Hydrogen Automobile Heads Toward Series Production HydroGen3 Puts Fuel Cells on the Road

Abstract

General Motor's concept vehicle HydroGen3, based on the Opel Zafira production model, represents the third generation of fuel cell concept vehicles. Groundbreaking new technical and engineering improvements have been reached, e.g. the integration of the latest generation of fuel cell stacks. The fleet demonstrations will start this year. Given the current stage of development at GM/Opel, hydrogen‐powered automobiles could be mass‐produced in about eight years. An efficient fuel cell technology suitable for everyday use is the essential pre‐condition for the development of an alternative propulsion system, which would replace the classic crude oil‐based fuels for the vehicles of the future. However, this technology alone is not sufficient to establish fuel cell automobiles as viable substitutes for conventional vehicles with gasoline and diesel engines. Factors such as purchase price, safety, engine performance and driving dynamics also play a decisive role for the customer. General Motors (GM) has therefore invested more than one billion dollars to develop an automobile incorporating state‐of‐the‐art fuel cell technology with vehicle characteristics suited to the marketplace. The hydrogen concept vehicle HydroGen3 (Figure 1) marks the newest and most comprehensive advance made by GM/Opel on the road to fuel cell vehicle market readiness. Test drives conducted by an international group of expert journalists at the Grand‐Prix course in Monte Carlo in December 2002 confirmed that the HydroGen3 has brought mass production of hydrogen‐fuelled automobiles within reach.

On the Efficiency of an Advanced Automotive Fuel Cell System

“…This efficiency data obtained in the vehicle can be compared to data obtained with H 2 /air systems by Friedelmeier et al [7] and Winter and Herrmann [10]. Figure 3 shows a comparison for the automotive drive trains from tank to DC-power in the form of Sankey diagrams.…”

Consumption and Efficiency of a Passenger Car with a Hydrogen/Oxygen PEFC based Hybrid Electric Drivetrain

“…In Figure 3, the power train efficiency values of the GM Hydrogen 3 car [7] are also given. While different vehicles (i.e., curb weight, front area) with different driving characteristics (i.e., top speed) are compared, the comparison with the HY-LIGHT data still makes clear that even when including the energy for oxygen supply in calculations, the H 2 /O 2 system has at low speeds a significantly better efficiency.…”

“…If the different cars are compared, then it becomes obvious that the mass of most of the vehicles is still significantly higher than the one of comparable vehicles with internal combustion engines [6,7]. However, predominately in urban driving conditions with stop and go traffic, not only drivetrain efficiency, but also the vehicle curb weight is the most important single factor for fuel consumption.…”

Cryogenic Power Conversion for SMES Application in a Liquid Hydrogen Powered Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle

“…Its main parameters are shown in Table II [12], [34], [35]. HydroGen3 is capable of storing either 3.1-kg GH 2 (70 MPa) As for the onboard SMES coil design, the whole coil should be with small size and light mass to install inside the LH 2 vessel.…”

“…BMW 7 series vehicles have been employed for service at Munich Airport [11]. Recently, General Motors concept vehicle HydroGen3 [12] and BMW concept vehicle Hydrogen 7 [13] have been successfully demonstrated to suit commercial development. Feasibility of LH 2 cooled SCs wound by hightemperature superconducting (HTS) or MgB 2 tapes has been technically verified [14], [15].…”