As a car passes you on the highway, you notice that it’s a hybrid. Then when you look closer, you see that it is one of the new cars that run on hydrogen. A car can’t run on hydrogen by burning the gas like they do with gasoline or diesel. The engine uses a tool called fuel cells.

Fuel cells are what make the hydrogen cars move by using a process of separating the atoms in the water molecules. There are two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom in a water molecule. What happens are the two hydrogen atoms are separated from the oxygen by a membrane. When the atoms are separated, the hydrogen atoms will be attracted to the oxygen atom. The hydrogen atoms try to go through the membrane to get to the oxygen atom. When the atoms go through the membrane, the atoms are stripped of their electrons. Then, the atoms go around the membrane to get back their electrons. This process happens over and over. This process creates electricity that powers the engine. Instead of harmful chemicals to the environment coming out of the exhaust, water comes out.

Some good features about the fuel cells in cars is that instead of creating greenhouse gasses that harm the environment and atmosphere, there is water. These cars that are powered by hydrogen are cleaner for the environment than normal gasoline and diesel cars. Also, you don’t have to pay for the gasoline that you would have to pay for with a regular gasoline powered car. You can just fill your car up with water.

Some bad features about the fuel cells is that it takes lots of hydrogen to be able to go. The average hydrogen car will run on hydrogen until you go 40 miles an hour, then the car switches to gasoline. So you are not using hydrogen all the time, you use gasoline some of the time.