Stan Ovshinsky shows off his solid hydrogen storage matrix that acts like a hydrogen sponge.

Stan and Iris Ovshinsky have been working with hydrogen since they founded their company in a storefront in suburban Detroit over 40 years ago. Today that company is a multi-million dollar enterprise, based on the Ovshinsky's wizardry with exotic metal alloys that soak up hydrogen like a sponge soaks up water. The best-known of these metal hydrides is the nickel metal hydride rechargeable battery invented by Stan Ovshinsky and now used in millions of electronic devices — as well as the new generation of hybrid cars.

Alan first met Stan and Iris Ovshinsky a year ago in California, when they showed him a prototype of a car powered by hydrogen stored in a tank filled with one of these hydrogen-absorbing metal alloys. In this program Alan visits the Ovshinsky's production facilities and gets a behind-the-scenes glimpse of some of the technologies that may mark a breakthrough in making hydrogen a practical fuel for the cars of the future.