More than 60 stakeholders celebrated the opening of the Santa Barbara hydrogen station last Friday, May 13 with a ribbon cutting and displays of fuel cell cars from Honda, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz and Toyota.
The True Zero hydrogen station is co-funded by the California Energy Commission and is one of more than 40 that are expected to be online by the end of 2016. Like many of California’s hydrogen stations, it is based at a local gasoline station, Conserv Fuel.
Tyson Eckerle, Deputy Director of Zero Emission Vehicle Infrastructure in the Governor’s Office of Business & Economic Development, remarked on additional benefits of the clean-air cars. “You can pull up to the station and within 3-to-5 minutes, you’re on your way with 300 miles of range. It opens up a whole new market.”