BMW H2 BS

Terry Tamminen, Arnold's green guru, showed up at the Santa Monica AltCar Show in a BMW Hydrogen 7. Mr. "Lives Per Gallon" ought to be ashamed to lend his name to BMW's greenwashing. But of course he's been hydrogen's biggest booster, despite its inefficiencies and impracticalities. You can't beat a free car and free fuel. Especially a super luxury car that switches to gasoline with the flick of a finger.

The gasoline-only production version of this car, the 7 Series, is available today for between $75,800 and $122,600. With hydrogen as a fuel option, the car is so expensive and made in such limited numbers it has no MSRP and is not rated on the EPA Green Vehicle Guide for 2007 or 2008. (The 7 Series has get a combined sub-20mpg and has an air pollution index of 6 out of 10. For comparison purposes, the 2002 Toyota RAV4 EV plug-in electric car has a mpg(equivalent) of over 100; and a best possible air pollution index of 10.)

Despite an advertising budget that rivals available models, the Hydrogen 7 is not for sale. This car is advertised on hip television shows, Stewart and Colbert for example, with the clever tagline "Ready for the world when the world is ready." As if the world needs to catch up to BMW's environmental leadership! In reality, pricey Madison Avenue green gloss for the disntinctly ungreen line of beemers.

And some say electric cars are too expensive. Hell, even the Tesla Roadster must cost less than half the Hydrogen 7 and it can be filled up for a few bucks virtually anywhere.