1 million miles on hydrogen fuel-cell-powered Chevrolet Equinoxes
It’s been about two years since General Motors rolled out its Project Driveway program, which puts ordinary citizens behind the wheel of a hydrogen fuel-cell-powered Chevrolet Equinox for a couple of months. This week, the 116 cars in the program rolled past a combined total of over 1 million miles.
Intended to raise public awareness, dispel fears about hydrogen as a motor fuel, and provide some real-world testing, the program has about 80,000 people signed up so far. Of those, 65 have gotten a chance to be the first on their block with a hydrogen-powered Equinox; some vehicles have racked up 25,000 miles.
So what has Chevy learned? According to Chris Colquitt, GM’s Driver Relationship Manager for Fuel Cell Activities, response to the program has been overwhelmingly positive. The biggest mechanical problem they’ve had with the vehicles has been with simple sensors for things like temperature and fuel pressure, which he says initially proved difficult to find in automotive-grade quality. But GM has been working with suppliers to develop more robust units.
Another issue was that some of the first cars required 20-30 seconds to start up in below zero temperatures, but Colquitt says GM engineers have reduced that to two to three seconds in all but the coldest weather. GM has seen no problems with hot weather conditions. Beyond that, the vehicles have proven reliable and people reportedly find them easy to live with.
Our own experience driving early examples almost two years ago was much the same. The vehicles seemed free of quirks and seemingly ready for prime time. The driving experience is quiet and smooth, about what you would expect from an electric car, which is what fuel-cell vehicles are.
The fuel cell powertrains have 60 percent fewer parts, and 90 percent fewer moving parts than a gasoline engine, so it’s not too surprising that Coquitt reports no major driveline issues with the hydrogen powertrain. The fuel-cell Equinox uses a 93 kw hydrogen fuel cell and 300-volt nickel-metal hydride battery.
The obstacles that remain are the lack of a hydrogen delivery and refueling infrastructure, and the cost of the batteries and related technology for the cars. Both are substantial obstacles. Today the National Hydrogen Association lists 64 hydrogen fueling stations in operation in the U.S. Only three of those are capable of giving today’s hydrogen cars like the fuel-cell Equinoxes a full tank. The government estimates it would take about 12,000 stations to supply the whole U.S., with urban stations every three miles, and stations spaced within 25 miles along interstates.
It has set 2018 as a goal to develop that refueling network, though development funding is currently suspended. And even if the stations were built, it’s unclear where much of the hydrogen will come from. There is enough extra hydrogen produced today to power 1 million vehicles, but industrial demand for the gas is also growing.
The 116 vehicles in the Project Driveway program are part of GM’s fourth-generation of hydrogen models. Colquitt says between generations three and four, cost dropped by 50 percent from roughly 100 times the cost of a traditional internal combustion powertrain, or about $1 million. He expects the cost for the next generation sould be about 10 times more than a gas engine, which would be about $100,000. That’s still a lot of money.
GM and other automakers have said previously that two primary factors will drive costs down to an affordable level:
1---Materials science, using nano technology to reduce the amount of platinum needed for the fuel cells. One major factor in that will be increasing the capacity of buffer batteries to smooth out the power demand from the fuel cell. Bigger batteries will add some cost too.
2---Mass production. To that end, Colquitt says General Motors is “Fully committed to making this technology a reality”, and that the company expects to have vehicles ready for customer sale or lease by 2015. He adds that investing in fuel cell technology carries the highest risk, but that the technology offers the highest returns among alternative fuel technologies, compared to plug-in electric vehicles and biofuels.
We’ve driven most of the fuel cell cars automakers are developing. And from our perspective, it looks like the cars will likely be ready by then. Whether the world will also have the fuel remains to be seen. Electric companies have been lining up to provide power for battery electric cars. But there hasn’t been a similar commitment by fuel companies to produce hydrogen for fuel-cell cars.
— Jim Travers and Eric Evarts
