It is said that in future almost all the vehicles will operate on fuel cells alone or with hybrid systems using both batteries and fuel cells in which the battery supplies power for acceleration and speed. Now all the major automotive manufacturers are on the process of developing fuel cells as the replacement for the conventional automobile engine to provide advantage of high efficiency of fuel cells.

A team of scientists used microfabrication technology in order to produce low-cost, high-volume production of fuel cells rather than building them by hand. The goal is to fabricate fuel cells in a manner similar to the way that many types of integrated circuits are presently manufactured. Scientists are on the verge of developing an advanced version of the fuel cell, which would use methanol as a fuel to provide far greater energy storage capability. In future, the new miniature fuel cell could be used in everything from automobiles to cell phones and computers.

The polymer exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is one of the futuristic fuel cell technologies. This type of fuel cell will probably power up cars, buses and maybe even our houses. The PEMFC uses one of the simplest reactions of any fuel cell. Scientists are in their effort to boost fuel efficiency by taking different approaches to the cell design. One of the successful approaches is to combine fuel cell and battery powered vehicles. Even Ford Motors and Airstream are developing this concept vehicle powered by a hybrid cell named Hyseries Drive. Meanwhile, Ford claims that vehicles have a fuel economy comparable to 41 miles per gallon .These vehicles use a lithium battery to power the cars, as the fuel cell recharges the battery.

United Technology corp. was the first company to manufacture the fuel cell for use as a co-generation power plant in hospitals, universities and large office buildings. Fuel cell applications are now used in many things such as Base load Power plants, Electric and hybrid vehicles, auxiliary power, off grid power supply, note book computers, portable charging docks and smart phones.



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