When it comes to hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, my attitude has always been "I'll believe it when I drive it."

Well, as of yesterday, I believe it.

General Motors is about to put about a hundred hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered Chevrolet Equinox CUVs into the hands of the public, and before that happens they gave a few of us journos a chance to see and drive them while putting us through a program they call Electric Drive University.

The first thing you'll notice is that GM is de-emphasizing "hydrogen fuel cell" and emphasizing "electric vehicle". Fuel-cell vehicles -- often called FCVs or FCEVs (the E for Electric) -- are basically electric cars with a hydrogen fuel cell in place of a battery. GM sees electric propulsion as the platform of the future -- the beauty being that the electricity to power these vehicles can be generated in a number of ways, be it a hydrogen fuel cell, a battery, a gasoline or diesel engine-generator set, or some combination thereof.

So how does the Equinox FCEV drive? Pretty well. It accelerates like a V6 off the line, and a 4-cyl at higherspeeds. Range is about 160 miles. The fuel cell apparatus makes a surprising racket at idle, but once on the road the Equinox is quiet and comfortable. Christine and Scott Gable -- our Guides to Alternative Fuels and the real experts -- will attend the program later next week, and will post lots more details on the About.com Alternative Fuels site.

Want to volunteer for an opportunity to drive the fuel-cell Equinox? Visit Chevrolet's fuel cell page and click on the Apply for Test Program link at the bottom. -- Aaron Gold

Photo © Aaron Gold