Road Rally 2005 Travels the San Francisco Bay Area

San Francisco Bay Area —Today, $2-5 worth of hydrogen can take you fifty miles in a fuel cell vehicle. Hydrogen can be 75-90% cleaner than gasoline from the point of production to its use in fuel cell vehicles, even when made from natural gas. Energy companies and auto manufacturers see hydrogen as a path for the future.

Members of the California Fuel Cell Partnership will be highlighting hydrogen as an alternative fuel during “Road Rally 2005: Fueling the Future.” Representatives from CaFCP member companies will be on hand to answer pressing questions about the future of hydrogen and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. The event will bring nearly 20 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, a hydrogen reformer, a mobile refueler and numerous other technologies to San Francisco Bay Area communities including Martinez, Berkeley, Oakland, San Jose, San Carlos and San Francisco from September 29 through October 1. Bay Area residents will have an opportunity to experience these technologies by testing hydrogen FCVs, watching vehicles refuel and learning how hydrogen is made.

Media are invited to join CaFCP at any of the locations. However, a media “sneak peek” at Road Rally will occur on September 29, 2005 at Golden Gate Fields in Berkeley at 1pm. Media will be able to ask questions to representatives from leading auto manufacturers, energy companies, government agencies, fuel cell technology companies and transit agencies. Media will also have the opportunity to test drive vehicles from eight different auto manufacturers.

"The fastest way to bridge from these kinds of fuel cell demonstrations to actual commercial viability is through collaboration. And the CaFCP illustrates the kind of teamwork required by industry and governments to help prime the pump and facilitate the transition to viable hydrogen-related technologies," said Al Weverstad, 2005 CaFCP chairperson and an executive director at General Motors' Public Policy Center.

This year’s Road Rally focuses on the hydrogen fueling stations located in the San Francisco Bay Area. Nearly 100 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles have been placed on California’s roads. Six hydrogen fueling stations ring the San Francisco Bay Area and are a part of a growing network of stations located in both Northern and Southern California.

“As we move closer to the commercialization of fuel cell vehicles, it’s important for California communities to be familiar and comfortable with technology,” said Catherine Dunwoody, executive director of CaFCP. “Road Rally gives local residents the opportunity to experience the technology first-hand before it is out on the market.”

RSVP for the media event is required.

For more information on Road Rally 2005 locations, visit our web site www.roadrally2005.org or contact Meghan Blake at (916) 375-8034 or mblake@cafcp.org.

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For more information, please contact the California Fuel Cell Partnership at: 916-371-2870 or by e-mail: info@cafcp.org