It's this abundance of "free" and clean power that prompted a joint venture between DaimlerChrysler, Royal Dutch Shell, and Norsk Hydro, named Icelandic New Energy, whose goal it is to test the viability of hydrogen as a fuel for everyday use. It then established the Ecological City Transport System in Reykjavic, Iceland's capital, which runs three city buses powered by hydrogen fuel cells as the first stage in the plan to convert the country's entire vehicle fleet to hydrogen power.
Fantastic. For Iceland. They've got plenty of the cheap energy that's needed to break down water and release the hydrogen for commercially viable use, but what about the rest of us? Do we turn Yellowstone into a fuel depot?
That's where the other aspects of DC's sustainable mobility plan come into play. Until that time, the big thinkers can figure out how to liberate hydrogen efficiently and inexpensively; the focus should be, say DC engineers, on three major areas: optimization of conventional drive technologies, hybrid powertrains, and further development of alternative and synthetic fuels. Though R&D is still exploring the near edges of these challenges, new technologies are constantly being introduced into the cars we buy today. Even better, advances made to the any of the three areas can be applied to the others.
However, ensuring the future of the personal transportation device is more than just a question of individual mobility and environmental purity. We still want to have fun in our cars, and we need them to be of sufficient utility to complement our lifestyles. As demonstration of its awareness of, and response to, those often conflicting automotive needs, Mercedes-Benz also brought to Iceland a fleet of its new diesel-powered sport utes, including the ML 320 CDI, ML 420 CDI, and GL 420 CDI.
Top speed in Iceland is 90 km/h, and on the many gravel roads, it's only 80 km/h, so we couldn't test the full 306 bhp and 500 lb-ft torque of the new 4.0-liter diesel turbo in the 420 CDIs, but we can tell you these vehicles don't act anything like old-timer oilburners. Quiet, quick, and clean just about sums it up, not to mention stylish, roomy, and fun to drive. And they're only the beginning of a revolution in diesel.