Fuel cells ready for commercial deployment

GM Hydrotec boss says hydrogen fuel cells now are a viable zero-emissions choice for work trucks, other transportation modes.

Call it a “technology-meets-the-moment” place in the transportation sector's innovation timeline. After decades of concentrated development work, General Motors' fuel-cell R&D unit Hydrotec is poised to deploy “the first applications that will be going commercial” of its hydrogen fuel-cell technology, said Charlie Freese, executive director of GM Hydrotec and GM Defense in a recent meeting with a group of automotive journalists and analysts.

“Large vehicles and heavy payloads - that's where replacing petroleum-fueled vehicles with hydrogen fuel cells works very well,” Freese asserted. “That's where we plan to go moving forward.”