Vauxhall gets hyped up for hydrogen

As launches go, today’s H2Mobility was remarkably low key for such an important event. The new initiative sees government and industry commit to exploring ways to introduce the technology and infrastructure necessary to roll-out hydrogen vehicles in the UK by 2014/15.

The actual science of hydrogen fuel cells is rather easier to understand than it is to explain so anyone wishing to find out more should probably try Google. The highlights; a chemical reaction uses hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity which powers an electric motor. The two major plus points are that hydrogen is the most abundant element in the entire universe – unlike oil it’s not running out anytime soon so neither will the fuel cell – and that because of the way the cell works, the by-product is a combination of hydrogen and oxygen commonly known as water.

Still with us? Then now is possibly a good time to introduce Vauxhall’s fourth generation hydrogen car, the HydroGen4 – did you see what they did there?

Vauxhall have been working on hydrogen fuel cell technology for the last decade and have built a test fleet of over 100 vehicles that have collectively driven two million miles in the last few years. Despite the experimental nature of the HydroGen4, take away the marketing paint-job and you’re left with quite a good looking SUV that wouldn’t look out of place on any road. Vauxhall currently expect hydrogen cars to hit the market in 2016.

It’s not our place to preach on the environmental issues of motoring – we love a Ferrari as much as the next person – but it seems pretty clear that this is the brightest future the carmakers can achieve with current technology. Electric vehicles are fine for now, but making those batteries generates a lot of waste and when you plug them in, the electricity still comes from those dirty old power stations. Hydrogen cells are different and if you really want to understand why, open your window and take a big lungful of the fuel of the future.

www.vauxhall.co.uk


By David Young

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