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It’s the infrastructure, stupid. Well, maybe not stupid, but without reliable places to find hydrogen fuel, fuel cell vehicles based on hydrogen as a fuel aren’t feasible. Otherwise, says General Motors representative, production fuel cells are completely doable by the early ’teens. We on the other hand can’t vouch for the technological, engineering or financial aspects, but from a user standpoint, yeah, it works.
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A fuel cell is something that not many years ago would have seemed science fiction, or at least science-in-theory but not something that had any possibility of being feasible. Yet today there are 100 Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell vehicles running around Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and New York City. It’s a part of GM’s “Project Driveway”. Begun in 2008, it’s a real world test of Chevy’s small SUV equipped with a real working fuel cell for two weeks of everyday driving. We’re hardly in an area with hydrogen refueling stations (and you probably aren’t either) so our drive was relatively brief but enough for general impressions.
Rather than spend resources on a completely new chassis, Chevrolet elected to use the Equinox as a test bed. There are a few minor cosmetic changes, but if it weren’t for the huge “fuel cell” graphics on the Equinox Fuel Cell’s side it could pass for an ordinary Equinox. The grille is larger for better air flow around the fuel cell and different headlamps have been used, but it takes an Equinox owner to see those changes. Most noticeable…for those who know what to look for…is the panel under the rear bumper which has slots for the water vapor exhaust.
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That, along with a modest amount of heat, is the total vehicular emissions of the Equinox Fuel Cell. (“Making” the hydrogen—hydrolyzing water to oxygen and hydrogen—requires electricity, which at this time in the United States is predominantly made from fossil fuels. But that’s another story).
Because the fuel cell stack, the main functional part of the fuel cell powerplant, doesn’t care how it’s positioned, in a purpose-built vehicle it could be, well, innovatively located. Because the Chevy Equinox was used as the base vehicle, the fuel cell components were placed in the conventional automotive powerplant location, under the hood.
The fuel cell, by the wonders of proton permeable membranes and other such stuff, is a battery that keeps on giving, at leas as long as fuel is provided, yielding a steady flow of electrons. In the case of the fuel cell vehicle, that direct current is used to power an electric motor. Ergo, the fuel cell vehicle is an electric car. So for the most part, the Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell should behave like the electric car that it is.
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The Equinox’s fuel cell has an adaptation to vehicular use, however, a battery pack under the rear seat. Because fuel cells operate best at a fairly constant rate, the batteries act as a “buffer,” providing extra electricity when needed for acceleration and absorbing energy regained by regenerative braking.
The Equinox Fuel Cell requires a few seconds to warm up—there’s a warning light that tells the driver to wait—and then it’s off you go. The vehicle is quiet, something expected with electric cars, but what’s unexpected with the Equinox is being wafted 60 mph without realizing one’s going that fast already. Chevrolet claims a 0-to-60 time of a lazy 12 seconds. Sorry. We’ve known cars that do 0-to-60 in 12 seconds, and Equinox Fuel Cell, you’re not one of them. It felt more eight-ish to us but we weren’t able to put a clock on it so we’ll have to be satisfied with “quicker-than-you-think.”
The powertrain’s operation is quite smooth, though our GM rep told us that this is largely due to a lot of developmental work and software tuning. Earlier, more “raw” fuel cell powertrains didn’t have this model’s smoothness.
As one should expect, however, there’s little difference in the Equinox Fuel Cells handling than that of other Equinoxes, and that’s what Chevrolet wanted, not that it was all that hard. The regenerative braking, however, can vary between 100 percent regenerative to 100 percent conventional friction braking and all points in between, and the changing percentages can often be felt through the brake pedal.
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Another indication that this isn’t an ordinary Equinox is on the dash. The tachometer has been replaced by a kilowatt gauge that shows how much electricity is being used or regenerated at any particular moment.
There’s also an LCD screen in the center stack that displays the schematic of the fuel cell system’s operation, mostly little “bubbles” of hydrogen flowing from the hydrogen fuel tanks at the rear of the car and little “bubbles” of water vapor going out the exhaust pipe, plus the electric flow to and from the batteries and the electric motor/generator. Unlike the schematic of a gasoline/electric hybrid, not that much happens on the fuel cell’s schematic, just the bubbles move a little faster when the Equinox accelerates or travels faster. Boring.
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The bubbles don’t stop completely when the Equinox is turned off, however, as the system purges itself to be ready for the next startup, including getting rid of the water vapor in the exhaust, especially important when it’s below freezing. And contrary to the silent running, subtle noises continue for several minutes after stopping as all this continues.
Left “on,” however, the Equinox Fuel Cell shuts itself off when the hood is opened. It’s a safety switch. Because it’s a basically quiet system, a mechanic might not know it’s on, with potentially injurious consequences.
The refueling port is a quick-connect socket under the standard fuel filler door. The filler hose and car have flat contacts (similar to an inkjet cartridge’s but bigger) for the Equinox Fuel Cell’s sensors to tell the controls in the “pump” how full the tank is. Filling the tank takes a little to a lot longer than filling the gas tank in your car, depending on the fueling station, and there had better be another station within 150 miles of the Equinox Fuel Cell becomes roadside furniture.
Of course, mass producing fuel cell vehicles is not completely “just the infrastructure.” Fuel cells currently require a significant amount of platinum as a catalyst, and platinum, as you’ll know if you’ve had your exhaust catalytic converter stolen for the few ounces of the stuff inside, is very expensive.
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That said, infrastructure won’t occur until there are enough vehicles on the road to use it, but there won’t be enough vehicles until the infrastructure exists…and of course, it all won’t happen until the cost of components is somehow solved. The Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell runs just fine, a tribute to the engineering staff that developed it. But there are less expensive ways, including the Mini E and Chevrolet’s own Volt, of making an electric vehicle feasible. Which was almost science fiction a few years ago itself. Indeed, to say a fuel cell just won’t happen is just plain, well, stupid.
Illustrations, top to bottom: 2008 Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell; under the hood, Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell; instrument panel, Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell, note kilowatt gauge on right, replacing tachometer; LCD display with schematic of fuel cell operation, Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell; exhaust ports, Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell; hydrogen fuel filler, Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell; 2008 Chevrolet Eqinox Fuel Cell. All photos by John Matras.
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