http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_vVa83plnA It recharges the onboard battery with a diesel engine, it is bloody efficient..... even if it runs on fossil fuel. edit: the wheels are turned only with the electric engine.
Id say the new Honda Hydrogen cells are the future tbh, Hydrogen in water out there already coming into production this year and going on sale in the US and are expected to be lower in price than the Hybrids which still rely on batteries which are far from enviromentally friendly and petrol. Apparently the fuel cells have enough energy to power your house so lets wait and see what happens.
There are a few things that keep it from being that simple, though. First off, the hydrogen cycle is a closed cycle. Water goes in, power splits it, it produces power as it recombines, water goes out. No new water is added to the environment. Gasoline, on the other hand, adds new CO2 (and water vapor) to the air - all that carbon was locked away in oil deposits before it was drilled, refined, and burned. Secondly, the natural mechanism for removing water vapor from the air is very fast compared to the natural mechanism for removing carbon dioxide. It's also a much more durable system - when was the last time you heard about people chopping down acres of rainclouds?
One day, that day when they invented a chainsaw made of cotton candy and bunny rabbits.... it was a horror scene.... so many clouds.....
I've always wondered why did they give up a gas turbine-electric engine. Super efficient and lightweight.
Clearly we need more offshore wind/wave farms producing hydrogen from sea water. Everything would be great until the government realises they would lose the £25 billion (ish) they make from fuel duty (excluding VAT!), we would get stuffed again
i do love this TED video: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/51 you loose from one side, you win from the other...... edit: Amon they could use the heat for their teapots......
