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"  For the first time in several years, Daniel Santos feels like buying a car. The 41-year-old computer programmer from Fresno, Calif., says he was &amp;quot;jazzed&amp;quot; in 2004, when then-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced plans to build a so-called &amp;quot;Hydrogen Highway&amp;quot; that would include upward of 200 hydrogen fueling stations spaced 20 miles apart, all open for business by 2010. Santos decided then his next car would run on hydrogen. &amp;quot;The concept of hydrogen propulsion just made sense to me from the first time I heard about it, back when I was a teenager,&amp;quot; he says. &amp;quot;When Arnold said he wanted to create the Hydrogen Highway, it was like a dream come true. I would finally be able to drive a hydrogen car without worrying about running out of fuel.&amp;quot; That was the dream, anyway. In reality, only 23 of the anticipated stations are open so far. And of those, only nine are designated for public use, according to data from the California Fuel Cell Partnership. The delays are due to a series of funding and logistical challenges, including an ongoing dispute between state officials and the oil companies originally slated to build the fueling sites. (The new proposal would have forced oil companies to build hydrogen stations. When they threatened to sue, the state offered a compromise in which motorists will foot the bill through car registration fees.)  It seems like par for the course for hydrogen cars, a much-ballyhooed technology that never quite reaches its potential. Yet, as PopMech just reported, hydrogen enthusiasm is back. In late September, current California governor Jerry Brown signed legislation authorizing $20 million annually over about 10 years to build new hydrogen fueling stations. At a cost of $2 million per fueling site, the new initiative calls for establishing 100 new stations by 2024. &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m looking through car ads again,&amp;quot; Santos says. &amp;quot;I almost gave up on everything, but today the governor&amp;#039;s decision to continue building the stations is starting to give me new hope.&amp;quot; Keith Malone, a spokesman for the CFCP, says the hydrogen fueling process is similar to filling a gasoline car. &amp;quot;I pull into a gasoline station with a hydrogen pump and I turn off the car. I punch in my codes [required until the 2015 market opens] and wait briefly while the pump prepares to dispense. I attach the nozzle and lock it. I press the fueling button and the fill begins,&amp;quot; Malone says. &amp;quot;The fill can take about three to seven minutes, depending on how many kilograms of hydrogen I need. I return the nozzle to the holder, close my gas cap, and leave.&amp;quot; Hydrogen fuel cell autos, which emit only water vapor, are propelled by electric motors, meaning they accelerate smoothly and without shifting gears. The onboard fuel cells convert hydrogen gas into electricity to drive the electric motor. A tank such as the 5.6-kg-capacity version on the Hyundai ix35 can be filled in a matter of minutes. As opposed to electric vehicle recharging stations, hydrogen stations can supply enough energy for a car to drive hundreds of miles after a single fueling. Malone confirms that when automakers start delivering the first mass-produced hydrogen autos to the U.S., refueling technology will be universal, not product-specific. &amp;quot;All public stations will be accessible to all drivers, as they are now,&amp;quot; he said. &amp;quot;When the market launches, consumers will pay for their hydrogen the same way they do for gasoline.&amp;quot; According to a recent investment market report posted at 24/7 Wall St., analysts estimate it could cost about $9 to produce and ship a kilo of hydrogen gas to a refueling station, which means it would be competitive with gasoline costing about $3.50 per gallon. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/hybrid-electric/a10129/will-californias-hydrogen-highway-survive-this-time-around-16528881/>