Many people may not know this about me, but I am a NASCAR junkie. I try to make it to at least one live race a year. For the past 5 years I’ve gone to Daytona. Unfortunately I could not make it this year. But I am really looking forward to October. We are going to Talladega to catch the Amp Energy 500.

My favorite part of the whole race is when they say, “Gentlemen, start your engines!” That’s when the crowd starts yelling and the engines begin roaring. I’m sure at that moment the energy in the raceway would register a 5 on the Richter scale.

I can’t imagine going to the speedway and not hearing engines revving because that’s what it’s all about… big boy toys making big boy noise. But if these hydrogen cars come along, that is what will happen… “Gentlemen, start your engines!” and then complete silence?!?!

The hydrogen car is the latest thing in the world of green. Basically it is a car that runs on water. I know there is a lot more to it than this… but from what I gather… it uses a fuel cell. The fuel cell does some magical stuff with hydrogen, oxygen and electricity and then… tada! The car starts rolling. And continues to roll for up to 300 miles or more.

There are a few hydrogen cars on the road today. They are still in the test stage. But reports estimate that there will be 2 million of these cars available by 2020.

These little cars have generated a lot of hype, but I am not so convinced that this will be the car for the future.

Well for one, the car hardly makes any noise. In this culture of suped up power engines… we Americans like big cars with big engines that make big rumbles. A hydrogen car can’t rumble! I am a woman and I like to hear the rev of my engine from time to time. So what man’s man would want a car that did not have some thunder under the hood?

Secondly, the car is very… I mean very expensive. Hydrogen technology is a new thing. And as with all new technology, costs are abundant. I think I read somewhere that it costs about a million dollars to produce one hydrogen car. I don’t know about you, but if I had a million dollars to spare, I would not be using it to buy a hydrogen car. Now granted the price is likely to come down with mass production, but that will take long time. And still even then, the cost to the consumer is still predicted to be astronomical.

And on top of that, there are many other green car options that are comparable and in some cases better than the hydrogen car. The hybrid car and the EV provide similar benefits at a more palatable price.

Don’t get me wrong, I do agree that something needs to be done to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. And there is nothing wrong with change and moving forward. (Actually, I thought that by 2008 we’d be like the Jetson’s.) But I don’t think that hydrogen cars are the way to go. It’s nice research for physicists to explore, but the reality of the hydrogen car becoming a part of everyday life is very unlikely.