Students in the Transportation Academy classes at Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES’ Tech Center recently got to look under the hood of a car designed by General Motors that runs by electricity powered by hydrogen.

“This is going to be the future,” commented senior Auto Mechanics student Yamilette Rodriguez from Peekskill.

The car — a Chevy Equinox — was brought to The Tech Center by GM engineer Steve Marlin, who explained the technology to the students. One of 100 cars GM is piloting with hydrogen fuel cells, the model is environmentally friendly — emitting only water vapor — and can travel 160 miles per kilogram of hydrogen. And it still can go from zero to 60 miles per hour in 12 seconds.

Senior Kaitlyn Ruh from Hendrick Hudson High School, who is taking Auto Body at The Tech Center, was impressed by the mileage, commenting on how expensive it is to drive her Dodge Neon. “The whole technology is pretty neat,” Kaitlyn said after the presentation, “and it’s so efficient and good for the environment.”

PHOTO CAPTION: General Motors engineer Steve Marlin pops the hood of a Chevy Equinox, a hydrogen fuel cell powered car, to show the inner workings to Transportation Academy students at Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES Tech Center.

(Report courtesy of Chris Heath/BOCES.)