Hydrogen cars move into Hawaii market

First came gasoline-fueled cars, then electric vehicles; now here come the hydrogen cars. Amid the growing trend to wean ourselves off fossil fuels and toward “greener” technology, Servco Pacific is building the state’s first public fueling station for hydrogen-fueled cars. The governor hailed last week’s groundbreaking for the station as “the beginning of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in Hawaii,” while an industry expert called it “a huge, watershed event.”

Time will tell. Hydrogen cars emit only water vapor — a huge plus — but there are only about 1,600 consumer vehicles nationwide and prices here are expected to be in the mid-$50,000 range, a negative for the average buyer. But remember, EV prices started higher, too.

An affordable-homes project gets the boot

In the scheme of things, Haleiwa Plantation Village, with 29 home lots, is hardly the game-changer that will turn around Oahu’s abysmal shortage of affordable housing. But every little bit counts.

Still, community resistance, as well as a thumbs-down from the Honolulu Planning Commission, convinced the Honolulu City Council to reject the plan to rezone farmland for the homes.

Developer Scott Wallace, backed by state ag officials, argued that the farmland is largely unproductive. It remains to be seen if he can, as promised, devise a plan the community will accept.