Zero-Emission Car of GM

General Motors' new car needs no exhaust pipes or cylinders, and it has zero emission.

As impossible as it sounds, the new hydro-powered Chevy Equinox has hit the streets in New York City, Washington D.C. and South California early this year. 100 people, from regular families to celebrities, have joined the 30-month free ride. In return, each test driver will provide feedback to GM about the car's performance and their views of the experience. A few month into the initiative, some drivers have already "thoroughly impressed."

Josh Max, a New York Daily News reporter, test drove the car in May during an interview for the car review. When he asked Stephen Marlin, driver relationship manager for GM’s test driving initiative, “Project Driveway," of how many cylinders the car has, Marlin said "there is none. The configuration of the engine eliminates the need of them."

When Josh stopped the car for a hydro-refill, Marlin asked him to touch the engine. "We open the hood and I examine the engine, a rectangular, boxy-looking thing. We’ve just driven 10 or so miles, but Marlin tells me to touch the casing. I do. It’s cool."

The Equinox Fuel Cell is powered by GM’s fourth generation fuel cell system – a major advancement in fuel cell technology that can start in sub-zero temperatures, achieve 200 miles per fill up, and travel at up to 100mph. As another test driver Ron Cogan described: "Driving it feels so normal I’m completely at ease with the drive with little thought of the processes at work behind the scenes."

“When you pass guys in Priuses, you can thumb your nose at ’em because even those cars burn fuel. This car emits nothing,” GM's Marlin said. The electric vehicle has four thin vertical slits in place of an exhaust pipe: and instead of CO2 fumes, they emit clean water vapour.

The zero-emissions nature of the vehicle attracted the EPA to the deal. In September, GM delivered a hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle to the Environmental Protection Agency as part of a market test for the technology.

Equinox is the first of its kind that has absolutely no pollution, a step further from hybrid automobiles. Hybrid automobiles are powered by both internal combustion and electricity, they still produce emissions and consume fossil fuel, albeit in smaller amounts than most conventional automobiles.

Hyundai is set to launch the commercial version of its hydrogen fuel-cell car by 2012.