A look at the Gm Hydrogen 3 Minivan
What better way to fill up your car than with the most plentiful element in the universe offering zero emissions and discharging a benign concoction called water? Well GM has taken hold of this "green" concept and run amok with it forming one of the most intense research and development teams on the planet with one goal in mind; to get you into a hydrogen powered vehicle. Enter the GM HydroGen3 minivan, the third installment of General Motors experimental hydrogen powered vehicles designed to make fossil fueled powered cars extinct. Based on the Opel Zafira MPV, this car puts the "mini" back into the mini-van but this over-sized golf cart can be likened to the inception of the jet engine in revolutionary impact.
As GM Raymond Grigg Chairman and CEO of GM Japanese Division states "To really prove that fuel cell vehicles are equal to or better than conventional, internal combustion vehicles, you need to operate them under tough, every-day conditions" which is why the GM HydroGen3 minivan was kept away from soccer moms and instead the keys handed to Fed-Ex delivery drivers. In Tokyo. No restrictions. Since the Japanese government issued it first certification of a hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicle to be used on public roads to the GM HydrogeGen3, its safe to say it passed the test. Testing in Tokyo has now been moved stateside to Washington D.C. where members of Congress are currently testing hydrogen powered cars. The USPS is getting in the hydro fuel game going postal in the D.C. area delivering mail in the HydroGen3 minivans.
The GM HydroGen 3 is powered by a 60 kW / 82 PS three-phase asynchronous motor, ah, yeah. Huh? I know that means nothing to you, so what exactly is a hydrogen fuel cell? Basically it's a means of converting the chemical properties of hydrogen and oxygen into electricity with the only by-products being heat and water. Hydrogen fuel cells do not store energy they convert it from one form to another. The energy equivalent of a light switch, they are either kinetic or static but when in use are far superior to internal combustion engines as they eliminate the middleman. Converting chemical energy directly to electrical current whereas normal piston engines have a middle phase involving the firing of spark-plugs, pistons and crankshafts that decreases energy output potential as well as efficiency. Hydrogen cells are simple and highly reliable and can be stacked to achieve your desired output. The HydroGen3 neatly stacks 200 units together for an output of 94 Kilowatts, enough to push the HydroGen3 from 0-60 in 16 seconds. The 5-seat front-wheel drive minivan can achieve 100mph and has a driving range of 170 miles. Depending on what you feed it (compressed hydrogen vs liquid hydrogen) and the capacity of the fuel storage you can get upwards of 300 miles without needing to stop for a refill.
Mention hydrogen and chances are a certain name comes to mind, the Hindenburg. Obviously this was a very different arrangement of hydrogen and has no bearing on how it is used in today's experimental cars. Instead of a thinly wrapped cylindrical blimp bomb, today's cells are pressurized tanks that can withstand enormous impact without rupture. Yes inside your car may sit a pressurized tank with hydrogen compressed to 10,000 psi but hydrogen is safer than gasoline if handled properly. Yes hydrogen cells can explode but so can your current car's gas tank. We're dealing with potential energy here and any fuel has an explosive nature. BMW has tested the hydrogen cell in many real world impacts and it reacts almost exactly as a fossil fuel gas tank would under the same circumstances.
Don't go racing to your local GM showroom looking to buy a new HydroGen3 as this is still an experimental concept car. But be on the lookout for a HydroGen4 improving the breed and getting closer to having a window sticker on a hydrogen powered car for public purchase at a dealer near you. The future of hydrogen power is near and tree-huggers everywhere applaud this new technology as it may have us all in automotive variations of the HydroGen3 by the end of the next decade. If that doesn't have Big Oil worried it certainly has them "green" with envy.
