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CNN Live At Daybreak

White House Plan For Hydrogen Powered Vehicles Announced

Aired January 10, 2002 - 05:46   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And Daimler Chrysler is just one auto maker planning for the future with a zero emissions car. The White House unveiled a new plan yesterday to produce vehicles that run on hydrogen.

And this morning, CNN's Jeff Flock reports that, eventually, you will be able to say good riddance to your gas guzzler.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What you're looking at here is the exhaust from the hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle...

JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): All you get is a little hot air. Fuel celled vehicles like the Ford Focus FCV and GM's just announced Autonomy don't burn gasoline. And that's the way the Bush administration now says it should be.

SPENCER ABRAHAM, ENERGY SECRETARY: Families will no longer have to factor in the cost of gasoline in their budgets, in their vacation plans, or in what type of vehicle they buy, because the gas guzzler will be a thing of the past.

FLOCK: Fuel cells use hydrogen and oxygen from the air to make electricity, which powers the car. The technology works; this FCV test vehicle has 4,000 miles on it. But building an infrastructure to refuel them -- essentially, hydrogen gas stations -- is just one problem.

DIETER ZETSCHE, CEO, DAIMLER CHRYSLER: There are still very significant questions to be answered. What kind of fuel is the right one, is one matrix of this regard, including the infrastructure.

FLOCK: Dieter Zetsche's Daimler Chrysler, for example, is touting its Natrium mini-van, which uses sodium boryl hydride; pretty much like the laundry soap, Borax, to make the hydrogen.

ZETSCHE: So the Natrium is a truly clean vehicle.

FLOCK (on camera): Both industry and government may be on board, but some environmentalists are concerned that this program pulls focus from more pressing issues, like coming up with vehicles that have better mileage and give out fewer emissions than the gas guzzling trucks that are now so popular. Others point to the last government-industry partnership, which had in its goal coming up with a vehicle that got 80 miles to the gallon. Instead, it produced pretty much what comes out the fuel cell vehicle's exhaust.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And all you're getting is warm, moist air...

FLOCK (voice-over): I'm Jeff Flock, CNN, at the auto show in Detroit.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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