California Family Giving      
Long-term Test Drive to Hydrogen Car

TORRANCE, Calif. - No-pollution cars powered by
hydrogen fuel cells are at least a decade away for
most people - but not one California family.

In a long-term road test, John Spallino, his wife
and two daughters will begin leasing a
silver-and-blue, four-seat Honda FCX on Wednesday
to get them to work, school and anywhere else they
want to roam.

The Spallinos will provide reports about the car's
performance to Honda as part of the auto
industry's first private test of the promising
technology that produces only one byproduct -
water clean enough to drink.

"Maybe this is the technology of the future. Maybe
it isn't," said the easygoing Spallino, a
financial officer who plans to use the FCX for his
80-mile roundtrip commute from his home in Redondo
Beach to Irvine.

"But if I can be part of the evolution of this
technology, that would be a lot of fun," he said.

The test could give a push to pollution-free cars,
said Lindsay Brooke, a senior analyst for CSM
Worldwide, an automotive forecasting company.

"It's impact really is in being one small but very
meaningful step in the road toward these vehicles
being a production reality," Brooke said.

Honda, however, won't say when it might mass
market the FCX, which is now built one by one
without the economic efficiency of an assembly line.

Honda chose the Spallinos for the test in part
because they already own a Honda Civic GX powered
by natural gas and are accustomed to the
inconvenience of finding fueling stations that
provide alternatives to gasoline.

The family will pay $500 a month to lease the FCX.
That includes maintenance and insurance on the car
that cost Honda more than $1 million to design and
build using technology that turns hydrogen and
oxygen into electricity.

Government agencies and universities have tested
hydrogen vehicles for Honda and other automakers
in the past, but the FCX will be the first
hydrogen fuel cell car in private hands.

It meets all government safety standards and
drives like a regular car, though its electric hum
is quieter than a gas engine. The FCX accelerates
and maintains speeds comparable to
gasoline-powered vehicles.

One difference can be found in the trunk. The
Spallinos will have to pack light because their
new car has less than a third of the trunk space
of a typical car.

But the biggest difference is in the fuel tank.
The FCX uses hydrogen gas instead of gasoline and
can only go about 190 miles on a tank of fuel.

There are now about 30 hydrogen fueling stations
across the country, with more than half of them in
California. But Spallino counts at least four on
his way to work, including one at Honda's U.S.
headquarters in Torrance and another at Los
Angeles International Airport.

The LAX station won't open to the public for at
least five years but can be used by government
vehicles and now the Spallinos.

President Bush, California Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger and others say cars run by
converting hydrogen to electricity will one day
wean the nation of its oil dependence while
reducing air pollution.

Environmentalists counter that some automakers are
using that promise to avoid improving fuel
efficiency in current models. But Honda's record
of making gas-electric hybrid cars suggests it's
as interested in research and development as in
public relations, environmentalists said.

"If they are handing over the keys to a working
car that they are planning on commercially
producing, then we'll be very excited," said Gail
Ruderman Feuer, senior attorney for the
environmental group the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Spallino said his concern for the environment led
him to buy his natural gas-powered Honda GX and to
agree to road test the FCX.

"I like to set an example where I can in showing
that individuals make a difference," he said.

Copyright 2005 Knight Ridder

--
LP

"We are fighting today for security, for progress,
and for peace, not only for ourselves but for all
men, not only for one generation but for all
generations. We are fighting to cleanse the world
of ancient evils, ancient ills."

Franklin Delano Roosevelt
State of the Union Address - 1942