Nissan Effis Eco Commuter Fuel Cell Concept

Often enough, concept vehicles offer a window to the future by sharing ideas automakers have in mind for future models. They can also be whimsical exercises in “what-if” with little grounding in reality and no chance of ever making it to the highway.

Nissan’s Effis compact commuter is one of those recently-debuted concepts that shows promise and direction, underscoring this automaker’s attention to the advanced and clean fuel technologies that will shape its future.

The Effis fuel cell concept combines Nissan’s newly developed Super Motor and compact lithium ion batteries with a fuel cell stack, an engineering plus for fuel cell vehicles that require an ultra-small, lightweight design. Featuring two independently controlled output shafts, the innovative, high-efficiency Super Motor allows driving force to be distributed independently to the left and right wheels. In the Effis, one Super Motor is positioned at the front axle and another at the rear, allowing independent control of all four wheels to enhance stability and performance.

Like Nissan’s most recent X-Trail fuel cell demonstration vehicle, the Effis integrates its fuel cell stack under the floor, but also extends this design element by locating the inverters and compact lithium-ion battery here as well to optimize interior space and weight distribution. Additional fuel cell components are located in the front of the vehicle while the hydrogen tank is positioned under the rear seat. Such a design makes it possible to engineer a fuel cell vehicle with an overall length of less than a compact 120”.

Clearly, all this activity emphasizes Nissan’s view that fuel cell technology is potentially crucial to remaining competitive in the years to come. But this automaker sees the road to fuel cell vehicles as a long journey rather than a short one so it’s not placing all its emphasis here. While Nissan is presently field testing X-Trail and Xterra fuel cell SUVs and giving further thought to these advanced vehicles through concepts like the Effis, the automaker is also working to bring extremely low emission gasoline vehicles and hybrids to the showroom.

EFFIS FCV SPECIFICATIONS

Length (in/mm) Width (in/mm) Height (in/mm) Seating Capacity Wheelbase (in/mm) Fuel Cell Motor Type Battery Type Tires, front/rear 118.0/3,000 63.0/1,600 61.0/1,550 4 80.7/2,050 UTC Neo Super Motor Compact Lithium-Ion 165/55R15

After pursuing both series and parallel hybrid development since the mid-1990s, Nissan decided to go outside its own shop by licensing Toyota’s Synergy Drive for its future hybrid electric models. This move capitalizes on the many years of effort devoted by Toyota in developing its highly-regarded Toyota Synergy Drive hybrid system, enabling Nissan to combine Synergy Drive with its own internal combustion engines for a competitive and cost-effective hybrid powerplant right out of the box.

The technology marriage comes to the highway when production begins on an Altima hybrid sedan in 2006. In the meantime, we’ll continue to see Nissan’s fuel cell and clean gasoline vehicle activities taking shape as the company’s first hybrid heads to market.