Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technologies, which makes hydrogen fuel cells for toy cars and boats, has signed a deal with Wah Shing Toys in which Wah Shing will mass manufacture the company's products.
Hydrogen. Yes, it's impractical to buy a hydrogen car today. Hydrogen cost about $1 million each and filling stations are fairly rare. But HFCT says that other applications exist. Switzerland has banned gas-burning boats on many lakes. There's no reason boathouses, which already sell propane, can't sell hydrogen too.
And the kids love it. HFCT's key product so far is the H-Racer, a miniature hydrogen powered car. You fill up the fueling station with water, hydrogen is extracted from the H2O molecules, and then electrons are extracted from the hydrogen atoms to power the battery in the car. (The electricity for splitting the water molecules comes from a solar panel.) . It's an all-green fun thing for kids, except when they want to jump their H-Racer through a flaming hoop.
The two companies will also look at ways to bring clean power sources to other toys.
Mass manufacturing should also help bring the price down (assuming buyers also materialize). Now the H-Racer hovers around the hundred mark.