Hydrogen
Presently there are around 50 million new fossil-fuelled vehicles being added every year to the existing 600 million or so such vehicles in the world.  In the face of rapid oil reserve depletion, supply uncertainty and record crude prices, we must consider the possibility that a large proportion of this massive investment in last century’s technology could become useless at some point in the relatively near future, unless alternative liquid fuels are developed.

Not to be deterred, the major auto companies are rapidly increasing their manufacturing capacity of fossil fuelled vehicles, primarily in China and India, whilst also working on hydrogen vehicles which they claim may soon be commercially available.

Hydrogen is not a primary energy source like crude oil.  Prior to delivery to motor vehicles, it is would have to be produced through a process known as reformation, at high cost in terms of greenhouse emissions and depletion of finite resources, such as methane or ammonia. 

In addition, around five percent of hydrogen is produced through electrolysis, a process which consumes a large amount of electricity, the production of which also often involves greenhouse emissions and resource depletion.

To this extent, and contrary to many incorrect commentaries in the popular press, hydrogen is not a renewable resource.

Any pollution-free hydrogen extraction (such as solar thermal steam reformation of methane or direct photoelectrolysis) is a long way from being cost effective or scaleable to the levels of production that would be required if its use were to become widespread.

Hydrogen could be a very useful fuel in the future for some applications, but its widespread use in automobiles is likely to be at least 15 years away.

It is also extremely unlikely that hydrogen will ever be used in the many other applications for which fossil fuels are currently used, such as agricultural machinery, motor cycles or electric generator sets.  Accordingly, hydrogen is not likely to solve the world’s energy or transport problems of the next ten to twenty years, and possibly beyond.

A simple comparison of some of the features of a hydrogen vehicle, compared to a Pritchard steam vehicle, causes one to question why billions of dollars are being committed around the world to hydrogen research when a far simpler steam alternative could be utilised with only a small amount of further development.
Petrol/Electric Hybrids
Modern petrol/electric hybrid vehicles have reached a point of mass production with many attractive features, including low fuel consumption, low emissions, quiet running and reasonable performance.

However, those characteristics require an incredibly complex array of systems which are reflected in the high production costs.  Complexity itself is not a desirable characteristic.

Pritchard vehicles compare very favourably in terms of fuel consumption and emissions, without compromising performance, including high torque and excellent acceleration.

An example of a Pritchard vehicle’s superior performance is that, even as a medium-sized sedan, it is ideally suited for towing other vehicles, boats, trailers, etc.  Hybrids are generally not suited to towing, except in the form of large 4 wheel drives or SUVs.