electric vehicles
FCX Clarity Customers Receive Vehicle
On July 25, Ron Yerxa and Annette Ballester took delivery of their hydrogen fuel cell-powered FCX Clarity Honda of Santa Monica, one of three dealerships in Southern California that are part of the first fuel cell vehicle dealership network. Yerxa and Ballester are the world's first FCX Clarity customers and the first of approximately 200 customers who will lease the vehicle in the U.S. and Japan over the next three years, with the majority of vehicles being leased in Southern California.
Significant advances over Honda's previous generation FCX include a 25% increase in combined fuel economy to 72 miles/kg-H2 (74 miles per gasoline gallon equivalent) and a greater than 30% increase in driving range up to 280 miles. The FCX Clarity is a next-generation, hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicle propelled by an electric motor that runs on electricity generated in the fuel cell.
Daimler Extends Operating Range
Daimler AG has converted the first vehicles of its existing fuel cell fleet from 350-bar to 700-bar technology. With this more highly compressed hydrogen, the vehicles' operating range can now be extended by 70%. The first practical test for an A-Class F-CELL plus featuring this technology was a journey from Berlin.
The vehicle has a range of 270km per tank filling compared with the original 160. The B-Class F-CELL, to be produced in 2010, will boast a range of 400km.
The technological basis of this development is the optimized fuel cell system presented by Mercedes-Benz in its F 600 HYGENIUS research vehicle in 2005. The newly designed stack module is 40% smaller, develops 30% more power output and cuts fuel consumption by 16%. The system also has favorable cold-starting ability and is ideal for everyday use. This is made possible by the electric turbocharger for air supply and the new humidification/dehumidification system.
Suzuki Fuel Cell Car Certified by Japan
Suzuki Motor Corp has developed the SX4-FCV fuel-cell vehicle based on its "SX4" compact car and had it certified by Japan's Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
The SX4-FCV features a 70MPa high-pressure hydrogen tank, a downsized light capacitor and a fuel cell module manufactured by GM Corp. Suzuki will advance development toward a commercial application by conducting public road tests and collecting data.
The fuel cell module's output is 80kW, and the motor's output is 68kW. Maximum speed is 150km/h. Its cruising range extends to 250km per hydrogen charge.
Suzuki acquired minister's certificates for its "Wagon R-FCV" and "MR Wagon-FCV" K-cars with fuel cells in October 2003. Following these two cars featuring 35MPa hydrogen tanks, another "MR Wagon-FCV" equipped with a 70MPa high-pressure hydrogen tank was also certified by the minister in December 2004.
Fuel Cell Powers Unmanned Plane Seven Hours
Ann Arbor, Michigan-based Adaptive Materials Inc. reports that its solid oxide fuel cell systems recently powered AeroVironment's Puma unmanned aerial vehicle on a hand-launched test flight.
Adaptive Materials' fuel cell system provided enough power for a test flight lasting more than seven hours. Throughout the flight, Adaptive Materials' fuel cell system also provided power for Puma to carry and run two stationary surveillance camera systems.
Long duration unmanned flights are critical to military surveillance and other field operations. Adaptive Material's fuel cells are powered by the same propane tanks that fuel the common camp stove.
"The fact that Adaptive Materials powered Puma with our solid oxide fuel cell system is an accomplishment, but the real achievement is that we provided enough power for a long duration flight that stayed on course in 20 miles per hour wind while carrying a heavy sensor package," said Adaptive Materials' Chief Business Officer Michelle Crumm.
