Fuel Cell Technology

Neither Toyota nor Honda requires any periodic maintenance of the battery or hybrid-drive components, and each expects the battery pack to last for more than 100,000 miles.

As for real-world fuel economy, there's still quite a gulf between the EPA numbers and reality (see sidebar). And we still doubt any of these cars is being sold at an old-school by-the-book notion of profitability. In fact, we'd guess the new Prius, starting at $20,510, is the most heavily subsidized car on the market today.

The Really Long View
Ask auto executives to gaze into their crystal balls and many will say they see the world moving toward a hydrogen economy, with fuel cells as the ultimate endgame. These fuel-cell vehicles will be hybrids, uniting hydrogen and air as a primary means of generating electricity, but relying on some sort of onboard energy storage device as a backup. This battery, capacitor, flywheel, or whatever will allow the vehicle to drive away while the cold fuel cell warms up and comes online and will provide instant acceleration on demand (fuel cells can't provide big spikes of power as quickly as drivers have come to expect from their gasoline engines). Of course, it'll also store energy recovered during braking.

It stands to reason that the company with the most experience tuning and integrating gas/electric hybrids may be in the best position to design and develop fuel-cell vehicles that drive like normal cars and trucks once the technology matures and the infrastructure comes online. If that future were five years off, we'd bet the farm on Toyota. It's probably 25 years off at least, but the rest of the industry already has some catching up to do. In the meantime, enjoy the increased performance and economy of your next hybrid car, truck, or 'ute.