GM to Introduce Fuel Cell Car at CES

Jan. 8, 2008 — -- General Motors is expected to unveil a fuel cell hydrogen concept car at the Consumer Electronics Show today; it will be the first time a company has introduced an automobile at the show that typically highlights the newest televisions, computers and portable gadgets.

GM CEO Rick Wagoner will announce the company's development of the Cadillac Provoq Fuel Cell concept car in a speech to the thousands of industry executives gathered in Las Vegas this week for the world's largest technology trade show.

The Cadillac Provoq is GM's fifth fuel cell concept car, according to the company. Powered both by hydrogen and an electric battery, the car can get 300 miles per hydrogen fuel-up. It will feature other green technologies such as a solar panel on the roof to power interior accessories including lights, energy-saving tires from Michelin and recycled and recyclable materials used to create the vehicle.

For Cadillac general manager Jim Taylor, releasing a car at CES instead of a car show was a no-brainer.

"The audience that comes here and participates in this show is by and large completely different than the audience that attends the auto show circuit, so it gets our message out to a totally different community," Taylor told ABCNEWS.com. "A lot of the rap that goes with the car business and with Detroit isn't really fair. It's kind of a misperception that it's kind of a big smoke stack industry. The auto industry is extremely high tech."

In addition to the concept car, GM will also be showcasing its self-driving robot car Bob, which won a Department of Defense-funded challenge in November 2007, and its fuel cell Equinox, which the company gave to 100 families to test for three months in Southern California, Washington, D.C., and New York.

Wagoner's much-buzzed-about speech, the first time an auto industry executive has spoken at CES, is the most visible sign of an unprecedented automotive invasion that swept this year's show, with more car products and cars flooding the trade show floor.