Fuel Cells: Development and Management Issues Within the Automotive Industry

For nearly a decade, the automotive industry has been working on fuel cell power train technology. General Motors Corp. alone is spending more than $100 million a year to be able to mass produce hydrogen powered fuel cell vehicles by 2010 [1]. But despite the efforts, the technology is still fraught with obstacles and unknowns. Engineers and scientists must find a way to produce hydrogen cleanly and from sources that won\u27t be depleted. Before they can be practical in automobiles, fuel cells must come down in cost, mostly by reducing the amount of precious metals used in the fuel cell stack. The lack of a manufacturing and post consumer infrastructure is also a major obstacle in the race to develop fuel cell powered vehicles