National Hydrogen Road Tour Underway

Nine auto manufacturers and a cadre of governmental and industry groups have put together the Hydrogen Road Tour ‘08 to showcase the clean fuel in 31 cities in 18 states. The caravan left Portland, Maine, Monday, August 13, and will reach Los Angeles Saturday, August 23.

The tour is a partnership of the U.S. Department of Transportation, the California Fuel Cell Partnership, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the National Hydrogen Association. Each of the nine  manufacturers has one car in the 3,000-mile parade, except VW, which has two:

• BMW Hydrogen Series 7
• Daimler F Cell
• Chevy Equinox FCV
• Honda FCX Clarity
• Hyundai Tuscson FCV
• Kia Sportage FCV
• Nissan X-Trail FCV
• Toyota Highlander FCV
• Volkswagen Touran and Tiguan Hymotion

With only 61 operational hydrogen fueling stations in the entire country (28 of which are in California), you may wonder if they plan to drive cross-country on one tank of fuel. The answer is, “Sort of.” There are actually two giant tanks of hydrogen fuel following the fleet for topping up on the go.