The Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV), a collaboration between the US government and industry to develop more efficient cars, is being replaced with a new programme called Freedom Cooperative Automotive Research, or Freedom CAR.

US energy secretary Spencer Abraham announced the change on 9 January at the Detroit Auto Show, saying that the aim is to “promote the development of hydrogen as a primary fuel for cars and trucks, as part of our effort to reduce American dependence on foreign oil”. He added that the PNGV was not cost-effective and was not producing cars that were ready for the showroom.

Set up in 1993, the PNGV was strongly championed by then vice-president Al Gore. Its brief was to produce environmentally friendly prototype cars that were three times as fuel-efficient as those for sale at the time.

The programme included support for research into cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells. But the technology was not available to meet the 2004 deadline, and the PNGV turned to improving existing technologies.

Environmentalists are interpreting the announcement as a retreat from the Clinton administration's commitment to improving fuel economy in the short term. “This is a decision to coddle the US automotive industry, rather than hold it accountable for making real improvements in vehicle efficiency over the coming years,” says John DeCicco of Environmental Defense, a New York-based pressure group.

Vernon Roan, director of the fuel-cell lab at the University of Florida in Gainesville and vice-chairman of the National Research Council's peer-review panel for the PNGV, says that the programme had many successes. He notes that the PNGV helped to build bridges between the government and the car industry, produced useful prototypes, and expedited the plans of Ford and General Motors to build and sell fuel-efficient 'hybrid' vehicles that run on both petrol and battery power.

In its last review, the panel recommended substantial changes to the PNGV, and Roan says the new programme is consistent with these. “I think it is a good move,” he says.

Although details of Freedom CAR have not been finalized, Mick Schwarz, who will lead Ford's participation in the programme, says that it may encourage the construction of infrastructure — including hydrogen filling stations. Schwarz says that he hopes the new programme's budget will match or exceed the $127 million given to the PNGV this year.

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