????最近在報(bào)道“氫氣高速公路”（Hydrogen Highway）時(shí)我特別提到，幾乎所有主要汽車廠商，從豐田（Toyota）到寶馬（BMW），都計(jì)劃幾年內(nèi)要推出氫動(dòng)力汽車。想象一下一輛不是用電池而是用鉑金燃料電池驅(qū)動(dòng)的電動(dòng)車，它將氫這種宇宙中最豐富的元素注入電池就能獲得電力，驅(qū)動(dòng)附著在車輪上的電機(jī)。

????現(xiàn)在這一前景看來似乎更加光明了，因?yàn)榧又荼娮h會(huì)（California Assembly）上周通過了一項(xiàng)議案，批準(zhǔn)在未來十年間撥款2億美元建造至少100座加氫站。州長(zhǎng)杰瑞?布朗表示他將簽署這項(xiàng)議案。它的理念是，100座加氫站這個(gè)規(guī)模足以讓那些大品牌在加州銷售這種新能源車。

????文章發(fā)表幾周后，我就獲得了一個(gè)機(jī)會(huì)，在康涅狄格州的瓦林福德試駕一輛豐田的氫動(dòng)力樣車——改裝的漢蘭達(dá)（Highlander）SUV，并且在美國(guó)東北部?jī)H有的兩座加氫站（另一個(gè)在紐約的肯尼迪機(jī)場(chǎng)）中的一座為這車補(bǔ)充燃料。

????駕駛氫動(dòng)力車時(shí)，首先觸動(dòng)你的是車輛的靜音和加速性能——它能釋放很大的扭矩。這類車的零部件也比常規(guī)汽車要少——不再有引擎、昂貴的變速箱或傳動(dòng)系統(tǒng)——所以維修保養(yǎng)也會(huì)簡(jiǎn)單便宜得多。我試駕的這輛改裝漢蘭達(dá)加一缸氫能開300英里，而且四分鐘不到就能加滿。豐田量產(chǎn)版的全新氫動(dòng)力車將在今年11月舉辦的東京汽車展上亮相。

????當(dāng)我開到91號(hào)洲際公路的一個(gè)辦公園區(qū)的加氫站時(shí)，我見到了拉里?摩爾斯洛普。他是Proton Onsite公司氫燃料系統(tǒng)的副總裁，就是這家公司在運(yùn)營(yíng)SunHydro加氫站。去年該公司共有13輛氫動(dòng)力漢蘭達(dá)可供使用，他表示：“這些車幾乎沒什么毛病。”在這個(gè)加氫站他解釋道，現(xiàn)在加氫的價(jià)格大概是每加侖4美元，但一旦上了規(guī)模，價(jià)格就能降到3美元左右。

????這個(gè)加氫站是利用太陽能，通過所謂的水電解工藝來制氫的。它從裝在屋頂?shù)奶柲茈姵匕瀚@得電能，再用它從水里分解出氫。而加州現(xiàn)在的19座加氫站則是從天然氣中提煉氫的，這種工藝更便宜——大概是每加侖3美元。

????使用太陽能、風(fēng)能或其他再生能源生產(chǎn)氫的好處在于，與天然氣相比，這種生產(chǎn)過程幾乎不產(chǎn)生碳排放。所以這些漢蘭達(dá)算是名副其實(shí)的零排放汽車，從它的排氣管里排出的只有水蒸氣而已。

????目前，SunHydro正在波士頓以外的地區(qū)建造第一座商用加氫站。這家公司的老板是湯姆?蘇利文，他是靠創(chuàng)辦硬木地板零售企業(yè)Lumber Liquidators發(fā)家的。他為什么要投身這一行呢？原來他是想引入氫這種替代能源讓美國(guó)擺脫對(duì)石油的依賴，同時(shí)他也表示，這是件值得做的大好事。

????而他的難題也在于如何破除那個(gè)古老的先有雞還是先有蛋的魔咒：在沒有多少氫動(dòng)力汽車之前，如何造很多加氫站呢？而如果沒有加氫站，汽車廠商又為什么要賣氫動(dòng)力車呢？總得有人開個(gè)先局吧。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

????譯者：清遠(yuǎn)??

????When I last wrote about the hydrogen highway, I noted that just about every major car company, from Toyota (TM) to GM (GM) to BMW, was planning to launch a hydrogen-powered car within a few years. Think of an electric car that's powered not by a battery but by a platinum fuel cell. Pump hydrogen, the most abundant element in the universe, into the cell and electrons get stripped from the fuel providing a current that drives electric motors attached to your car's wheels.

????Now, that prospect seems even brighter as the California Assembly last week passed a bill that provides $200 million over the next 10 years to fund at least 100 hydrogen stations. Governor Jerry Brown indicated that he will sign it. The idea is that 100 hydrogen stations will create enough critical mass for the big automakers to sell their cars in the region.

????A few weeks after my article posted, I got the opportunity to drive a prototype of Toyota's hydrogen car, a modified Highlander SUV, in Wallingford, Conn. and to fill up at one of only two hydrogen stations in the northeast. (The other is at JFK airport in New York City.)

????What strikes you first when driving a hydrogen vehicle is the quiet and the acceleration -- it puts out lots of torque. These cars also have far fewer moving parts than other cars -- no engine, fancy transmission, or drivetrain -- so it will be much simpler and cheaper to maintain. The retrofitted Highlander I drove can travel 300 miles on a tank of hydrogen and takes less than four minutes to fill. The production version of Toyota's new hydrogen car will be unveiled at the Tokyo auto show in November.

????As I pulled up to the hydrogen filling station in an office park off Interstate 91, I met Larry Moulthrop, a vice president of hydrogen systems at Proton Onsite, the company that operates the SunHydro station. His company has been running 13 hydrogen Highlanders over the past year, and he says, "The cars have been working almost flawlessly." He explained how, at his company's SunHydro station, it costs about $4 a gallon equivalent to fill his car up, but at scale, he sees the price coming down to about $3 a gallon.

????The SunHydro station makes its hydrogen on site with solar power through a process called water electrolysis. It takes the electricity from the rooftop solar panels at its facility and uses it to strip out the hydrogen from the water. The 19 hydrogen stations that already exist in California use hydrogen made from natural gas, and that process is cheaper -- about $3 a gallon equivalent.

????The advantage of using solar, wind, or any renewable source of energy is that, compared to natural gas, almost no carbon is emitted in the making of the hydrogen. So you can truly call these Highlanders zero-emission cars. All that comes out of the tail pipe is water vapor.

????SunHydro is building its first commercial station outside of Boston. The company is owned by Tom Sulllivan, the entrepreneur who made his fortune starting Lumber Liquidators. Why is he doing it? He hopes to help break America's dependence on oil by introducing hydrogen as a viable alternative, and because, he says, it's the right thing to do.

????His challenge to beat the age-old chicken and egg problem: How can you have filling stations without hydrogen cars, and why would automakers sell a hydrogen car without a place to fill them up? Someone's got to blink first.