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Daimler, Toyota, BMW to lead $10-billion hydrogen investment

Daimler, BMW, and Toyota are leading a group of 13 companies pledging to invest more than $10 billion during the next five years to spur enough infrastructure-building and technology advancements to get more of the general public to buy hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. The automakers, which also include Honda and Hyundai, as well as companies such as Shell, AirLiquide, Linde Group, and Total SA, are part of what they're calling the Hydrogen Council. The group made its announcement in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday. The Hydrogen Council will pledge to accelerate its rate of hydrogen-related investments, which currently stand at about $1.5 billion annually. The coalition says its work represents a continuation of the 2015 Paris Agreement, in which many of the companies agreed to address the issue of climate change. The group says that hydrogen, which emits water vapor when used in fuel-cell vehicles, "can play an important role in the transition to a clean, low-carbon, energy system." The Hydrogen Council also vowed to push global governments to accelerate public investment in hydrogen-related infrastructure. Relative to other drivetrain technologies, hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles are in their relative infancy in terms of adoption because of the high cost of both building fuel cell vehicles and setting up a hydrogen-refueling infrastructure. Toyota is the only automaker that sells a production fuel-cell vehicle in the US. The Japanese company, which introduced its Mirai domestically in late 2015, sold 1,034 of them in the US last year. Daimler subsidiary, Mercedes-Benz, used Tuesday's announcement to remind people that it would start selling its GLC plug-in hydrogen fuel-cell crossover this year. There are only 33 publicly accessible hydrogen refueling stations in the US, including 30 in California, and one each in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and South Carolina, according to the US Department of Energy. By comparison, there are more than 15,000 electric-vehicle charging stations with almost 40,000 outlets in the US. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2017 Mercedes-AMG GLC43 News Source: Daimler/Hydrogen Council via Bloomberg, Automotive News-sub.req. Green BMW Honda Hyundai Mercedes-Benz Toyota Hydrogen Cars infrastructure mercedes f-cell

Mercedes AMG GT3 racecar due in 2016

Our life with the Mercedes-AMG GT has only just begun, and a full life it looks like it will be. The latest in preposterous two-doors from AMG is launching in GT and GT S flavors, but a few more branches of the family tree are already planned: a racing entry for the FIA GT3 championship is scheduled to appear in 2016, giving the current SLS AMG GT3 another year to gobble up victories before it takes a drive across the Styx. More exciting for those who only suit up on Sunday for church, whispers are that a we'll also get a streetable version of the race car - not called "GT3" because that alphanumeric is owned by Porsche, but definitely aimed at its Stuttgart rival. AMG boss Tobias Moers told Autocar the objective for that car is "more power, less weight, better aerodynamics and different suspension but the targets should be the power to weight ratio, drivability, lap time and tremendous feel." Those targets will be aided by a carbon fiber weight-loss regime of up to 220 pounds and more power - perhaps 550 horsepower - from the currently "very understressed" engine. Supposing that still isn't enough for you, then the Black Series version should curl your toes, if you can wait until 2018 for it.

Hollywood stars drink hydrogen B-Class F-Cell emission water in Death Valley [UPDATE]

A plug-in electric vehicle can be used to power a house during a winter storm, but if you're more worried about the heat of, say, Death Valley, then maybe you'll want a Mercedes-Benz B-Class F-Cell along. That's the message of a new video from Daimler and starring Diane Kruger (Inglourious Basterds) and Joshua Jackson (Fringe) that promotes the company's hydrogen-powered car. The gist? You can drink the tailpipe emissions. The two Hollywood stars drove in Death Vally without any water in their F-Cell but had a special tank hooked up to the tailpipe to collect the H2O drips as they drove in 100+ degree temperatures. There's a reason these two actors were chosen, since they've been driving an F-Cell in their daily lives for two years, according to the Diamler press release. The text is, shall we say, a bit hyperbolic - "Their lives rely on the emissions of the B-Class F-CELL" it says, totally ignoring the film crew that is obviously along for the ride and more than likely had a few bottles with them. Also, when the California Fuel Cell Partnership promoted the same idea a few years ago, it clarified that, "A fuel cell doesn't produce enough water to fill your glass. ... If fact, fuel cells produce about the same amount of water as gasoline vehicle – about 1/3 cup for a full day of driving." Thus, this whole thing is a Hollywood stunt, but it's a visually effective one. See for yourself in the mini-movie below. UPDATE: Daimler has told AutoblogGreen that there was no "extra Hollywood magic" needed for the water collected in the video. Instead, Madeleine Herdlitschka, who works at global communications for Mercedes-Benz Cars, said, "Considering the technical characteristics, the Mercedes-Benz B-Class F-CELL emits about 9 kg of water vapor per kg of hydrogen while driving. The vehicle has a hydrogen capacity of about 3.7 kg, what is sufficient for a max. of about 400 km of range. A tailor-made construction, designed by the production company Markenfilm Crossing in cooperation with our fuel cell experts, made it possible to collect the water in a tank - previously cooling the vapor with a specially designed pipe system." This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.