It looks like this is the week for hydrogen racecar stories. Yesterday, I had talked about engineering students from the University of Hertfordshire developing the UK’s first Formula Student racecar and the students from Ohio State University developing the Buckeye Bullet 2 for a run at the land speed record for hydrogen racecars at the Bonneville Salt Flats this August.
The Ford Hydrogen Fusion 999 will also be at Bonneville Speedweek 2007 starting August 11 in Utah. The Ford Hydrogen Fusion 999 uses both compressed hydrogen (5,000 psi) and compressed heliox (helium and oxygen at 2,600 psi) to power the vehicle.
The Ford Hydrogen Fusion 999 also uses four Ballard fuel cell stacks, (similar to the one used in the Focus FCV), to generate 350 kw and will attempt to deliver speeds of over 200 mph when it is put to the final tests. Ford and Roush have been testing the Hydrogen Fusion 999 this week at East Liberty, OH in preparation for Bonneville.
Since there are currently no land speed records for production fuel cell vehicles, the Hydrogen 999 will be able to set the record without passing any records. Leave it to Ford to lead the pack instead of taking a wait and see attitude that some other automakers are using in regard to hydrogen cars.