Electric Car Technology Called 'Breakthrough'
03:55 p.m Oct 21, 1997 Eastern
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. scientists have made a breakthrough discovery that could lead to fuel-efficient cars with extremely low emissions, Energy Secretary Federico Pena said Tuesday.
The electric cells developed under a government-industry partnership can be fueled with gasoline at ordinary gas stations, or can run on methanol, ethanol or natural gas, Pena said at a briefing.
Pena predicted that the technology could dramatically change the automobile industry, resulting in ``cleaner, more efficient vehicles and pollution-free power at double the fuel economy.''
``Today's breakthrough is just one example of cutting-edge technologgy that could be commonplace in the future, reducing greenhouse gases and improving the air we breathe,'' Pena said.
The system, demonstrated last week, generates electricity using a chemical process to convert the gasoline into hydrogen.
The technology, allowing the hydrogen to be produced on board, overcomes a significant problem in developing electric vehicles -- the lack of an infrastructure to supply hydrogen from external sources.
The partnership included the Department of Energy and its Los Alamos National Laboratory, Arthur D. Little of Cambridge, Mass., and Plug Power of Latham, New York.
The process produces emission levels much lower than required by California's Ultra-Low Vehicles Standard, the statement said.
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