H2X Australia is a company that has been working on some interesting new projects, with the aim being to build industrial vehicles and passenger cars using a fuel cell/ultracapacitor hybrid system.
They expect to release an SUV model, dubbed “Snowy” in 2022-23. The company has a team of around 70 so far but has set the lofty goal of having 5,000 employees working on their project by 2025. Such ambitions are backed by founders Chris Reitz and Brendan Norman. With previous expertise at companies such as BMW, Audi, Volkswagen, and Fiat, they’ve worked across the motor sector in various roles such as CFO and Operations Manager in various auto companies across Asia and the Middle East as well as Europe.
The duo has previously worked together on successful projects, with the aim of having their sedan car, the Granite, on the roads of China in 2021, and their Obsidian SUV already making rapid progress. Since Australia has such a limited hydrogen fuel infrastructure, the aim is to start out in China where there is a more natural opportunity in regard to H2 infrastructure.
However, the aim is to eventually bring in more hydrogen fuelling stations to the Australian major cities. Canberra already has one, with H2 stations being talked about being added to major cities like Melbourne and Sydney in the future.
If successful, we could see the Snowy released, which is a front-wheel-drive SUV that is likely to carry a range of 650km and a 255HP FC engine. It would use a 5kg tank of hydrogen to power the vehicle. With the PEM fuel cell designed by Elring Klinger set to be used, this would provide a 60kW continuous power level.
It’s likely that the Snowy will also have some kind of lithium battery being used to help bridge the power that is needed. With automatic emergency braking and lane changing assists included, the hope is that the Snowy can become an excellent starting point for the fuel cell vehicle industry across Australia and, eventually, the globe.
Lofty ambitions are one thing, but Australia’s long-held resistance to new car manufacturing presents a very real hurdle. The vast majority of Australian-based developers have fell by the wayside thanks to a heady combination of price pressures across the globe and a lack of innovative fuelling technology being in place countrywide, means that getting this show on the road might be harder than it first seems.
However, H2X have already shown they’ve got the appetite for a challenge and this definitely shines through in this interesting, ambitious new hydrogen car project.
Citation
https://newatlas.com/automotive/h2x-hydrogen-fuel-cell-vehicles/