The car of the perpetual future

摘要

During a keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January, the boss of General Motors (gm), Rick Wagoner, unveiled the Cadillac Provoq, a new hydrogen fuel-cell concept car. With a drivetrain emitting only water vapour, a 300-mile range and a top speed of 160kph (100mph), the vehicle, said Mr Wagoner, represented "the promise of truly sustainable transportation". It was a promise that sounded vaguely familiar.rnA decade earlier, in 1998, Mr Wagoner's predecessor, Jack Smith, told the Detroit auto show that gm had a plan to produce a production-ready fuel-cell vehicle "by 2004 or sooner". That same year, Ford's incoming boss, Jacques Nasser, said that he saw fuel-cell cars as being a viable alternative to petrol cars for many people during the course of his career (he was replaced in 2001). And as recently as 2004 California's governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, rhapsodised about "hydrogen highways" all across the state by 2010.