Fuel Cells Are Miles Ahead Engines Are Cleaners And More Cost-Competitive, Study Says

A Ford Motor Co. study of fuel-cell power plants shows they are more energy efficient and could be mass-produced at about the same cost as conventional engines, a fuel-cell research group said.

Fuel-cell engines, which convert gasoline, natural gas, methanol or hydrogen into electric energy, would almost triple the efficiency of a Ford Econoline, a full-size van.

It would get the equivalent of 32 miles a gallon in gasoline in city driving, compared with about 11 miles a gallon today, the study said.

The engines would cost $37 to $71 a kilowatt in mass production, within the range of most combustion engines, according to Fuel Cells 2000, an independent nonprofit organization.

The push for clean-energy autos came as representatives from 160 nations concluded a climate summit in Kyoto, Japan, to discuss pollution and global warming. The industry is debating whether fuelcell engines or battery-powered electric cars should become the clean-air standard.

“This evaluation of fuel-cell vehicles is indeed comforting - better efficiency, zero emissions, better range and affordability,” Fuel Cells 2000 Executive Director Robert Rose said in a statement.

“It ought to help ease international anxiety over the cost of responding to global climate change.”

Automakers only recently embraced fuel-cell technology (which was first developed in 1839) as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency tightened emissions standards.

Electric cars, available mostly in Arizona and southern California, have taken the early lead among clean-energy autos as new technology makes it faster to recharge batteries, which are getting cheaper to make.

Fuel-cell cars aren’t expected to be mass produced until about 2015, auto analysts have said.

Ford also studied computer models of hybrid cars that use a fuel-cell system and a battery.

Those cars would have fuel efficiencies equivalent to more than 75 miles a gallon of gasoline, though they would weigh more and cost more to produce, the study showed.

Last week, Toyota Motor Corp., Japan’s biggest automaker, began selling its new Prius, a hybrid sedan powered by both gasoline and electricity.

It’s the first car of its type to hit the market.