Hydrogen cars are cool. What can be cooler than a future filled with zero emission vehicles that outperform today's vehicles? Hydrogen cars come in two basic varieties, fuel cell vehicles and internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.

BMW Hydrogen 7

In regards to the ICE hydrogen cars, both BMW and Mazda have big plans to release a production-ready car within the next two years.

How cool is that? In fact, BMW has announced that it will be leasing its Hydrogen 7 automobile in the first quarter of 2007 to select lessees in the U. S. and Germany. On the racing front, the BMW H2R racecar has set 9 land-speed records while running on liquid hydrogen.

Mazda, has other plans. In 2008, Mazda has talked about offering up its RX-8 Renesis rotary engine car for sale in showrooms. Both the Mazda RX-8 and the BMW Hydrogen 7 are dual-fuel vehicles, able to run either on gasoline or hydrogen with the press of a button.

Perhaps an even cooler hydrogen car is the Ford Super Chief Truck, which is a tri-fuel vehicle. This technological wonder can run on gasoline, E85 or hydrogen gas. Of course, the Super Chief is also a concept car that will never see the light of a showroom floor, but when you're talking about cool cars, the Superchief is one of the hottest around.

But, these aren't the only cool hydrogen cars. There are many others that have been shown to the public over the past 5 - 6 years as well. In fact, all of the major automotive manufacturers have demonstrated one or more hydrogen cars to the public. Besides the Super Chief Ford also has the Focus FCV, which they are currently testing the U. S. and Europe.

General Motors has several hydrogen cars including the Hy-wire concept car and the Sequel concept minivan, which is perhaps the most technologically advanced of all of GM's hydrogen cars. Honda is credited with being the first car company to lease a hydrogen car to a consumer as they leased the FCX to a family in Redondo Beach, California.

Surprisingly, out of all of the auto manufacturers, DaimlerChrysler has the most hydrogen cars on the road for testing and as lease vehicles. The DaimlerChrysler F-Cell and Hygenius are two examples of cool hydrogen cars that are racking up the test miles on the road.

The Toyota FCHV SUV is both a hydrogen vehicle and a hybrid as the automaker is banking on this combination of technology leading the way for years to come.

So, when you think of cool cars, you have to think hydrogen. It's clean, its green and it's the future.