The “Valley of Death,” in auto-industry-speak, is a metaphorical desert where emerging technologies reside while car executives figure out which of the experiments ought to make their way into actual cars.

Every automotive leap forward has done time in the valley: turbochargers, fuel injectors, even gasoline-electric hybrids like Toyota’s Prius. Hydrogen-fueled vehicles, the alternative-energy flavor of the month back in 2003, are the ones languishing today, along with hovercraft and other assorted concept cars.

But perhaps not for much longer. A number of auto manufacturers are renewing their push for hydrogen, and now it is looking as though hydrogen cars will make it out of vehicular Death Valley. Read the whole story here.