Now that’s a pricey car

Marisa O’Neil

On the surface, it looks like a normal, mid-sized SUV.

But under the hood purrs the super-quiet, hydrogen-powered engine

that both George W. Bush and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger see as the

wave of the future.

Researchers at UC Irvine’s National Fuel Cell Research Center took

delivery of a new hydrogen fuel cell vehicle Monday. They will use

the state-of-the-art SUV, one of only 18 in the world, to study the

feasibility of Schwarzenegger’s proposed “Hydrogen Highways,” a plan

for a widespread rollout of hydrogen fueling stations.

“Now we have a governor who gets it,” said Terry Tamminen,

secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency. “A

healthy economy comes from a long-term healthy environment. And when

it comes to hydrogen highways, he has three words he wants me to

deliver today: ‘Action, action, action.’”

The hydrogen vehicles, built by Toyota, have the same body and

chassis as their Highlander SUV. At first glance, the only things

distinguishing it from any other Highlander are stickers that say

“FCHV,” which stands for “Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle,” and the total

lack of engine noise.

In fact, the only sounds it makes are the slight clicking of

hydrogen being released when the driver turns the ignition and the

faint whirring of its cooling fan.

Unlike traditional internal combustion vehicles, it uses a hybrid

motor powered by the hydrogen fuel cell and an electric battery. The

technology is similar to Toyota’s Prius electric-gas hybrid engine,

but its only emission is water vapor.

Shifting from a fossil-fuel-based economy to a hydrogen-based

economy will help decrease dependence on foreign oil and clean up the

environment, UCI Chancellor Ralph Cicerone said.

“The possibility is with us, but we have a long way to go,” he

said.

The new vehicle will join a second one at the National Fuel Cell

Research Center. They will lease it to Atsushi Horiba of Irvine’s

Horiba, Ltd., so they can gauge its performance in real-world

situations as well as public perception of alternative fuel vehicles.

Right now, the vehicles have a top speed of 96 mph and a range of

180 miles. UCI has the only refueling station in Orange County and

can fill two tanks with the pressurized hydrogen each day.

More refueling stations are in the works through a partnership

with the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

Lease price for the Toyota is $10,000 a month for 30 months, said

Toyota engineer Trent Bowman. Because so much research and

development has gone into the vehicles, he estimated the value at

“several million dollars each.”

That figure isn’t lost on Josh Mauzey, an engineer for the

National Fuel Cell Research Center. He keeps both hands on the wheel

and obeys all traffic laws when he’s driving the pricey

hydrogen-powered vehicles.

“I always laugh at guys in their Ferraris,” he said. “[Because]

they think their cars are expensive.”

* MARISA O’NEIL covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4268 or by e-mail at marisa.oneil@latimes.com.