The Hydrogen Road Tour has hit the trail. Organizers are taking hydrogen-powered cars from Portland, Maine to Los Angeles, California by way of 31 cities in 18 states. The trip is part of an effort to raise awareness about the current state of the hydrogen fueling infrastructure.

As of Monday morning, there are only 62 hydrogen station nationwide — one opened in Massachusetts yesterday. The Hydrogen Road Tour will depend, in part, on portable fueling stations. There are also points in the tour where the cars will be ferried by trucks. BMW, Daimler, Ford, GM, Honda, Hyundai-Kia, Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen all have cars in this traveling road show. At certain points in the road trip, hydrogen-powered buses from the six transit agencies that have begun using them will also join the show.

In addition to the support from big automakers, the Hydrogen Road Tour is getting help from the U.S. Departments of Energy and Transportation. Members of both agencies have spoken in favor of hydrogen vehicles, and the DOT seems especially fond of the idea. As Paul Brubaker, the administrator of the DOT's Research and Innovative Technology Administration, said, "The technology necessary to put these cars on the road, and keep them moving, exists today. The question is not if hydrogen powered vehicles will be available commercially, but when."

Hydrogen-powered vehicles are not yet truly viable. Of the 62 stations nationwide, 26 are in California. Even on the West Coast. There's a greater chance of running out of juice before you can reach the next station with a hydrogen-powered car than with a gas-guzzler.

But a road trip does seem like a great marketing idea. Even if the car manufacturers need to bring along flatbeds to get their cars through the "dry" spots, showing that a hydrogen car can drive across the company with only a little more hassle than any other vehicle is guaranteed to improve consumers' images of the vehicles. Even better, they'll be stopping and letting folks take a gander at hydrogen cars in person.

It's going to take a large financial commitment to build the necessary infrastructure for hydrogen — the California Fuel Cell Partnership estimates it will cost between $80 and 90 million to build the necessary stations.  But giving consumers a chance to actually see what a hydrogen-powered car can do may just help move that building process along.

Photo — BBQ Junkie