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Chalk one up for public relations, future technology and the drudgery of driver’s education in the U.S. DaimlerChrysler proudly points out this week that over the past year, some newly minted drivers have had the rare chance to pilot a fuel-cell-powered vehicle to the DMV in California for their driving test. DC is acting on President Bush’s State of the Union call for a hydrogen future in the U.S., particularly in the automotive world by offering some driving students the chance to drive their Mercedes-Benz F-Cell on their maiden voyages as licensed drivers. Curiously omitted from the chirpy press release—well, as chirpy as Saxons can muster—was any mention of how long the line at the DMV was, how surly the employees were, and how many attempts DC allowed at the parallel-parking maneuver before throwing their hands up in frustration. (If it was 1985 and this was our test, that magic number would be three.)
One Response to “DaimlerChrysler Gives Driver’s Ed a Fuel-Cell Boost”
md
June 1st, 2006 - 1:40 pmThat is an old A-class merc, the new one came out last year. I’m sure lots of Americans would appreaceate that model right now. It is actually quite nice, roomy inside with a flat floor and upright seating. You can see over traffic somewhat better and of course it is really fuel efficient to begin with.
The reason DC chose that model to build their hydrogen system on is the double floor. Not exactly revolutionary, and I don’t think they were first, but smart anyway, all car systems are located under the floor inside a kind of sandwich.
So plenty of room for all the hydrogen stuff under the passenger’s feet without taking out valuable trunk space.
I think they sort of screwed up the new model. Though it is nice and probably had lots of flaws fixed, it is alot bigger (current Golf sized), thus messing up the basic concept.
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