Even Hydrogen Whiz Kids Prefer Plug-in Hybrid

Even the duo that won a General Motors and Department of Energy fuel-efficient vehicle design contest by developing a hydrogen fuel cell car have, according to the Toronto Star, thrown their energies and expectations behind a more real and present technology: the plug-in hybrid.

Matthew Stevens and Christopher Mendes won the Challenge X competition in 2005, when the talk of the energy future was dominated by the promise of ultra-clean hydrogen. But it takes energy to make hydrogen, and there's no proven way to do it affordably. And since 2005, the energy landscape has changed, with the U.S. waking up to the realities of global warming; now, the focus is on delivering technologies that reduce energy use and emissions – and fast.

That's where the plug-in hybrid comes in. It already exists, so the improvements engineers are making to the design can have an immediate benefit. Stevens and Mendes are focusing on CrossChasm Technologies, which is, according to the Star, "developing software that can establish communication between an electric car and the grid and "optimize" their interaction." An important component of any strategy that uses power plants to run electric cars, such a system would allow power plants to even out their load, so they can burn less fossil fuel.

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