FCEV

Get used to that abreviation, because it is going to be everywhere in the next couple years. FCEV, for those who aren't keeping up on automobile technology (and I can't blame you), stands for Fuel Cell (Electric) Vehicle. Hybrid vehicles, well, they were a bit of a fad. Auto manufacturers are already slimming their hybrid lines after 10 years in the market (6 if you don't live in Japan like me), hybrids are simply not doing as well as manufacturers had hoped. Obviously, when the government reduced the subsidy for hybrids, they weren't helping that niche market. Well, for all of you that drooled over the Prius, the next car to dream about is coming from Honda in mid-2008 (it will be termed a 2009 model, because that's the way they do things). Unlike the Prius, the US government is actually on top of this technology, subsidising it from the start. The technology has isn't ready to replace the internal combustion-based vehicles completely yet, but this is a start. It is supposed to be priced around $20k.

http://automobiles.honda.com/images/future-cars/AutoWeekArticle.pdf

Expect GMC to be rolling out an Crossover (those funky "almost" SUV vehicles) with this technology in 2009 (they originally had slated it for 2010, but the Honda just dropped the gauntlet). Analysts have made comments about this potentially revitalizing GMC, assuming this technology catches, which definitely seems to be the way things are moving.

http://corporate.honda.com/press/article.aspx?id=4092