As might be expected, gather all the engineers who thought up all
these different concepts into one room, then toss in the marketers
and managers who must turn their concepts into cash, and the
debates can become intense. The real action was soon taking place
upstairs in the meeting rooms. Guys in tweed jackets would point
their fingers, politely, at the guys in suits. Guys in suits would
point at the guys in jeans. "The consumer wants power," some said.
"No," came the response, "the consumer wants convenience." Or low
cost. Or freedom. Men hate to plug in cars at night, the fuel cell
proponents said. Women, the backers of bigger batteries claimed,
hate to pump fuel at gas stations.
Still, whatever the motor-fuel combination that was being plugged,
it was clear that the electric motor has arrived for good. It may
not do away with gasoline, but it does greatly simplify the drive
train.
"The key to all of these vehicles is electric drive," says Robert
C. Stempel, the former chairman and CEO of
General Motors who is
now chairman of Energy Conversion Devices, one of the leading
developers and manufacturers of
fuel cells and nickel metal hydride
batteries for alternative vehicles. We can "see these all as
competing technologies, or we can see them all as complementary"
ways to power the electric motors, he adds.
Hiss and Miss
On the final day of the meeting, electric buses ferried attendees
to an industrial park north of
Sacramento for a chance to test
drive some of the cars. Ferdinand Panik, the
head of
DaimlerChrysler's fuel cell program, said the "ride and drive"
event reminded him of a
Formula One race. Standing in the chilly,
stark dawn, a more accurate description seemed to be open-entry
road rally.