When we showed up in Livermore for Stop 10 of the Hydrogen Road Tour, there were already crowds and members of the press waiting.  Chris White from the California Fuel Cell Partnership said that over 100 people signed up for the Ride and Drive in about the first 5 minutes.  Everyone was asking great questions about hydrogen technologies ("If I could potentially make hydrogen at home and fuel my vehicle at home, could I also use hydrogen to power my home?"  Answer:  yes!  Only a few people are doing that today since attention is focused on other uses of hydrogen like forklifts and powering c

Congressman Jim Costa joined the Hydrogen Road Tour at Stop 9 in Fresno, CA to see the latest, full-range hydrogen vehicles that are driving 1,700 miles this week from southern California to Vancouver, BC. He waved the green flag to send the 11-car caravan to it's next stop in Santa Nella.

Mobile fuelers are important not just for the Hydrogen Road Tour to fill in the few gaps where permanent stations have not yet been built.  They are also an important part of expanding the hydrogen infrastructure because they can allow the hydrogen providers to find out where customers want to have their hydrogen stations for the most convenient fueling.  So in that way, as the number of hydrogen stations increases from the 26 in California (62 in the U.S.  http://www.hydrogenassociation.org/general/fuelingSearch.asp) mobile fuelers can be parked in one location to act like a permanent stat

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger joined the Hydrogen Road Tour at Stop 6 today in West Los Angeles at the hydrogen fueling station on Santa Monica Boulevard to check out the latest hydrogen vehicles and one of the newest hydrogen fueling stations in California.  The Governor gave remarks with other VIPs and answered some questions from reporters:

Reporter: Are you satisfied with the number of hydrogen stations and vehicles we have today?

This morning, we started day 2 at the Santa Monica Pier and one of the reporters was asking, "how far do these hydrogen cars go one tank?"  The reason he was asking is because many people think that fitting lots of hydrogen into the tank is a challenge that has not been met.  While there is room for improvement, most of the vehicles on the Hydrogen Road Tour get over 200 miles to one tank and a couple get 350-450 miles during regular driving.  And that's with a fill that only takes a couple minutes at a hydrogen fueling station.

Ever wondered what it takes to fuel a hydrogen vehicle? It's a lot easier than most people think and takes just a couple minutes. This first fueling took just 2 minutes for about half a tank. What do you do?  First, open the fuel door, then grab the nozzle from the pump and push it onto the receptacle on your vehicle. (It will make a click to let you know that it's connected creating an airtight seal--no leaks or drips like for gasoline.) Then you press the start button and hydrogen begins to flow into your car's tank. Pretty simple!

But hydrogen vehicles don't have any exhaust!  (Just water vapor.)

UC-Irvine's mascot was a welcome addition to the throngs of students and other visitors that came to see Stop #3 in Irvine, CA at the fueling station there.

It was an early morning start, but a beautiful cool California morning with the 11 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles from 7 different auto makers lined up in front of the Olympic Training Facility in Chula Vista, CA.  Olympic athlete and current world champion pole vaulter Brad Walker waved the green flag to officially start the 2009 Hydrogen Road Tour.  The cars looked great and as the VIPs walked around the vehicles, they remarked about how much they were looking forward to driving them to the next stop in San Diego.

The Hydrogen Road Tour starts tomorrow and almost all of the hydrogen vehicles are here in Chula Vista, just south of San Diego at the Olympic Training Facility, fueled with hydrogen and ready to go.  As we entered the trianing grounds today, the "no smoking" sign at the gate reminded me that this is the perfect place to start a tour of hydrogen vehicles that emit no emissions from the tailpipe.