Why isBush spendeing tax dollars on a hopeless HHydrogen technology for fuel cells?

Question

It's amazing that the general public is so dumb they believe all the hype put out by oil companies and GM. Electric cars are here! They can exceed 100 miles on one charge. They are faster and quieter than gas. Most importantly they help eliminate global warming. More and more people will be 'Plugging In' lecctricx cars. They are being manufactured now. GM's latest fiasco was announcing they may have an electric car by 2010...if it works stated their spokes person. Is this a sick joke on us at $3.00 a gallon +? Seems rideiculus but somebody is making a ton of dough to prevent electric cars. Theyare here and more on the way. Not half-*** hybrids but true electric cars. It's all over the net just do a search electriccars.com or Zap or Tesla or China electriccars.....Bush better get on the band wagon now. This is the biiggest topic for reelection. We don't want to take it anymore..

Answer 1

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Yes , it's amazing to me also how people talk about electric cars as though no progress has been made on batteries in the last 30 years. Then, because the politicians and our media tells us to wait for hydrogen cars, we all assume that this is our only option.
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Take a look at a state-of-the-art electric car, developed with NO help from our government or major automakers:
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http://phoenixmotorcars.com/models/fleet.html
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The Phoenix electric pickup truck - this completely gas-free vehicle, using new, advanced Altairnano batteries (based on research from MIT) - can:

-Travel up to 250 miles per charge
-Carry 5 passengers plus cargo at 95mph.
-Charges batteries in as little as TEN MINUTES.
-Has batteries that last 250,000 miles (never need replacement.)
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Then there are the Chinese. They take electric vehicles more seriously. The first mass-market pure electric car will probably be a Chinese import. Here's an outfit looking to import some of them next year:
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http://milesautomotive.com/showroom_xs200.php
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The Chinese cars are expected to sell at prices competitive with gasoline cars. And even the Phoenix car - expensive at $45,000 because they are hand-built - will come down in price when mass-production can begin.
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Fuel cell cars are a hoax. First of all, FCV cars are electric cars, WITH BATTERIES, because the fuel cell can't handle acceleration currents without them. Secondly, abundant hydrogen is NOT available here on earth. It must be separated, using electricity. That same electricity, put directly into an electric car, will drive you further. FCVs will always be more expensive than electric cars, because they are electric cars - with an added fuel cell.
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Likewise, electric demand is a non-issue. There's plenty of energy available off-peak, at night, when EVs charge. And huge amounts of electricity is currently used to refine gasoline. We'll just take some of that, thank you.
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Answer 2

I think you are way off base. Electric cars have been around since cars were first invented. They are too costly. The batteries don't hold enough power. Batteries are costly to replace. They have to be re-charged. We do not have the electric capacity in the utility grid to handle a huge surge in demand.
The benefits of hydrogen are that there is an endless supply. We can use nuclear energy to convert water into hydrogen. Hydrogen works as a fuel. Switching over will be an enormous and costly task. Hydrogen is clean burning or it can be used in fuel cells, where there is no burning involved.
There is an outfit in California, making an electric car called the Tesla. A two-seater that costs $100,000 to buy will not be a hot seller.