Well, executives of Toyota and General Motors are not major supports of the latter. Instead, reports the Wall Street Journal, both companies are turning to lithium-ion batteries.
General Motors Vice Chairman, Bob Lutz, points out that there have been advancements in the lithium-ion battery that could give them a range of travel of 300 miles before recharging. Then, Lutz says, who needs fuel cells. He also pointed out that fuel cells are a lot more expensive than the lithium-ion battery.
Katsuaki Watanabe, president of Toyota, agrees. He also noted that some sort of infrastructure -- like refueling stations, that necessary to produce and distribute a hydrogen fuel cell currently doesn't exist. Batteries, on the other hand, could be recharged in a typical outlet.
Our take? The fact that General Motors has put all of its eggs in one basket -- the Chevrolet Volt -- shows that it is focusing on lithium-ion batteries rather than fuel cells. The Volt is expected to be available by 2010. And there are still reports that GM may offer fuel cells in future versions of the Volt. But, as Lutz pointed out, if the battery works why do you need the fuel cell?