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Cross-Country Hydro-Car Tour Wraps Up In LA

31-city, nine-automaker tour aims to promote nascent technology

By Drew Nelles,  Newser Staff

Posted Aug 25, 2008 5:12 PM CDT

(Newser) – A fleet of hydrogen-powered cars wrapped up a 31-city cross-country US tour in Los Angeles this weekend, Reuters reports. The first such trip by zero-emission vehicles aimed to promote the cars, supplied by nine automakers, and the need for more accessible zero-emission fuel. The US has 60 hydrogen stations so far but drivers have easy access to only two.

One study reports that only 2 million hydrogen cars will sell by 2020, but a California expert says public hydrogen stations will soon crop up in major US cities. They're needed too—even the cross-country tour finished with cars delivered on flatbed trucks, due to the lack of stations. Asks Jack Loftus on Gizmodo, "Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of an alternative fuel road trip?"

Hydrogen-powered vehicles from Daimler, left, Volkswagen, center, and BMW are driven on New York's West Side Highway Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2008.
Hydrogen-powered vehicles from Daimler, left, Volkswagen, center, and BMW are driven on New York's West Side Highway Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2008.   (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
A hydrogen-powered Toyota, right, followed by hydrogen-powered Daimler vehicle, left, on the New Jersey Turnpike in Secaucus, N.J., Wednesday Aug. 13, 2008.
A hydrogen-powered Toyota, right, followed by hydrogen-powered Daimler vehicle, left, on the New Jersey Turnpike in Secaucus, N.J., Wednesday Aug. 13, 2008.   (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
U.S. Department of Transportation Deputy Secretary Thomas J. Barrett watches as a BMW Hydrogen 7 is refueled at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, N.J., Wednesday Aug. 13, 2008.
U.S. Department of Transportation Deputy Secretary Thomas J. Barrett watches as a BMW Hydrogen 7 is refueled at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, N.J., Wednesday Aug. 13, 2008.   (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
The logo on a hydrogen-powered GM vehicle, left, precedes a hydrogen-powered Daimler vehicle on display at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, N.J., Wednesday Aug. 13, 2008.
The logo on a hydrogen-powered GM vehicle, left, precedes a hydrogen-powered Daimler vehicle on display at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, N.J., Wednesday Aug. 13, 2008.   (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
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