'Clean' Vehicle Research Initiative on Track, But Many Challenges Ahead

A public-private effort to develop more fuel-efficient automobiles and eventually introduce hydrogen as a transportation fuel is well-planned and identifies all major hurdles the program will face, says a new report from the National Academies' National Research Council. Many technical barriers must be overcome and new inventions will be needed, but the program, which was launched three years ago, has already made an excellent start, said the committee that wrote the report.