In the year 2015 General Motors has stated that it plans to rollout several thousand fuel cell vehicles to showrooms in several different countries. Today, GM is taking a step in that direction.
General Motors is now working on their next generation of fuel cell based upon the current HydroGen4 model. GM hopes to produce this fuel cell with less than 30g of platinum (combining it with nickel alloy nanoparticles), slash the costs of producing the expensive component by 75-percent and triple its lifetime.
Project Driveway is still in progress (and can be found on Facebook) where GM allows drivers to “borrow” one of their 100 FCVs for a couple months to try them out and provide real life data to the engineers.
According to GM’s Dr Rittmar von Helmolt, “The best method is to bring the technology together with an existing model so that we don’t have to develop the car as well and we can produce it on the same production line as ordinary cars.”
One aspect that GM also has to work on is the range of the vehicle. Right now the Chevy Equinox Fuel Cell has a range of around 200 miles. With Toyota and Hyundai SUV FCV’s having a range of 400 – 500 miles, General Motors will need to up the overall range of the vehicle to be competitive in the marketplace.
But once they do this and by bringing down the cost of the fuel cell, extending its lifetime and using a familiar assembly line process to produce the vehicles, GM will be ready for the 2015 rollout of the hydrogen car revolution that will disrupt our lives, our economy and our environment in a good way.
I am a G.M. auto tech and have been studying Fuel cell tech for some time.I have been dismissed as an idiot and insane for believing that fuel cell vehicles will ever make to market.I am rarely able to find anyone that even has any knowledge of the subject.The people in the business cannot comprehend a car without a gas engine or transmission.G.M. has already closed 2 transmission plants and converted 1 to an electric motor manufacturing plant and the other to a battery manufacturing plant.All of these people that are telling me that it will never happen have never even read anything on the subject.So really who isn’t dealing with reality.I am already several years ahead of my competition.I am not going to argue with them anymore,but can’t wait to tell them” I told you so”.
after reading your blog,i felt that i was my obligated to inform you that what you have known for some time is in fact reality.we at alternate energy conversions inc. have in fact applied for apatten to make instant hydrogen at pressures exceeding 300,000psi and temperatures up to 6,000deg.your dream of a hydrogen economy is closer than anyone has ever thought.
I appreciate the decision taken by GM of mass fuel cell production..GM steps forward in a positive green way ,than other Auto industry ..But this fuel cell might be too expensive for use in everyday vehicles. So their costs will only justify their use in commercial markets..