There was an article in the New York Times this week about electric cars that are powered by hydrogen fuel cells. According to the article, these vehicles may be gaining ground on traditional gas powered vehicles. Hydrogen is an extremely clean power source as the only tailpipe emissions would be water vapor. Theoretically if used in enough cities and nations world-wide, hydrogen-fueled electric cars could help us lower our carbon footprint.
However, at the same time, there are some issues with the logistics of owning a hydrogen car. First, there is the price. It is prohibitively expensive to purchase one. It is also costly to fuel. The cost to refuel your car is $75 on average. There are also very few fueling stations at this point. California is on the forefront of adding fueling stations, but most other states are far behind. Additionally, while you may find that your state offers a fuel-efficient vehicle discount on your yearly registration fees when you renew online through eTags.com, through the state DMV directly, or in person, the savings there may not be enough to offset the other higher costs.
So, will the next car registration renewal you make be that of a hydrogen-fueled electric car? Perhaps not for the average American. At the same time though, electric cars are becoming more popular and the technology has advanced by leaps and bounds in the last decade. We could be talking about hydrogen cars in the same way in the not so distant future.