Across the US Under Fuel Cell Power

June 2, 2002 – Vol.7 No.10

ACROSS THE U.S. UNDER FUEL CELL POWER.

Stopping every 300 miles for a refilling of methanol, the DaimlerChrysler NECAR 5 has made a more-than-3000 mile journey from San Francisco to the Nation’s Capitol. Taking 13 days - with stops along the way - the trip was the single longest trip yet in a fuel cell vehicle.

NECAR 5 is a Mercedes A-class with a Ballard 75 kilowatt fuel cell and on-board reformer attached to the car’s underbody for minimal intrusion into the passenger compartment. The car has a top speed of more than 90 miles per hour.

DaimlerChrysler is spending more than $1 billion into research and development of fuel cell cars and buses. The company admits that there are major hurdles to overcome before fuel cells for vehicles can be fully developed commercially. Among them are fuel cell stack longevity, affordability, and the construction of a fueling infrastructure.

Proponents for methanol argue that the fuel is readily available and the hydrogen rich fuel is perfect for fuel cell vehicles. Existing gasoline filling stations would need methanol tanks and pumps installed. Most methanol is made from natural gas, but can be made from bio-sources. Visit Ballard at http://www.ballard.com/ , the Methanol Institute at http://www.methanol.org/ .