Faces of GM

Stephanie: Fuel Cells and Furlough Fridays

March 31, 2010 at 12:44 pm

 

Editor’s Note: Stephanie White is a biologist for the State of California, an avid environmentalist by vocation and hobby, having hiked and birded on six continents. The West Los Angeles resident is the first long-term assignee to one of Chevy’s upgraded hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles. She picked up her specially wrapped car at the General Motors Fuel Cell Training Center in Burbank on March 16. This is her second time behind the wheel following a two-month stint last summer as a participant in Project Driveway, the world’s largest fuel cell vehicle demonstration fleet. Among other activities, she showed the car to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on a Hydrogen Highway stop in West L.A. Now, like Le Ann Hinkle who received her Chevy fuel cell loaner in New York this week, Stephanie is back on the road…

No payments and no pollution – I love driving but at some point, you realize what your impacts are. I started commuting by public transit in the Bay Area, Sacramento, and, yes, here in L.A. to reduce my carbon footprint. With the fuel cell, I’m getting more than 50 mpg (equivalent), and the air coming out of the vehicle is cleaner that what’s going in – driving is nearly guilt free!

Not always a fan – I’m a strong supporter of new technology. Still, I remember being initially upset when money was diverted in the energy budget to fuel cells. That really didn’t change until I became part of Project Driveway. I was in the Prius camp for a long time – I thought that was the best offering out there, and then I drove this car. This is just one part of the climate change solution, but it’s a big part.

From stranded to advocate – My last car, which I won’t mention by name, pretty much blew up on the freeway and stranded me in Vacaville. My boyfriend heard about the Project Driveway program and told me, ‘GM’s got free cars. You should apply for one.’ I showed up at a meet-up of Project Driveway participants in Long Beach last May and after driving it around a park, I just loved it. No shifting. No delay. Just pedal to the metal and you go. A few months after that, I got my own loaner. I drove it 4,700 miles in two months and I was so sad to have to turn it back in. When (Project Driveway manager) Mark Vann called me a few weeks ago and told me about the long-term loan, I was speechless. I finally said, ‘Really?’ and he said, ‘Really.’ And I said ‘Really, really?’ And he said ‘Really, really.’

A social phenomenon – It’s an easy way for me to talk to people, just a great way to talk about the technology. One Friday, I went to Bob’s Big Boy in Burbank and went to some of the crankiest, saltiest guys there. One of them said ‘Get that Al Gore car away from me,’ but a few drove it around the parking lot and told the other guys about it. They were hooked. One of the most fun things to do is put people behind the wheel so they can experience it.

Fill ‘er up… easily – This time around, I will be able to extend the range of the vehicle. There are hydrogen filling stations two miles, five miles and six miles from my home. I’m in that sweet spot for what a hydrogen infrastructure should be. And I do have my Furlough Fridays (where state employees take unpaid Fridays off three weeks a month), to visit places on weekdays. One thing I didn’t get to do the first time was take it to schools.

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