Filed under: Hydrogen, BMW, GM, Honda, Hyundai, Mercedes Benz, Nissan, Toyota, Volkswagen
National Hydrogen Road Tour kicks off in Portland ME
Yesterday a National Hydrogen Road Tour kicked off in Portland ME. A motley collection of ten hydrogen fueled vehicles from a variety of manufacturers will be making their way from Maine to California over the next two weeks. The cars including the VW Tiguan HyMotion along with cars from BMW, Honda, Toyota, GM and others will be making 31 stops in 19 states along the way. Not all of the vehicles will be driven the entire route. General Motors for example will bring out its Project Driveway Fuel cell Equinox in the cities where that program is running, New York, Washington and Los Angeles. BMW will be using the mono-fuel (hydrogen only) version of the Hydrogen7 and is planning to cover the entire route. The tour is being sponsored by the California Fuel Cell Partnership, the Departments of Energy and Transportation and the National Hydrogen Association to promote hydrogen as a way to promote hydrogen's potential as a fuel. VW's John Tillman is writing a tour blog as they cross the country in the Tiguan. The VW press release is after the jump.
[Source: Volkswagen]
VOLKSWAGEN GROUP OF AMERICA PARTICIPATES IN NATIONAL HYDROGEN ROAD TOUR
Zero Emission Volkswagen Tiguan will Travel to 31 Cities in 13 Days
HERNDON, Va.– Volkswagen's Hydrogen Fuel Cell concept vehicle, the HyMotion Tiguan, will travel from Portland, Maine to Los Angeles, Calif. over the next 13 days as part of the National Hydrogen Road Tour, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation, the California Fuel Cell Partnership, the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Hydrogen Association. A dedicated Web blog, vwhydrogentour.com will provide daily updates and photos from the historic trip.
"Volkswagen is thrilled to join with our federal and state partners and other OEMs to be part of this historic event highlighting hydrogen's potential as a future energy source," said John Tillman program manager, U.S. Advanced Powertrain Research Program, Volkswagen Group of America. "Volkswagen has long been committed to fuel efficient vehicles and this is evident in the research and engineering behind the Tiguan HyMotion. With water as the only byproduct, this incredible vehicle has zero emissions and has a top speed of 93 miles per hour."
The Hydrogen Road Tour will visit 31 cities across the country as part of an effort to raise awareness of hydrogen's potential as a fuel and showcase these concept vehicles in real world driving conditions. The Road Tour demonstrates the united contributions of industry, government and academia in advancing hydrogen technology and meeting driving and infrastructure needs to bring these concept vehicles to market in the coming years.
Volkswagen is particularly pleased that the tour will stop in Chattanooga, Tenn., home of its newly announced U.S. production facility. The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's Center for Energy Transportation and the Environment (CETE) will host the tour and Congressman Zach Wamp, a proponent of alternative fuel research will attend. The event will take place on August 18th from 10:00am to 12:00 noon at the First Tennessee Pavilion and will provide invited guests, the public, and media with hands-on ride and drive experience of the hydrogen vehicles being displayed on this tour.
"Advanced transportation rolling into Chattanooga on the heels of Volkswagen's historic announcement bodes well for the Tennessee Valley Technology Corridor. The vehicles of the future will be built right here in our region as we lead our nation to greater efficiency and sustainability," said Congressman Zach Wamp.
"The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga College of Engineering is proud to be able to partner with the U.S. Department of Transportation to bring the hydrogen tour to Chattanooga. The effort to heighten the public's awareness of the significant progress made in hydrogen-fueled vehicles is significant as we work to address our dependency on petroleum. The decision to include Chattanooga in this campaign showcases the research achievements of our faculty and students and helps focus attention on the outstanding educational program we offer," said Dr. Will Sutton, dean of the College of Engineering at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Volkswagen will join BMW, Mercedes Benz, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia and Nissan in the tour. Other participants include Arizona Public Service, Centralina, Clean Cities, Chevron, Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, The Center for Transportation and the Environment, Las Vegas Valley Water District, Maine Hydrogen Energy Center, Maine Clean Communities, Massachusetts Hydrogen Coalition, Missouri S&T, National Hydrogen Association, Powertech Labs, The PublicGen Companies, Shell Hydrogen, South Carolina Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Alliance, Southern Fuel Cell Coalition Triangle Clean Cities, US Army, US Environmental Protection Agency, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc, HF-150 and Linde/BMW liquid refueling station.
Tiguan HyMotion
The Tiguan HyMotion concept features a fuel cell system integrated in the engine compartment capable of 107 horsepower. With an assist from the electric motor, the Tiguan HyMotion advances to 134 horsepower. The top speed of the Tiguan HyMotion is 93 mph and it accelerates from 0 to 60 mph in about 14 seconds.
The Tiguan HyMotion concept features a fuel cell system integrated in the engine compartment capable of 107 horsepower. With an assist from the electric motor, the Tiguan HyMotion advances to 134 horsepower. The top speed of the Tiguan HyMotion is 93 mph and it accelerates from 0 to 60 mph in about 14 seconds.
A lithium ion battery with a charge capacity of 6.8 Ampere-hours (Ah) serves as an auxiliary energy storage device with a maximum power output of 22 kW. The battery is charged by recovered braking energy (recuperation) or by the fuel cell. The HyMotion is a full functioning vehicle that makes no compromises on safety or passenger comfort with the addition of its fuel cell powertrain system. The battery system is installed in the trunk beneath the dual cargo floor available on the production Tiguan. The 700 bar hydrogen tank was integrated in the area beneath the floor in the rear bench seat and cargo area. It can hold up to 3.2 kilograms of hydrogen (H2).
Basic operation of fuel cells
The key component of each individual fuel cell - a number of them are combined into a stack - is a proton-conducting membrane. The membrane is located between each anode and cathode pair. Hydrogen flows on the anode side, and oxygen from air flows into the cell on the cathode side. When many of these cells are combined in a stack, enough energy can be generated to drive a vehicle.
The key component of each individual fuel cell - a number of them are combined into a stack - is a proton-conducting membrane. The membrane is located between each anode and cathode pair. Hydrogen flows on the anode side, and oxygen from air flows into the cell on the cathode side. When many of these cells are combined in a stack, enough energy can be generated to drive a vehicle.
In each cell a catalyst assists the reaction of hydrogen with oxygen to form water on the cathode side. The fuel cell thereby converts chemical energy directly into electrical energy in an oxidation, or "cold" combustion process. The generated "exhaust" is clean water vapor.
The fuel cell is supplied fuel from the compressed hydrogen tank and oxygen from the air by an external air inlet and outputs the electrical energy it generates - the power - via a converter and a downstream electrical system rectifier - to one or more electric motors. The Tiguan HyMotion is nearly silent when driven, and it is emissions-free.
About Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, the world's fourth largest automaker and the largest carmaker in Europe. It houses the U.S. operations of a worldwide family of distinguished and exciting brands including Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini and Volkswagen, as well as VW Credit, Inc. Founded in 1955, the company's headquarters are in Herndon, Va.
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, the world's fourth largest automaker and the largest carmaker in Europe. It houses the U.S. operations of a worldwide family of distinguished and exciting brands including Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini and Volkswagen, as well as VW Credit, Inc. Founded in 1955, the company's headquarters are in Herndon, Va.
Volkswagen Group of America brings to the U.S. vehicles that marry the science of engineering and the art of styling, with the goal of offering attractive, safe, and environmentally sound automobiles that are competitive and set world standards in their respective classes.
The company has approximately 2,500 employees in the United States and sells its vehicles through an 800-strong dealer network. With increasing popularity for its brands in the U.S., the company has set the goal of reaching one million car sales in the country by 2018.
For more information, visit www.volkswagengroupamerica.com.
About The Center for Energy, Transportation and the Environment
The Center for Energy, Transportation and the Environment (CETE) is a program of applied research at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga to develop and deploy technologies that utilize clean and secure sources of energy. CETE resides within the College of Engineering and Computer Science, which strives to serve and support the people, businesses, and industries of the greater Chattanooga metropolitan area. The College exists as the region's principal resource for engineering education, applied research, and service programs that are grounded in the application of scientific and mathematical principles and based on a commitment to interdisciplinary study. The College recognizes the importance of developing clean, renewable energy systems for transportation as a critical element in national and global efforts to reduce the harmful effects of engine exhaust gases while promoting energy conservation and independence.
CETE is intended to leverage the technical skills of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) and the application knowledge of a wide range of partners such as the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority (CARTA) and others to complete projects encompassing a variety of renewable energy sources as solutions to this nation's energy challenges.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Greg Blencoe 12:06PM (8/12/2008)
The Hydrogen Road Tour is a historic event that showcases all of the advancements that companies like Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, BMW, GM, and others have made with hydrogen cars.
Now that the cars are just about ready, the focus must be on building the hydrogen fueling infrastructure which includes hydrogen pipelines and hydrogen fueling stations.
I want to let everybody know about the Hydrogen Manhattan Project which is:
"A movement led by individual Americans to support corporations and elected officials that work towards the goal of having every car on the road in the U.S. powered by hydrogen produced from clean sources of energy by the end of 2020."
More information can be found at the following link:
http://hydrogendiscoveries.wordpress.com/2008/04/09/hydrogen-manhattan-project/
Greg Blencoe, CEO
Hydrogen Discoveries, Inc.
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Serge 12:31PM (8/12/2008)
What is the basis for your claim that "[hydrogen-powered] cars are just about ready"? Each of those vehicles costs in the neighborhood of a million dollars to produce. With mass production cost could perhaps be lowered to 6 digits. Fuel-cell vehicles are many years away from being commercially viable.
There are better solutions that we can focus on at the moment.
BillySharps 3:34PM (8/12/2008)
Yes, I would like to know exactly what advantage hydrogen fuel cells have over chemical batteries. Are they less expensive? Are the cheaper to operate? Are they more efficient? Is the fueling infrastructure more simple or less expensive to build? I don't see an advantage, but maybe I'm missing something.
Please, Greg Blencoe, help me out.
meme 3:52PM (8/12/2008)
Oh, and to head Greg off, if he even bothers to reply:
* No, they don't take hours to charge. Level 3 chargers exist, and they're just as cheap if not cheaper on a per charger/per pump basis than hydrogen pumps. Heck, there's already a network of them on Oahu. LiPs and stabilized spinels can charge in 15 minutes, titanates in 5-10, SCiB in 5, and so on.
* No, they don't have short lifespans; automotive-type li-ions have longer lifespans than fuel cells.
* No, they're not "expensive", at least in comparison to fuel cells. An full BEV drivetrain costs a small fraction as much as a full fuel cell drivetrain. And if he brings up, "coming soon..." tech, wow, I could spend a week covering the hundreds of "coming soon" battery techs.
I hope he makes safety or environmental claims, because I'll have fun ripping hydrogen to shreds on those ones by comparison ;)
Chris M 4:27AM (8/13/2008)
Rough calculations show the VW fuel cell cost about $400,000 and the range around 220 miles per tank. The Honda FCX Clarity fuel cell is more powerful and costs about a half million. But you've still got to add the expensive H2 high pressure storage tanks, a bank of LiIon batteries to supplement the fuel cell, and all the other car components. So after 4 decades of intensive research to reduce prices, we are still looking at nearly million dollar cars, completely unaffordable except for big governments with lots of money to squander. Hey, even GM couldn't afford it if not for big government subsidies.
Now Blencoe actually thinks they can pull off all the breakthroughs needed to make H2 cars affordable to everyone, and get them into production, and persuade people to ignore cheaper more efficient plug-in options, and replace all the existing cars with them in just 12 years - Totally Delusional. I expect that by 2020 plug-ins will be commonplace, H2 cars will be museum pieces and collector items, and there will be a special on "Whatever happened to Hydrogen cars?"
Billy Sharps: Compared to chemical batteries, H2 fuel cells and H2 storage cost 8 to 60 times more, currently have a per mile fuel cost 5 times higher, H2 refueling stations cost considerably more than chargers, and the combination of electrolyzer and fuel cell would require 3x the electricity that charger and battery would. Hydrogen promoters have pinned their hopes on "fast H2 refill vs. slow electric charging", but that sole advantage is vanishing, with fast charging now available and quick battery swap systems under development.
The biggest challenge the H2 promoters face is trying to get everyone to ignore the cheaper more efficient cleaner safer plug-in option. The future is electric.
Joseph 1:39AM (8/13/2008)
This has been terribly organized. They make three stops in GA, two in TN, two in SC, two in NC, two in VA, and two in MA. They make all these multiple stops but miss out on some of the huge states: only one stop in California, and no stops at all in Texas or Florida!
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Chris M 4:37AM (8/13/2008)
Maybe they are only stopping in those few places that still have supporters and people who haven't figured out that H2 is a really poor automotive fuel. I know a lot of rural residents are not impressed with the distinct lack of H2 fueling options in their areas.
Jimmy 10:03PM (8/13/2008)
On the other hand, maybe skipping FL and TX was a financial decision. It must cost something to move this things from point to point.
Chris M 3:46AM (8/14/2008)
Yea, considering that there are NO H2 refueling facilities between New York and Los Angeles, they are going to use a lot of diesel for the trucks hauling these million dollar cars. But with a huge H2 hype budget completely subsidized by the taxpayers, high diesel costs are no problem!
Das Boese 2:24PM (8/13/2008)
I was going to write something about how funny I find the whole thing and maybe another "Why a hydrogen economy will never happen" rant...
but then I realized, it's just not worth it anymore. The majority of people commenting here seem to have realized that hydrogen is a piss poor medium for energy storage, and that development of fuel cells is hopelessly behind. The only people who still think it'll solve all our energy woes of it are either uninformed, delusional, or somehow involved with the hype machine.
Good riddance.
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Jim Adcock 10:10AM (8/16/2008)
Works great if you have your own tanker truck following you on that cross country road trip filling your car up for "free". If you actually have to pay market prices for hydrogen you will rapidly figure out that it is not only a bad deal for your pocketbook, but its also a bad deal for the environment. That's because today hydrogen is made from natural gas releasing CO2 into the environment just the same as if you burned the natural gas in your car making hydrogen cars actually effectively just very expensive very inefficient natural gas vehicles. You'd be better off just to buy a Honda Civic GX Natural Gas Vehicle in the first place -- and save about a half million bucks in the process. Long term the US government hopes to make hydrogen more cost effective by making it from coal -- again releasing CO2 in the process -- making hydrogen vehicles effectively just really really expensive coal burners. Hydrogen vehicles are a perfect example of NIMBY'ism, with proponents pretending the vehicles are clean, but that's only because the CO2 polluting has already been done for you somewhere else as part of the hydrogen fuel creation process. ITS A FARCE -- JUST DON'T BUY IT!
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Miguel 6:35PM (8/19/2008)
The hydrogen road tour has created a way for people to better understand the differences of hydrogen vehicle technology, and the role it will play in the future. As a society, we need to collectively decide how to reduce our dependence on foreign energy imports. As a representative of the Hydrogen Education Foundation, I am helping people to understand that both a hydrogen and renewable energy infrastructure can grow side by side paving the way to a sustainable energy future.
We must come together and stress to our government and business leaders to support the development of an alternative energy infrastructure. This will allow for hydrogen to be produced from water using renewable resources and improve the overall effectiveness of renewable energy. In the meantime, we must also use the resources we have available to establish a hydrogen infrastructure.
In the past several months, the industry has made several advancements. Here are few stories that highlight the progress made:
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2008/06/3m-fuel-cell-me.html
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/06/toyota-fuel-cell-hybrid-vehicle-hydrogen.php
Over the last several decades, we have witnessed different kinds of technologies evolve and impact our lives in ways we couldn’t have completely imagined. Everything from cell phones to computers to televisions have evolved and improved in speed, reception, size and capabilities. This advancement in technology became possible through research. The same is true for hydrogen technologies today. Researchers will continue to explore, improve and diversify how hydrogen can impact our lives.
To learn more about the benefits of hydrogen, we invite everyone to please visit and ask us questions at www.h2andyou.org.
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