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Hydrogen fuel cell (FC) vehicles are receiving increasing attention as a potential powerful technology to reduce the transportation sector's dependence on petroleum and substantially decrease emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) at the same time. This paper projects energy use and GHG emissions from different FC vehicle configurations and compares these values to the projected characteristics of similarly sized and performing gasoline and diesel fueled automobiles on a life cycle, well to wheels and cradle to grave basis. Our analysis suggests that for the next 20 or more years, new internal combustion engine (ICE) hybrid drive train vehicles can achieve similar levels of reduction in energy use and GHG emissions compared to hydrogen FC vehicles, if the hydrogen is derived from natural gas. The fleet impact of more fuel-efficient vehicles depends on the time it takes for new technology to (i) become …