The remarkable world-record-holding hydrogen car, the BMW H2R, is on display in our public interactive area (the "BMW ORACLE Racing Experience") here at our team base in VLC. It gets a lot of interest and attention from passersby, and helps draw in the crowds.

When Prof. Dr. Raymond Freymann was here during Act 10, during one of our pre-race morning shows (for our VIP guests) I asked him about the future of hydrogen-powered cars. He said it was not a question of whether but when, the main issue now being to build up the fuel-delivery infrastructure -- hydrogen filling stations. Grinning, he said, in effect, "stay tuned."

So it was interesting to see an article pop up on one of our search engines this morning with this long but illuminating title, "BMW takes the next step to a hydrogen-powered automotive world by teaming with Total." The gist of the story:

BMW may be on the verge of launching a new range of petrol-electric models powered by new hybrid technology developed jointly with General Motors and DaimlerChrysler, but that hasn’t stopped the German car giant announcing a joint-venture fuel distribution network with petroleum producer Total to promote the next big step in alternative vehicle power: hydrogen.

BMW last week announced it has signed an agreement with Total to "co-operate closely in future in promoting hydrogen as a source of energy in road traffic".

As with the America's Cup, the name of the game is technology and innovation -- and making it work for the end user.