TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) – General Motors Corp. will unveil a drivable version of its Sequel concept car, a hydrogen fuel-cell powered vehicle. The Sequel has a range of 300 miles and looks like a shrunken minivan.
The announcement was made by Thursday by GM Chairman and Chief Executive Rick Wagoner during a speech at the Center for Automotive Research Management Briefing Seminars in Traverse City.But production and sale of the Sequel will not happen for some time. Wagoner wouldn't give a time estimate for when the public could buy one.
''That's rocket science when you get in that car,'' he said. ''This is the most sophisticated product, technologically advanced product, I think we've ever made in the history of GM.''
Most automakers are testing hydrogen-powered vehicles, with some in use by government workers.
The testing has received support from a 5-year, $1.2 billion hydrogen initiative first announced by President Bush in his 2003 State of the Union address.
The pollution-free technology holds the potential of zero emissions and a sustainable source of energy produced when hydrogen and oxygen are mixed. Experts say they could begin arriving in showrooms by 2020, or perhaps earlier.
But many obstacles exist including the high cost, relatively short range and a lack of fueling stations.