Daimler’s F-Cell Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle was parked at the 2008 SF Auto Show this week when I attended. Other than Toyota’s Fuel Cell car, well half of it, this was as close as I had come to the car of the future. Meaning the hydrogen fuel cell car will always be in the future.

Based on an extended version of the current Daimler A-Class chassis, the F-CELL has a Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) hydrogen fuel cell that powers the vehicle and sports 72kW (97hp). Of course there’s also an electric motor that outputs 65kW (87 hp) an drives the front wheels. With two onboard hydrogen fuel tanks pressurized at 350 bar (5000 psi) Daimler’s F-CELL goes for 177 km (111 miles) and reaches a top speed of 140 kph (87 mph).

Nothing but water vapors for emissions and unlimited resource in hydrogen. All we need is the infrastructure to support refueling and orders to justify mass production to the point of bring the price per unit.

The cars ARE ready and they don’t look bad at all.

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Covering a distance of over 3700 miles in air, purely powered by biofuel is something that even the aviation industry would be proud of. But UK’s Skycar Team is trying to do that in a car with a giant fan, a powerful engine and a parachute.

Skycar is probably the most exciting green vehicle that is waiting to make it out on to the streets sometime in the future and the fact that it is not just a concept, but the real deal is something that is far more alluring.

Skycar will aim to prove its potential with a flight of over 6000 Km from London to Timbuktu. They use a lightweight Para-Wing that is filled by a huge fan built into the back of the vehicle to achieve theoretical airspeeds of 100 mph and thanks to a light-weight chassis it seats two people and goes some 3000 feet high. The distance to be covered is a daunting and probably a fitting challenge to Skycar as a successful journey will prove its true worth.

The car converts from flight mode to ground mode and vice-versa in just 3 minutes and can run completely on biofuel when needed (for ground, it can run on ethanol using a Yamaha R1 engine).

This is truly one eco-journey that we wish the very best as the success of Skycar could usher us into a clean new era where we just lift up from the traffic of rush hour and fly home ala Jetsons style! Check out the gallery after the break. (more…)

The president of Mitsubishi Motors Corp., Osamu Masuko, said Monday that that Mitsubishi is currently developing a plug-in hybrid car. The automaker has plans to develop a plug-in hybrid and launch a mass-produced electric vehicle next year in Japan.

Speaking at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan, Masuko opined that the plug-in hybrid will be a better suit for longer distances than an electric car. U,. Mitsubishi is a bit late to the party, no? But, then I guess it is better late than never.

Meanwhile, GMC, Ford and Chrysler continue to restructure.

Leave it Honda to build an ultra efficient SUV-sized vehicle that can cover 1300 miles between fill ups. It carries 6-8 passengers - 8 Japanese but just 6, sometimes 5 or even 4 Americans.

But it doesn’t come cheaply.

The vehicle costs $1.5 million and the fuel costs are about 80 cents a mile. Comes to about $1000 per fill-up. (These figures may be a bit old…)

The vehicle is Honda’s Hondajet…a super efficient light jet that weighs about the same as an SUV.

And to think, so many people think of Honda as car and motorbike maker.

I wonder if my wife and kids remember this Sunday is Father’s Day.

On my wish list is a HondaJet. Oh, and flying lessons, too. Oh, and can I have a year’s worth of free fill ups, please?

Images by frenchrice