
we take these “freedom benefits” of our cars for granted.
In the developing regions, automobiles are such a universal aspiration
that vehicle ownership correlates almost directly with increasing
wealth.
The need to sustain this many vehicles on the earth makes it imperative
that we remove the automobile from the energy and environmental
equation as quickly as possible. To accomplish this, we must develop
vehicles that use less fuel and create new energy pathways that
reduce the transportation industry’s current 98-percent dependence
on petroleum.
With these important objectives in mind, General Motors has developed
an advanced propulsion strategy focused on the near, mid, and long
term. In the near term, we are improving our internal combustion
engines and transmissions to increase fuel economy and reduce emissions.
In the mid term, we plan to offer hybrid propulsion options on our
highest-volume SUVs, pickups, and sedans. High volume is key because
advanced propulsion vehicles must sell in large numbers to have
a significant effect on petroleum consumption and environmental
quality.
Our first full-size hybrid trucks have just debuted. We also are
marketing a new transit bus diesel-hybrid system that provides a
60 percent fuel economy gain and decreases particulate emissions
by 90 percent. Over 200 of these buses will be transporting passengers
around Seattle by the end of this year, saving as much fuel as 8,000
hybrid cars.
Hybrids probably will be only an interim solution to our energy
and environmental challenge, however. In the long term, GM sees
hydrogen fuel cell vehicles as the best way to reduce petroleum
use, improve fuel economy, and substantially lower or even completely
eliminate emissions. A hydrogen fuel cell vehicle is the ultimate
environmental automobile because its only emission is water; it
is on the order of twice as energy efficient as a conventional vehicle
and, when fueled by hydrogen, promotes energy diversity. Hydrogen
can be extracted from various fuels and energy feedstocks, including
petroleum, natural gas, ethanol, and, eventually, renewable energy
sources that do not contribute to greenhouse gas formation. The
introduction of alternative energy sources should decrease petroleum
dependence and could make energy pricing more competitive. Finally,
fuel cells enable vehicle designs that are innovative and compelling
and show great promise of being affordable and profitable. If you
can use hydrogen fuel cell technology as the foundation for vehicles
that are more exciting, simpler and easier to build, and enable
more design flexibility, what automaker wouldn’t do that?
The key to making hydrogen fuel cell vehicles a reality is to get
the cost of the fuel cell propulsion system down to $50 per kilowatt
with 5,000 hours of durability (this equates to the cost and durability
of today’s internal combustion engines). We also must develop
hydrogen storage systems that provide 300 miles of driving range
and create a safe and convenient hydrogen-refueling infrastructure.
At GM, we are making progress on all of these fronts. We have demonstrated
our fuel cell vehicles around the world and we have begun to market
fuel cell-generated power. Our target is to have our hydrogen fuel
cell technology commercially viable by 2010. Once we achieve commercial
viability, we intend to be the first auto company to sell one million
fuel cell vehicles profitably.
Profitable high volume is the only way to have a meaningful impact
on energy and the environment. At GM, that’s the approach
we’re taking – and we believe it’s a winning strategy
for the company and the planet.
Larry Burns is Vice President of Research & Development
and Planning at General Motors Corp (www.gm.com).
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