Hydrogen fuel cell car sparks student interest on Gullen Mall
Students got a glimpse into the not-so-distant future this week when a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle drove silently onto Gullen Mall. The white 2005 Ford Focus powered by hydrogen instead of gasoline gets the equivalent of 49 miles per gallon while emitting only water vapor.
As soon as it was parked, the car sparked immediate excitement among passersby that surprised John Shewchun, a part time professor in the College of Engineering's Alternative Fuel Technology Program. "The public is becoming interested in these vehicles as we move in this direction because of the high price of gas and fuel."
The Ford Focus FCV hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle is one in a series of more than 30 Focus sedans produced by Ford delivering them to organizations and local governments in Michigan, California, Florida and British Columbia. Their performance is being carefully monitored over the next three years, providing critical data under daily driving conditions.
Santh Sathya, a design engineer on Ford's fuel cell team and a PhD student in Shewchun's Hydrogen Infrastructure class, stood out in the hot sun Monday afternoon, April 18, answering a continuing volley of questions. The oft-repeated question of the day: How much does it cost? "There is really no answer right now, because it's not for sale," said Sathya. "It costs a lot to develop these prototypes. But they won't be manufactured for the consumer until the technology is affordable."
Several major challenges to Ford and other auto manufacturers competing to be the leader in hydrogen fuel cell car development need to be surmounted before the industry can move from demonstration fleets to mass production. One is the high cost of the 'HFC stack' or proton exchange membrane where hydrogen is combined with oxygen and converted to electricity. Another is the lack of a hydrogen-fueling infrastructure to supply and distribute the necessary fueling stations.
Other hurdles range from finding a cost-effective and clean way to produce hydrogen to concerns about the effects of cold weather storage on fuel cell performance. Questions about hydrogen's inflammability have been satisfied by highly accurate and efficient sensors that can detect the smallest of leaks and shut off the system immediately.
Forecasts call for mass production of fuel cell vehicles as early as 2015.
The fleet is Ford's contribution to a Department of Energy initiative to promote development of hydrogen-based technologies. In each region where the fleet cars will be serviced, Ford has partnered with British Petroleum to set up hydrogen fueling stations.
Except for a few differences, the Ford Focus fuel cell vehicle on the mall looked like your standard Focus sedan. A much abbreviated trunk space makes way for the black hydrogen storage tank and compressor.
The car is a third generation hybrid electric vehicle with an 85kW fuel cell stack made by Ballard of Canada and a 5,000-psi (pounds per square inch) compressed hydrogen storage tank made by Dynetec. It uses a nickel metal-hydride battery pack and a brake-by-wire electro-hydraulic series regenerative braking system.
Ford's Focus FCV weighs 3,525 pounds, about 800 pounds more than the top-end standard Focus.