Not bad for government work, says GM as they are working with both the military and the U. S. Postal Service in developing and testing hydrogen vehicles. The U. S. Army is the first of 100 recipients of the Chevy Equinox Fuel Cell SUV, which will rollout to other drivers in the third quarter of 2007.
The Army will help General Motors put the Equinox Fuel Cell through its paces in all sorts of non-combat driving conditions. The hydrogen vehicle will spend most of its time at the base in Camp Pendleton, California where Army researchers will find out the limitations of the Equinox Fuel Cell through real-world testing.
General Motors has also gone postal in regards to hydrogen vehicles by dropping off a test GM HydroGen3 fuel cell minivan in Irvine, California for the U. S. Postal Service to test drive. For the past 2 years, a similar HydroGen3 was being tested around the Washington D. C. area by the Postal Service.
On the east coast, the HydroGen3 was found to be reliable as it has delivered over 600,000 pieces of mail. The U. S. Postal Service currently has over 37,000 alternative fuel vehicles in its fleet including those that run on biodiesel, ethanol and compressed natural gas. The west coast HydroGen3 will be maintained by GM fuel cell engineers in Torrance, California.