A taxi cab that runs on the latest
hydrogen fuel cell technology is being developed with the aim of being ready
for full road trials in time for the 2012 Olympics.
The car looks and drives just like a
standard
London
black cab – but underneath the bonnet is some cutting-edge technology by
sports carmaker Lotus.
The
fuel cell taxi can hit a top speed of 81mph, go from 0-60mph in 14 seconds and
has a range of more than 250 miles on a full tank of hydrogen. Like electric
vehicles, the new taxi does not produce any emissions from its tailpipe but,
unlike battery-electric cars, it will only take a few minutes to fill up from
empty.
The widespread introduction of hydrogen
cars has long been a goal of some green campaigners, because eventually they
allow transport fuel to be generated from renewableenergy. Wind and solar plants could be
used to drive the process of splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen – and the
hydrogen piped to filling stations.
Iceland
has already begun constructing a hydrogen grid using plentiful
geothermal energy. But in the short term, hydrogen vehicles in the
UK
are likely to be powered by fuel derived from oil.
Henri Winand, ofIntelligent Energy, which makes the
fuel cells used in the taxis, said they were an ideal way to begin building the
infrastructure required for a hydrogen-based transport system – seen as one of
the big stumbling blocks for the wider introduction of hydrogen vehicles. "With
fleets you can deploy a little infrastructure, which you can build up with the
more fleets you have, rather than going straight to consumers who might be
wondering where the next filling station is."
London
's deputy mayor, Kit Malthouse, announced last year that by 2012 there
would be six hydrogen filling stations in the capital. He said he wanted around
20-50 taxis in operation by then as part of theBlack Cabs Go Greenprogramme, as well as 150
hydrogen-powered buses.
"The
intent is to take the taxis and retrofit a powertrain that has zero tailpipe
emissions," said Winand. "But also it has to deliver some very
important things: a reasonable range, very quick refuelling time and no
modifying the passenger or driver space."
After
modification, he said no one would be able to tell the difference between a
hydrogen cab and a regular one apart from the lack of diesel fumes. The first
few hydrogen taxis, which were funded in part by the government's Technology
Strategy Board, have already been built at the Lotus headquarters in
Norfolk
.
Intelligent
Energy, leading the consortium for the new hydrogen taxi, has designed and
built the fuel cell, which uses hydrogen to make electricity. Lotus is
responsible for integrating the fuel cell into the body of the taxi – in their
design, pressurised hydrogen is stored in a tank where the internal combustion
engine of a standard cab would be. The fuel cell produces electricity and feeds
it to a battery pack under the floor of the taxi's passenger area. The batteries then
drive motors in the wheels.
"To
do that with a purely battery-electric vehicle, you would have to take up most
of the space at the back with batteries, where the passengers are, or certainly
you would constrict that space substantially," said Winand. "And
you'd probably have to stop halfway through the day to plug in somewhere."
Mainstream
manufacturers are also getting interested in hydrogen. Daimler, Hyundai, Honda
and
Toyota
have all announced plans in recent months to have fuel-cell vehicles
available for the consumer market by 2015.
"There
is a global drive to reduce CO2 emission levels and this is something we are
dedicated to, for both Lotus cars and our engineering clients," said Simon
Wood of Lotus Engineering. "The fuel cell hybrid taxi is a fantastic
achievement for all the companies involved. The level of quality and
professionalism that has been demonstrated is extremely high and the taxi is
already running through a series of tests."
(
from Guardian,
22/2/2010
)