Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle ; Hyundai ix35

The drive towards electric vehicles has gathered more momentum in Korea, as Hyundai has recently completed the development of its 3rd generation ix35 Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV). For the record, the ix35 is known as the Hyundai Tucson here in Malaysia, and the Tucson FCEV will start its in-service testing and experimenting in 2012 in limited numbers first. Hyundai has targeted a market release in 2015, just four years away, and as long as the development of electric vehicles continue to grow rapidly as how it has been in the last year or so, I see no reason to why this vehicle cannot see the light of production in 2015.

Let us now move to the specifications of the vehicle. The Tucson FCEV carries within it a 100kW fuel cell system and dual hydrogen storage tanks that are rated at 700 bar. In terms on range, the vehicle offers 650km of distance on a single charge, something that can be considered respectable. This is a clear improvement compared to the previous model, which only could garner 370km on a single charge (this translates to an improvement of 76%). Maximum speed for the vehicle is deemed at approximately 160km/h, though I am sure Hyundai will be looking at improving this figure before the vehicle is released for production.

The fuel stack and drive system’s output rating if the new Tucson in similar to the earlier Tucson FCEV, although the new version displays a 21kW battery for energy storage purposes, in comparison the 100kW super capacity unit that was showcased in the 2nd generation Tucson FCEV. The previous Tucson FCEV also had half the hydrogen capacity of the current model at 350 bar, thus the new variant is most definitely an improvement.

In terms of overall volume of the fuel cell system, the volume has been decrease d by up to 20% compared to the previous system of the older vehicle, and this has been accomplished through modularization of large and bulky parts in the fuel cell system. This includes the likes of the fuel cell stack, inverter, balance of plant (BOP) and also the high voltage junction box that are contained in the vehicle’s fuel cell system.

Petrol efficiency of this vehicle has been recorded at 31km per liter of fuel, also a significant improvement compared to the 2nd generation Tucson FCEV that only managed 27km/liter of fuel. Overall, this new FCEV from Hyundai is definitely a lot better than its predecessors, and sets high standards to emulate for any other car manufacturer that is interested in producing FCEVs. @701panduan