The F-Cell offers a smooth, peppy ride. But even more noteworthy is what it lacks: exhaust. Trickling from the tailpipe instead are water and water vapor.

Despite improvements in battery technology, car industry leaders seem to agree that the best way to provide both zero emissions and completely renewable power is to use hydrogen in fuel cells (Learn more about fuel cell technology here.)

Like batteries, fuel cells make electricity from hydrogen and oxygen. They are typically arranged in stacks, and the power of a fuel stack depends on the size and number of individual cells. Since fuel cells rely on chemistry and not combustion, like a typical car engine, they give off no emissions.

At DaimlerChrysler in Stuttgart, Germany, Andreas Truckenbrodt shows Alan how fuel cell techology has evolved. Eight years ago, a fuel cell that provided 67 horsepower took up the entire cargo space of a van. Today a 100-horsepower fuel cell can fit underneath the floor of a modified Mercedes A-class sedan called the F-Cell.

Alan discovers that the F-Cell offers a smooth, peppy ride. But even more noteworthy is what it lacks: exhaust. Trickling from the tailpipe instead are water and water vapor.

Alan learns more about the Hywire from GM's Larry Burns.

DaimlerChrysler plans to sell fuel cell vehicles to commercial fleet operators by 2010, and to the public a few years later. Most of the major manufacturers have similar plans, and many are preparing to simply retrofit existing car models with fuel cells and hydrogen tanks.

This approach doesn't satisfy GM's Chris Borroni-Bird . He says that to really help the environment we've got to create hydrogen vehicles that people "lust over." This, he believes, can only be achieved by designing a vehicle around the fuel cell.

Since the public unveiling of the AUTOnomy in 2002, the GM team has been working hard to make the concept car a reality. The Hywire, the drivable version of the AUTOnomy, is based on the same key feature as its predecessor: the "skateboard," a platform that contains the car's fuel cell, electric motors, computers and controls. So far, the team has gotten the skateboard down to about 11 inches thick--on their way to a goal of 6 inches--and has developed a body that can be simply dropped into place on top of it.

The Hywire has no mechanical links between the driver's controls and the wheels--so-called drive-by-wire--and its controls look more like those of a video game than a car: brakes and accelerator in the hand grips, and no foot pedals. Instead of rear view mirrors, the Hywire uses video cameras. But don't let the Hywire's unconventional controls eclipse its tangible environmental benefits: it doesn't burn oil and doesn't pollute.

Now, GM's Larry Burns says, the company's challenge is to make the technology commonplace.

"If we invent this great technology but it's too expensive and only a few people can afford it, it's not going to solve the energy and emission issues that we want it to solve," he says.

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