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In May 2007, a toast was made at Lyndhurst Castle in Tarrytown after two Chevrolet Sequel hydrogen-powered vehicles made automotive history by traveling 300 miles without stopping to refuel. Lawrence Burns, then vice president for research and development . and strategic planning at General Motors Co., raised his glass for "the future of the planet, the future of cell technology and of course the future of our company."
Months after that ceremony, a hydrogen refueling station was unveiled in White Plains and six Chevrolet Equinox vehicles rolled into the city for use by White Plains officials and the general public in a case study conducted by GM and Shell Hydrogen. As part of the companies' Project Driveway study, two more refueling stations were promised and later built at John F. Kennedy Airport in Queens and in the Bronx.
Eight years later, the move to hydrogen fuel cell technology for automobiles - which can travel on the alternative fuel at a distance comparable to cars traveling on a full tank of gasoline and emit only water vapor - has stalled out in New York.
All three refueling stations have been closed for the last...