Vectrix (www.vectrixusa.com) people were outside showing their well-designed scooter while inside they were showing how the range could be extended with an 800W direct methanol fuel cell, developed jointly by Giner Electromechanical Systems (GES) and Parker Hannifin. Methanex are supporters of the project. I knew that I would be meeting Mark Grist later and I deferred discussion.

As the sun set, I saw the Hydrogenics (www.hydrogenics.com) HyPM fuel cell power module in a John Deere demonstration vehicle (pictured on page 1). I admired its four-wheel steer capabilities. John Deere ePower Technologies has strategically invested in this technology in the belief that there will likely be viable markets for Deere production fuel cell vehicles within the next five to seven years, according to Bruce Townson of Hydrogenics (btownson@hydrogenics.com). The fuel cell power module delivers 20kW and is supported by a battery to provide additional power if required.

We concluded the day with the Automotive Media Round Table that had the formality of a presidential debate. There were opening and concluding statements and even previously submitted questions from the media. The session was chaired by Bob Stempel, chairman of ECD Ovonics (www.ovonic.com). The panel was Masanobu Wada for Nissan Motor Co., Robert Bienenfeld for American Honda Motor Co., Michael Schwarz for Ford Motor Co., Kenneth C. Stewart for General Motors, Andreas Truckenbrodt for DaimlerChrysler, and Douglas West for Toyota.

West said that hybrids were now making money and that every manufacturer would have them out in 2005. Truckenbrodt was coy on the 2005 date and puzzled why it was that North America did not rush to simply adopt European diesel engines.

After the opening statements, Bob Stempel surprised the media by allowing two questions from the floor. Gerry Woolf (www.bestmag.co.uk) bowled in the best of these in blunt British style, asking why it was that Toyota was more active with hybrids than the others. Remembering the economic pressures outlined in Business Week, the memorable answer came from Ken Stewart who pointed out the success of GM’s work with the Allison hybrid drive. For example, he said, orders for hundreds of buses had been announced. The fuel and climate change savings by these massive buses were, he said, equivalent to those of thousands of Prius-sized vehicles. GM’s release will give you the scale of this step (www.gm.com/cgi-bin/pr_display.pl?6060). I was interested to find later that GM also had a 42V system in a truck at the show. Since this truck has regenerative braking and “idle-off” capability, it is a definite step to lower fuel consumption. Clearly it is not only Toyota that is in commercial action with hybrids.

On Monday the morning went to a plenary session. I noted down a couple of quotes from Robert Reimer, an environmentally concerned actor, who has done great things in helping children. “The single best way to fight terrorism was to not be dependent on oil,” said Reimer. “If all our vehicles were hybrids, we could eliminate the 25% of oil imports that come from the Middle East.”

On the Avestor stand I talked with Robert Gibney (rgibney@avestor.com) about the lithium metal polymer battery they were exhibiting. Immediately, Avestor is producing telecom backup batteries with their technology but they also exhibited a cutaway version of their 21kWh vehicle battery concept. The energy density is attractive and so are the future costs. The company is committed to the vehicle market but is also committed to near-term revenue. It is building up capability where prices can be tolerated and will be there for vehicles when needed.

EVS papers very much start with the vehicle systems and work back to the underlying components. After lunch in the opening “fuel cell” session I heard Arun Jaura of Ford describe the technology behind the supercharged 2.3 liter hydrogen in the H2RV, while Nissan’s Yukimasa Ban described not only the 3.6Ah Li-ion batteries but also the 25kW heater integrated into the Nissan X-Trail FCV.

In a battery session I managed to catch questions for Takenori Tsuchiwa of Toyota. He was presenting “Battery System for Toyota Intelligent Idlingstop System.” It was intriguing to learn that the batteries he was describing were produced by Toyota. This was followed by a numerically precise presentation on the ZEBRA (sodium nickel chloride) battery by Cord Dustmann of MES-DEA (cdustmann@mes-dea.ch). Afterwards, there was a significant lineup to talk to Dustmann.

In the evening, GM enticed many of us to a reception where I was delighted to get more time on the ZEBRA battery with Dustmann. The new system has a fine energy density of 120Wh/kg, but it is a little light on power at 170W/kg. Nevertheless, ZEBRA is finding niches and Cord Dustmann is confident that he can bring the costs down to $100/kWh as volumes pick up. ZEBRA batteries were illustrated in the exhibit hall. Zytek (www.zytekgroup.co.uk) showed a DaimlerChrysler Smart car with a ZEBRA battery while ISE Research is using the ZEBRA battery for a bus. Earlier that day, Jesse Keller of ISE (jkeller@isecorp.com) had explained their interest as well as their work with Maxwell ultracapacitors (www.maxwell.com).