Once touted as a building block of the so-called “hydrogen economy,” the fuel cell-powered car is dying a quiet death in the boardrooms of the world’s largest auto conglomerates.

In March, the Wall Street Journal reported that Toyota and General Motors are expressing not-so-private doubts about the viability of automotive fuel cell technology, particularly in view of advances in lithium-ion battery design. GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz told reporters at the Geneva Auto Show that the prospect of affordable electric vehicles boasting ranges of up to 300 miles (500 kilometers), continued development of mobile fuel cells is looking less commercially attractive. His comments were echoed by Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe, who said he couldn’t imagine conditions making fuel cell design practical within the next decade.

That’s bad news for fuel cell proponents. Toyota and GM are the world’s number one and number two automobile manufacturers.

The allure of fuel cell technology

On paper, fuel cell vehicles look great. Commercial fuel cells convert hydrogen and oxygen into electricity, powering a cool, pollution-free motor. Fuel cell systems are lightweight, compact, and have few moving parts to wear out. And while hydrogen isn’t exactly a free ride — there are production efficiencies to be considered — it’s a virtually inexhaustible element.

Unlike batteries, which store an electric charge until it is use, fuel cells generate power by combining a fuel (hydrogen) with an oxidant (oxygen) in the presence of a specialized electrolyte. This means a fuel cell vehicle’s hydrogen reserve must be refilled, much in the way we fuel conventional vehicles. Therein lies the rub.

Where are the hydrogen fueling stations?

What’s holding back the fuel cell car isn’t the technology involved — it’s the logistics of a hydrogen infrastructure. From retrofitting existing gas stations to developing a production and distribution network sufficiently robust to support even a modest percentage of the industrialized world’s existing fleet, the scale of provisioning a hydrogen economy is daunting. Would current fueling stations be required to install hydrogen pumps? If so, who would bear the cost? How does one go about mandating a hydrogen fueling station on every street corner?

None of these problem are unsolvable — but neither are they likely to be resolved quickly. More importantly, the development of a hydrogen fuel network is largely beyond the control of the automotive manufacturers, which makes it a tough sell on their corporate balance sheets.

An electric car infrastructure seems easier to imagine in the near term. At the very least, consumers would be able to charge their cars in the convenience of their own driveways. Charging times and vehicle range are already quite reasonable, and progressive employers (such as Google) are already experimenting with away-from-home charging stations for their workers. The biggest threat to a fuel cell fleet may simply be cheaper, more expedient alternatives.

Fuel cell cars come to market

Uncertainty about the wide-scale availability of hydrogen fueling stations isn’t keeping every automotive manufacturer from actually putting fuel cell-powered cars on the pavement. Honda — whose president, Takeo Fukui, recently expressed doubts in the maturity of lithium ion battery technology — is close to actually putting its advanced FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle on the pavement.

It’s a limited test, so unless you live in Torrance, Santa Monica, or Irvine, California, there’s no point rushing to your local dealer for a test drive. Honda will begin leasing the FCX Clarity at about $600 a month beginning this summer, part of a test program to examine how their new technology fares in the real world. The Clarity will be the first true fuel cell passenger vehicle from a major manufacturer. Korean car giant Hyundai is promising to mass-produce their own hydrogen car by 2012.

What happens next is anyone’s guess. But even Honda is hedging its bets, readying a second-generation “Prius killer” hybrid for mass production in 2009.

GM, Toyota Doubtful on Fuel Cells’ Mass Use (WSJ.com)
Honda CEO says lithium ion not ready for primetime (Motortrend)