Daimler AG has announced that the company plans to mass produce fuel cell vehicles within the next decade. The push to fuel cell vehicles is being driven by stricter emissions regulations and a shift from a reliance on fossil fuels. Daimler showed its first fuel cell vehicle — the Necar 1 — back in 1994.
“By 2012 or 2015, we will be technologically well-advanced and in a position to produce cost-effective cars, comparable to those with other technologies,” said Christian Mohrdieck, Daimler’s director of fuel cell system development.
According to Automotive News, Daimler has driven its test fleet of about 100 fuel cell vehicles over 2.23 million miles.
Hyundai has also announced plans to have a fuel cell vehicle in production between 2012 and 2015 and General Motors is planning to be the first to market in 2010. GM has already begun publicly testing several hydrogen-powered SUVs.
It remains to be seen if costs will come down enough to merit a hydrogen vehicle in such a short time frame. In addition to costs, a refueling infrastructure still remains a large obstacle for hydrogen-powered vehicles to over come.
Daimler also has a history of being off with its fuel cell predictions. In 1990 the automaker said fuel cell vehicle production would begin in 2005, a premonition that was obviously never realized.
