GM, DOE Sign $88-Million Agreement to Advance Fuel Cell Development

[Dover]

Bailout?

GM, DOE Sign $88-Million Agreement to Advance Fuel Cell Development

WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 30, 2005) – General Motors Corp. and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) have signed a five-year, $88-million agreement to build a 40-vehicle fuel cell fleet and further develop the technology.

Under the program, GM will spend $44-million to deploy fuel cell vehicle demonstration fleets in Washington D.C., New York , California and Michigan. The DOE will contribute the other half, under an agreement that expires in September 2009.

In a separate commercial agreement, Shell Hydrogen, LLC will support GM by setting up five hydrogen refueling stations in Washington, DC., metropolitan New York City and between Washington D.C. and New York, or the “East Coast Corridor,” and in California. Other program partners include the U.S. Army at Ft. Belvoir, Va. and Quantum Technologies in Lake Forest, Calif. – providing facilities for GM to store and maintain fuel cell vehicles; NextEnergy in Detroit, Mich. for codes and standards development; and Viewpoint Systems in Rochester, New York for collecting and retrieving data remotely.

GM is also collaborating with the U.S. Department of Defense and will release news later this week...cont'd

http://media.gm.com/servlet/GatewayServlet?target=http://image.emerald.gm.com/gmnews/viewpressreldetail.do?domain=2&docid=13445

DOE Hydrogen Fuel Cell Website:
http://www.hydrogen.energy.gov/

[dutchdemocrat]

1. Canadians are working on it too.

Ballard Systems.

http://www.ballard.com/

[blueheeler]

2. And only $1 million a piece...

Lets not put any effort into stepping up production of hybrids since they already have the technology down.:shrug:

[grumpy old fart]

8. Hybrids are great...no reason all cars shouldn't be getting 70 mpg

It's just incredible....the technology is great.

[chaumont58]

3. I first read about this last week

It may not be the same thing, there was a report that GM was going to work with Sandia on a fuel cell. What bothered me then and bothers me now, is why only GM and not Ford and Chrysler? Chrysler is now a foreign company? Also, why now, and not 10 years ago? I hope they succeed, but I am beginning to think it is like nuclear fusion, always 50 years away.

[Emboldened Chimp]

4. Better late than never, I guess....

Typical American solution to a problem: wait till the last minute, then find a quick fix.

[HughBeaumont]

7. "When the building is on fire, pass the torch"

Typical of corporate Dumberica.

[Robert Oak]

5. they are only 10+ years behind plus

they have outsourced the jobs and their management is cruel, short
sighted and stupid...(although Ford is probably worse)....

they go for outsourced, bad products, gass guzzling nightmares
and Toyota hires more Americans than GM...and it shows in quality.

Where is our government when it comes to bail outs demanding that GM
hire Americans to develop alternative fuel vehicles?

Or where is anyone pointing out the pathetic management practises
of US auto manufacturers (besides Michael Moore)?

[okieinpain]

6. well I guess $2 a gallon gasoline is good for something.

[orwell]

9. Handout

This is a blatant government handout to an ailing GM for a technology that will never see the light of day.

Fuel cells, or hydrogen for that matter, will never make it in the transportation sector on a commercial scale.

More corporate welfare for an aging useless dinosaur.

They would have a far greater impact on oil consumption by addressing CAFE standards and switching to fleet wide hybrid deployment.

[KlatooBNikto]

11. You have it pegged right.Nothing that is ever undertaken by GM

comes to fruition. This is a dead duck before it starts quacking.

[ZR2]

10. How long till we stop blaming "big oil" for everything

and begin blaming "big hydrogen" ?

[orwell]

12. The Joke

The biggest joke is that the Bushies want to extract the hydrogen from...big oil!

Now this is really brilliant. Use a declining energy asset to replace itself in an inefficient process, using hydrogen as the carrier.

Oh brother...

[evworldeditor]

13. Looks like PNGV All Over Again

The Partnership for a New Generation Vehicle under the Clinton Administration used tax payer dollars to the tune of an estimated $10-12 billion to create just three prototype diesel-electric hybrids.

At least the price tag on this one is smaller and it will yield more than twelve times the number of vehicles.

Is this another government handout? Time will tell.