Inventor Roger Billings reveals plan for hydrogen car with fuel cell

On his program “Science Live," inventor Roger Billings recently unveiled a plan for a new type of hydrogen car.

“Ladies and gentlemen, there it is,” he told viewers on his program after displaying a picture of the prototype. “That is the Billings Fuel Cell Car.”

The car would have no greenhouse gas emissions, helping to address the problem of global warming, he said.

It would include a fuel cell, allowing it to be operated at a much lower cost than a conventional car, he explained.

“What if this car could be operated at a cost of maybe half of a normal car?” he asked. “I actually plan to build this critter. I’ve got the hydrogen equipment for it figured out.”

It would include a fuel cell to produce its own hydrogen with two electric motors on the front wheels, making it different from conventional hydrogen cars, he said.

“We would use the fuel cell to make the hydrogen on demand,” said Billings.

The fuel cell could be powered from electricity produced from solar panels, he said.

"If you were to install this at your home, and plug it in, you could actually have your own solar collector in your yard," said Billings. "You would make your own hydrogen.”

For longer trips, perhaps cross country, there could be hydrogen fueling stations that are also solar powered.

“They would be able to fill your tank in just minutes,” said Billings. “On some of the electric cars if you wanted to make a cross country trip, you pull in the gas station and spend a few hours while the batteries recharge. A hydrogen tank can be filled up just like that.”

Inventions are exciting, Billings told his audience, especially those that have the potential to help solve a major environmental problem like global warming.

“It’s exciting to take a problem like global warming – a big one – and to figure out a way you can make a difference, a difference that could be used by people all over the world,” he said.

Even better is a solution to global warming that saves people money at the same time, he told listeners.

“That’s why I had to have the fuel cell,” he said. “Just running hydrogen in an engine was going to cost more to operate. But with hydrogen running through a fuel cell, it’s so efficient they can actually save money by running the fuel cell car. It’s got to solve the big problem. But it’s got to be kind of enticing to people. ”

There are no moving parts inside the fuel cell, Billings said.

“We have fuel cells that have been operating  since the 1990s and are still running fine,” he said. “Cars need maintenance, the tires, the wheels the brakes. But I think we can make these one of the most reliable cars that have ever been made because we get rid of the engine and all those moving parts.”