WPCNR BUMPER TO BUMPER. October 22, 2007 UPDATED October 23, 2007: Mayor Joseph Delfino drove up to city hall in a new 21st Century General Motors hydrogen powered "electric" Equinox today, and, together with Larry Burns of General Motors introduced Eric Rotbard, a White Plains commuter from Nyack, one of two Westchester workers who will be “road-testing” America’s first hydrogen-powered emissions-free vehicle.
Mayor Jospeh Delfino arriving City Hall in the GM Equinox hydrogen-fueled battery-operated car today.
Mayor Exists Vehicle to Media Swarm
Mayor Delfino, White Plains lawyer, Eric Rotbard (Center) and Larry Burns, Vice President, GM Research and Development and Strategic Planning (right) announcing Project Driveway Program today. Mr.Rotbard will roadtest GM's Billion Dollar Baby -- the car of the future-- and provide market research as GM plans to introduced the car to the market in 2009-2010.
Rotbard told WPCNR that he had the opportunity to test drive the hydrogen powered Equinox last week and tells us it is instantly responsive, with great accelerating power to get into traffic, and that it runs very quietly, and runs “just like a real car.” He and his wive will be driving the car, which he says gets 300 miles to a tank of hydrogen which he will fuelup with at the White Plains hydrogen station at the Department of Public Works.
What's Under the Hood
White Plains is the pioneer city, along with Newport, California and Washington, D.C. to participate in GM’s Project Driveway in which 100 consumers nationally will test-drive the vehicles for GM.
Burns told WPCNR he expects the company to offer the battery powered vehicles on the U.S. market by 2009-2010. A price on the environmentally-friend vehicle has not been set yet. Burns in another news report Wednesday said eventually the car would sell for $25,000 on the market.
Rotbart (behind the wheel of the electric car), told the media, he had been a follower of the technology since the mid-80s, he said in being selected to testdrive the Electric Car in the real world, that he felt like an astronaut, and that "very rarely do you get a chance to do something that effects the fate of all mankind."
WPCNR can tell readers that the car is "super quiet" as Rotbart describes it, and when we sat in the driver's seat you could hardly hear the motor. There are no moving parts to the engine, no compression or ignition or combustion and hence no emissions. Hydrogren is used to fuel the battery which runs the car. The car runs somewhat like a transformer that runs an electric train.
Maria O'Neill, also of Westchester, an area science teacher will also be test-driving an electric Equinox in the program.
Burns said White Plains is the first city in the nation to have a hydrogen-fuel service station (at the DPW) which makes this real world test possible: "We appreciate the leadership the city of White Plains had demonstrated in its support of alternative fuel vehicles." White Plains and Shell Hydrogen have established a hydrogen filling station at the Public Works depot The station, the Mayor told WPCNR, will be dedicated November 13.
