John Simister
John discusses innovations in the world of motoring
‘Is electricity the future?’ asks John, or is there another way?
Like it or not, the automotive world is heading for electric power. We classic enthusiasts can be a part of this, as you can read in this issue (see p52). But there’s more than one way to power electric propulsion. Charging up a big battery pack from the mains is the obvious one, but the idea of filling up with liquid fuel isn’t dead yet.
Car-makers have been working on fuel-cell cars for years and do so in the hope that the hydrogen on which such cars rely will become readily available in large, cheap quantities. That could be by solar-powered electrolysis of water, by clever use of industrial by-products or even from biomass. Then, in the vehicles, hydrogen is combined with airborne oxygen in the ‘fuel cell’, a reverse electrolysis that produces copious electrical energy and a lot of water. The obvious advantage over a ‘normal’ electric car is that filling up with liquid hydrogen is much quicker than waiting for batteries to charge. The car will go further between replenishments, too, if the hydrogen tank is big enough.
Taking part in the PC electric-classics extravaganza felt like being in on the start of a new era, something big. It reminded me of how I felt on a trip to China, in 2004, for the Challenge Bibendum at the Shanghai grand prix circuit. At this international event, attended by carmakers, component suppliers, research institutions and more, fuel cells were touted as the way to go, much more so than simple battery-electric cars. All that was needed was the pesky hydrogen.
Focusing on innovation
I had gone to Shanghai with Ford of Europe, and I soon found myself taking part in the three-stage Fuel Efficiency Challenge. For this I drove an experimental Ford Focus saloon with a fuel-cell heart. This was based, like most such systems at Shanghai apart from Nissan’s, on a Ballard 902 fuel-cell ‘stack’ and a Siemens electric motor.
The second stage was best: 24 laps of the circuit, with laps three to 17 to be covered at an average of 70km/h (43.5mph). It was not, stressed Ford engineer and co-pilot Mike Smith, a race. It was an efficiency test; if our average speed was lower, we’d be penalised for unfairly saving fuel, if higher, we’d use more fuel and penalise ourselves.
From the pit lane, the track seemed even more video-game futuristic than it had looked from the paddock. As I coaxed our electro-focus into contention it emitted a soundtrack every bit as other-worldly as our surroundings. It whooshed and whined like something out of The Jetsons, the fuel cell’s air-compressor pitch rising as I squeezed the accelerator and felt surprising force.
But keeping up to that average speed was harder than expected, thanks not least to the hard, low-rolling-resistance tyres with about as much grip as a set of Seventies Michelin ZXS, the ones that used to perish before they wore out.
Whooshing into the future
We whooshed past some other cars with ease, although not the neat Volvo 3CC concept car that seemed to be going for some sort of speed record. Running neck-and-neck on the track with a fuel-cell Mercedes A-class and a biodiesel VW Golf hybrid, we used our fuel efficiently enough to score a silver medal by the end of the whole event. The next day, though, brought us into closer contact with the real China as the Focus tackled the road navigation rally. Police, nervous of all these foreigners, were everywhere, a worry for me as the grindings of bureaucracy had failed to provide me with the required Chinese driving licence and an international driving permit wouldn’t do. If it had all gone wrong, I might have been incarcerated for years, but we got away with it.
That visit to China was a real eye-opener: Shanghai’s vastness, the number of bicycles, the number of family members able to travel on a single motorcycle… the fried chicken feet. And the number of Volkswagen Santanas, including one at the Challenge powered by hydrogen peroxide, aka rocket fuel. In my 2004 stories, I wrote that the industry expected fuel-cell vehicles to be commonplace in 15 years’ time. Now we’re here, and they’re not. Maybe in 2035, then.