AND WE GOT IN ON THE GROUND FLOOR AT GM:

The United States Army is looking at hydrogen fuel cell vehicles hoping that sometime in the near future they'll play some important military roles, maybe even on the battlefield.

The military has been looking at alternative fuels like this because the difficulty, expense and danger of securing oil and gasoline supplies among other reasons. [...]

For now, the U.S. is testing a fleet of 16 General Motors fuel cell vehicles in Hawaii. They run on compressed hydrogen gas. The hydrogen is combined in a fuel cell with oxygen from the air in a process that generates electricity. The only exhaust the vehicles produce is water vapor.

This new fleet includes one vehicle that can be used as a portable generator, supplying enough energy to keep the lights on in several homes. The same technology could be useful in an "tactical" vehicle, said Matthews, providing power to a command center, for instance. [...]

Their biggest advantage over electric cars is that it takes much less time -- usually just a few minutes -- to pump a tank full of hydrogen than it does to charge a large battery.

These vehicles have a range of about 200 miles on a full tank. The state of Hawaii, where the cars are being tested, has also partnered with GM to test hydrogen fuel cell cars.

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