Daimler's 36 hydrogen fuel cell buses, including some that were used in the 2006 World Cup in Germany and since then used as public transportation vehicles in Berlin, have now driven more than two million kilometers (about 1.24m miles) in daily driving. 30 buses were in Europe and there were three each in Perth, Australia and Beijing, China. Daimler says that the buses are proof that its fuel cell tech (also available in cars, of course) has "proved its worth in different climatic regions." The buses - which have moved over seven million passengers during 135,000 operating hours since 2003 - operated throughout Europe, from Sweden to Spain. The European buses are known as HyFLEET:CUTE (Hydrogen Fleet Clean Urban Transport for Europe) and are all being monitored so Daimler knows how to make better hydrogen fuel cell systems in the future. More details after the jump.
"H2R" is the title of a project developed by Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson. What's it all about? This is BMW's 16th art car in which the outer shell is replaced by ice. The H2R is a racing car powered by hydrogen, and it was developed to achieve speed records in terms of "sustainable mobility" (their words). Olafur Eliasson has removed the outer covering of the H2R prototype and replaced it with a complex skin of two reflecting layers of superimposed metal spanning the body of the car. This shape is covered with fragile layers of ice which are obtained by spraying 2,000 liters of water over the frame, inside a freezer, where the car is shown. OK, so this is not very green after all.
As usual with art car projects, the artist has something to says about the H2R project: "By bringing together art, design, social and environmental issues, I hope to contribute to a different way of thinking-feeling-experiencing cars and seeing them in relation to the time and space in which we live." If you're interested, the car will be shown from May 29th at the State Museum of Applied Arts and Design in Munich, Germany.
Pretty soon, we're going to have to list the people who aren't driving a BMW Hydrogen 7. BMW is offering the car to celebrities, average citizens and politicians the world over. Some of us get to drive it around the block, others get to keep it for a week or two. The latest to be handed the keys is EU Parliamentary president Hans-Gert Pöttering (pictured), who stepped into the car yesterday in Strasburg. BMW says (after the jump) that this move was "In line with the European Parliament's efforts to take measures to reduce its own CO2 emissions." Pöttering will use the car for work-related trips. For his part, Dr. Norbert Reithofer, Chairman of the Board of BMW AG, said the Hydrogen 7 "shows that we have initial solutions and are on the right track" and that for "regeneratively produced hydrogen has the most potential to secure our mobility in the future." Potential, always with the potential.
Kia's primary reputation in the US is for building inexpensive basic transportation. However, back in the home market of South Korea, Kia has been working with corporate siblings Hyundai on a variety of alternative fuel vehicles. Kia Strategic Planner Hyun Jin Cho has a post on the Kia Buzz blog about some of the company's projects. Even before getting gobbled up by Hyundai a decade ago, Kia was actually the first Korean manufacturer to build an electric vehicle with a battery-powered van called the Besta. Since their affiliation with Hyundai, Kia engineers have been involved in fuel cell research and part of the combined company's hydrogen test fleet includes several Sportage SUVs. The current version of the FCEV Sportage has a 215-mile range with 5,000psi compressed hydrogen on board. Nearer term, Kia has built a number of hybrid vehicles that have been running in test fleets since 2005. A production version is planned for a 2009 retail launch. One project not mentioned but likely to first hit the U.S. market will actually be a new diesel V-6 destined for the Borrego in 2010. We got a look at that engine in January at the Detroit Auto Show and it's currently being tested at the Hyundai Kia Tech Center near Ann Arbor MI.
Based on a Peugeot Partner Origin van, the H2Origin zero emissions urban delivery technical demonstrator (that's a mouthful!) has just been unveiled by Intelligent Energy and PSA Peugeot Citroën. The delivery van is powered by electricity and gains additional juice by way of a 10kWh hydrogen fuel cell system from IE. Together, the batteries and fuel cell can offer up a range of 300 kilometers (over 180 miles). In order to accommodate refueling needs, the empty compressed hydrogen tanks can be exchanged with fresh tanks. Without the fuel cell, range would be cut by two-thirds. Full press release after the break.
Need hydrogen in Alberta, Canada? Air Products (along with its Air Products Canada Ltd. subsidiary) has announced the commercialization of a hydrogen plant this week. Air Products' new plant can make over 100 million standard-cubic-feet-per-day. The hydrogen is sold to a Petro-Canada refinery near Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and to "other customers in the Alberta Heartlands industrial corridor" under long-term agreements.
While Air Products has some knowledge about fueling hydrogen vehicles (in South Carolina and plans for London) this hydrogen isn't intended for transportation use. Instead, it goes to the refinery to help process bitumen into a synthetic crude oil and then, with the hydrogen, into refined oil products like gasoline and diesel fuel (135,000 barrels a day at the Edmonton refinery). More details after the break.
The new Green Party mayor of Tübingen Germany is fully in support of the city's "10% less CO2 by 2010" policy and he's got a new ride to demonstrate it. Boris Palmer has selected the Smart ForTwo MHD as his official ride when on city business. The MHD version of the Smart features micro-hybrid drive, which essentially an automatic start-stop system. The Smart MHD is the most fuel-efficient gasoline-powered Smart averaging 54.7mpg (U.S.) on the New European Driving Cycle. That's an improvement from the 50mpg achieved by the conventional gas unit. Carbon dioxide emissions of the Smart MHD are only 103g/km. The micro-hybrid turns off the engine whenever the car comes to a stop and automatically re-starts whenever the brake pedal is released. Although the U.S. market won't be getting the diesel-powered Smart anytime soon, we probably will get the micro-hybrid in a year or so.
Last year, the Hydrogen Electric Racing Federation (HERF) was launched as a racing organization for hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicles. A bit later, the federation announced that their first race would take place in 2009 and be known as the Hydrogen 500. There have been some big names attached to this race, but we haven't heard much from them lately. Here's hoping that the race does take place as planned and that the series proves useful when it comes to practical application of hydrogen and electric power to consumer vehicles.
The fact that the Green Grand Prix makes an appearance on our list should not come as a shocker. Where else are you gonna see pod-racers (like in the picture above) racing alongside vehicles running on biodiesel, electrons, LP, CNG, hybrids, flex-fuel vehicles, hydrogen fuel cell cars, a wood-powered SUV and a vegetable oil-powered car? Nowhere, as far as we know, which means we wish we could be in upstate New York on May 3rd.
Here's a race we'd like to watch. The fourth annual Green Grand Prix is coming to Watkins Glen in upstate New York in a week and a half (May 3rd). While there are some podracer-like entries (e.g., the photo above), the bulk of the vehicles are standard-looking but powered by an alternative fuel source: we're talking biodiesel, pure EVs, LP, CNG, hybrids, flex-fuel vehicles, hydrogen fuel cell cars, a wood-powered SUV and a vegetable oil-powered car. The Green Grand Prix is also the only official SCCA Time-Speed-Distance Road Rally for alternate fueled vehicles and hybrids in the United States.
The road rally takes place over 60 miles (at legal highway speeds) and was created by Bob Gillespie. A fan of hybrids, Gillespie said in a statement he just wanted to "give people a first hand look at alternative personal transportation. This year's event will be even bigger than the last, as more and more people realize the multiple benefits of green power." The race portion will take place at the Racing Research Center. There will also be a presentation from the Cornell University X-Prize Team. Learn more about the Green Grand Prix here and read the release after the jump.
We are sure to catch some flack for choosing hydrogen as a promising green technology, but can't we all agree that there's some amount of potential in it? Consider the super clean emissions of a properly engineered hydrogen-burning vehicle. Even if a hydrogen-burning powerplant were not the main source of energy for a vehicle, either an engine running on hydrogen or a small fuel cell could provide additional range to an otherwise strictly electric vehicle. There are certainly many hurdles to overcome, but a huge amount of money is betting on the technology, and we've got to include it here. With an eye to the critics, we place hydrogen at spot number ten.
Heading into Earth Day, Volkswagen of America has launched a new micro-site called Volkswagen Responsible Mobility that is dedicated to, well, responsible mobility. The premise of the site, which covers all the VW brands available in the U.S., is to promote all the various alternative drive and fuel technologies that Volkswagen is developing. Diesel is obviously a big emphasis for the company that pioneered turbocharged direct injected diesel engines. Volkswagen is also heavily involved in developing a second generation bio-diesel called SunFuel made from cellulosic biomass. The automaker has invested in German biofuel developer Choren. Another page of the site focuses on future technologies like high-temperature fuel cells, hybrids and weight reducing materials like aluminum and composites.
The site seems to hit all the right messages, now we just need to get some of those technologies on the road here in the U.S. and elsewhere. The Jetta TDI is launching this summer with the Touareg to follow. So far though there is no firm indication of when a hybrid will arrive or if we'll get any of the BlueMotion models now available (or not) in Europe. The site also features the logos of Lamborghini, Bugatti and Bentley. Bentley earlier this year announced their intent to cut CO2 emissions of their fleet by 15 percent by 2012 but so far there aren't any details of how that will come about. Lambo and Bugatti? Nothing to report there either.
Tuesday night the PBS science program NOVA will feature an Earth Day look at "the Car of the Future." WGBH, the Boston PBS station that produces NOVA sent us an advance copy of the show to take a look at. Tom and Ray Magliozzi, who are perhaps better known to fans of the NPR show Car Talk as Click and Clack, travel the world from Iceland to China and back to their alma mater at MIT. The "Tappet Brothers" are definitely an acquired taste and not everyone is fan of their shtick on the radio show. However, those who have not acquired that taste need not worry as their presence in Car of the Future is actually fairly minimal. John Lithgow does most of the narration tying the various segments together.
For those that are regular readers of our little corner of the web, most of what is discussed in the show will be familiar territory. Nonetheless the show is still a good primer on all of the various technologies that are being worked on including cellulosic biofuels, batteries, plug-in hybrids, weight reduction and more. The guys visit with Amory Lovins at the Rocky Mountain Institute, Martin Eberhard at Tesla (while he was still there), Andrew Frank at UC Davis and plenty of others. During a segment filmed during the introduction of the Chevy Volt last year, Tom and Ray speak with GM VP Energy and Environment Beth Lowery about choice. Keep reading after the jump.
Update: Check your local listings for time, but NOVA typically runs at 8 or 9 pm on most PBS stations.
There was a panel discussion at this week's SAE Congress that I couldn't pass up. Titled "Fuel Cell Vehicle Panel: Challenges Remaining for Commercialization," the session was a bit of a brainstorm on just how we might one day drive hydrogen-fueled cars with some of the people who are working quite diligently on the problem today. The panel featured Dr. Massimo Venturi, CTO of NuCellsys GmbH, Germany, Dr. Kev Adjemian, senior principle engineer, Nissan Fuel Cell Laboratory, Michigan, and Dr. James Miller, director, Electrochemical Technology Program, Argonne National Lab (for DOE), Fuel Cell Laboratory, Chicago. The three spoke and answered questions for about 30 minutes. Needless to say, the big problems weren't solved in this half hour, but it was enlightening to hear from another industry panel where things stand today regarding the automobile and the hydrogen economy. Considering that the public's perception of hydrogen fuel is currently defined (for many) as the Hindenberg explosion, there are more than just technological issues to deal with.
Because of the nature of the SAE Congress, I did not have permission to post the audio of this panel. Instead, I've detailed some of what was said and given a few of my own thoughts after the break.
A couple of weeks ago, GM VP for Research and Development Larry Burns spoke to the National Hydrogen Association. The focus of his talk was to encourage energy companies to get moving with deploying hydrogen filling stations to support a fleet fuel cell vehicles. GM, Toyota and Honda were all at the NHA conference and the three - along with Daimler - have all indicated their confidence in the efficiency, effectiveness, and durability of fuel cell technology. Burns acknowledged it will take several generations of the technology with increased production volumes to get to a point where it is as affordable as today's powertrains. However, it's difficult for automakers to justify building cars if energy companies won't open retail filling stations. In order to make its Project Driveway program happen, GM had to purchase hydrogen fueling systems to support the 100 Chevy Equinox fuel cell vehicles. Burns called on the industry to roll out 40 stations within the three counties of Los Angeles and along corridors to Santa Barbara, Palm Springs and Las Vegas and San Diego. Such an implementation would put hydrogen with convenient reach of the entire population of the the Los Angeles area. Burns would like to see this happen before the next wave of fuel cell vehicles is rolled out in the next few years. You can listen to Burns speech here.
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