IT IS the technology of the future, promising nothing less than saving the world’s environment and heralding the new hydrogen economy. But the first hydrogen fuel cell vehicle to be shown to the British media was beaten yesterday by the British weather.

The Ford Focus Fuel Cell Vehicle has a top speed of 130mph and a range of more than 200 miles, and is fuelled by 4kg (8.8lb) of hydrogen in a tank in the boot. The £1.7 million car emits no carbon dioxide or other gasses, and the water that dribbles out of the exhaust pipe is so clean you can drink it.

Ford and other carmakers believe that hydrogen fuel cells are the technology to end the 100-year reign of the internal combustion engine. They envisage mass production starting by 2010 and sales overtaking petrol cars by 2020.

However, the car, the result of research costing £300 million, came to a sudden halt while being driven by The Times in the Cornish rain, and the world’s top fuel cell engineers failed to fix it. “It’s not been tuned to Britain’s climate,” one said.

Despite the glitches, Dr Gerhard Schmidt, vice-president for research at Ford, remained upbeat. “We believe fuel cells are the only technology with the potential some day to replace the internal combustion engine, without compromising today’s performance,” he said.

Last month Ford decided to abandon its electric battery vehicles programme after 15 years of disappointing results. Most such vehicles have a range of only 50 miles and take many hours to recharge. Most alternative fuels are thought to be of limited use. So-called biomass fuels, produced from plants, are impractical because there is not enough land on which to grow the required crops. Liquid petroleum gas reduces local pollution but still contributes to global warming.

Ford, DaimlerChrysler and Toyota see the future as based on an old technology. Hydrogen fuel cells were first developed by the British inventor William Grove in 1836, making them half a century older than internal combustion engines.

Hydrogen and oxygen molecules are brought together across a plate in a “cold burn” process that produces electricity, rather than the heat and light when hydrogen is burnt. However, hydrogen fuel cells were long seen as impractical because they were so big, and were eclipsed by the simpler internal combustion engine. A reprieve came when they were adopted by Nasa to power spaceships, but it is only in the past few years that they have been sufficiently miniaturised to be put into vehicles.

The fuel cell vehicle has a similar performance to a petrol car’s, but has a range of only 200 miles. Ford believes that it can make it commercially viable by 2010.

Although the car will reduce air pollution in cities, it will not automatically reduce carbon dioxide emissions because electricity from power stations is needed to produce the hydrogen in the first place. However, as Britain turns increasingly to nuclear, wind and hydroelectric power, the widespread use of hydrogen fuel cells will help to combat global warming.

Fuel for thought

• Hydrogen fuel cells were invented by the British scientist William Grove in 1836
• They use only hydrogen and emit only water
• They were used by Nasa to power the Apollo space missions, and then used on the space shuttle
• Submarines use hydrogen fuel cells to provide power
• Iceland is converting its fishing fleet from diesel engines to hydrogen fuel cells
• A fuel cell is 90 per cent efficient at converting fuel to power, compared to a petrol engine, which is 30 per cent efficient
• Hydrogen fuel cells have been made so small that they are now being developed to power laptop computers