My name is Kevin Kantola (HydroKevin) and I am the writer, editor and publisher of this website / blog.
This website is about hydrogen cars, vehicles, infrastructure and the upcoming hydrogen economy. We will explore the technology behind hydrogen cars and the exciting industry news that will shape our new H2-centered world.
A Little Background …
When I was 16-years-old, my parents bought me my first car, which was a $200 “junker” with rusted out wheel wells and three tones of peeling white paint.
I loved that car, though, in the sense that it meant freedom. I could drive with my friends, take long drives with it when stressed or explore the local cities and town in my region on my own terms. With that junker car I was able to get my first job, drive to work and make enough money to buy my own better car in less than a year.
Fast forward to more current times.
In 2003, I had listened to President Bush’s State of the Union Address and made a mental note of his mention of hydrogen cars. Over the next couple of years, I did some limited research on the Internet to find out more, but was frustrated that I could not find a website that had all the information I wanted under one roof.
In the Spring of 2005, in a bout of angst about why I could not find more information about hydrogen cars, I decided to write, edit and publish my own. So, in June 2005, this hydrogen car website was born and it has received much attention right from the start from those interested in less dependency upon foreign oil and those interested in a cleaner environment.
In the Spring of 2006, I received the privilege of driving a hydrogen car for the first time. It was an Audi A2H2 that was being demonstrated in Long Beach, California. I was told by the test engineer, who came along with me in the passenger seat that the car cost $4 million to develop. Thoughts of my old $200 car, with chugging blue smoke, raced through my head as I was driving one of the most technologically advanced, pollution-free and noise-free vehicles ever developed.
We drove the car to a hydrogen refueling station, made by Air Products, a couple of miles away. On the way back, I must confess, I had fantasized about stepping on the pedal and becoming the first person in history to receive a speeding ticket in a hydrogen car. Coming back to reality, I then contemplated how the kids of today will be the hydrogen car drivers of tomorrow. For some a hydrogen car will be their first car. Things have come a long way in the 40 years since I had owned my first car. And, the excitement is just beginning.
But, Wait, There’s More …
Contributing Editor Stan Thompson, Chairman of the International Hydrail Conference. For 33 years I worked as an engineer, planner and futurist for what is now AT&T in Charlotte and Atlanta. Though I have no engineering degree, I’m a Life Member of the IEEE. Other memberships are the World Affairs Council, the local chapter of the National Association of Business Economics and the American Institute of Archaeology. (I dig international business, so to speak.)
Our guest writer George Wand retired from the automotive industry. During his career, he worked in R&D on advanced EV mobility concepts, and working with a museum drives his interest in history. These Hydrogen and Fuel Cell History items are but a small part of more than 750 articles he published in print and digital form. He compiled some of those in a series of eBooks from Amazon-Kindle. Racing to Preserve Precious Petroleum, Part 1 and Part 2 were released in 2016, Part 3 is ready to go by mid-2017. (Download ‘Kindle-for-PC’ or ‘Kindle-for-Mac’ and read on any computer.) Wikipedia, HowStuffWorks.com and EVWorld have referenced Wand’s thoroughly researched, plainly written articles. True to his slogan “On the inventive past the ingenious future will thrive”, Wand is passionate about sustainable mobility in a future without pollution. He has driven a variety of FCVs at Hydrogenics in his Toronto ’backyard’. An article about that will arrive here soon.