GM and Honda Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles

There is an air of tangible excitement in the room as GM execs detail their breakthroughs in the automaker’s hydrogen fuel cell program. This is not hype...we’ve been following advanced vehicle development for the past 15 years and smokescreens are easy enough to spot by the trained eye. There’s something happening here.

We’re at Camp Pendleton in Southern California for tech briefings and an opportunity to drive – not just view, but drive – the Chevrolet Sequel concept car. Now, this may not seem like much to the uninitiated, but you don’t typically drive concept cars. They’re the vehicles of idea and imagination, of forward-thinking designs and an array of new or exotic technologies intended to enlighten or inspire, but not prompt one to jump inside and grab for the keys. Yet, that’s what we’re being invited to do. Not being ones to disappoint our hosts, we eagerly oblige.

It doesn’t take long to formulate some basic thoughts on the experience. This is very cool...not just because we’re driving a concept car, but because what’s beneath the skin of this cutting-edge crossover vehicle is truly revolutionary. The Sequel bodyshell rests atop what GM calls a skateboard chassis – a self-contained rolling chassis fitted with the hydrogen fuel cell, controllers, hydrogen storage, actuators, and all the high-tech componentry needed to accelerate, brake, and control the vehicle. It uses by-wire control including steer-by-wire and brake-by-wire, allowing for much greater flexibility in design and packaging. It’s leading the way to the future...and we’re driving this highest-tech vehicle just as if it were powered by a conventional engine. It is that seamless.

The Sequel is designed to transport four to five passengers and offer all the functionality of the popular crossover vehicle design. It’s powered by a front AC electric drive motor and a pair of rear in-wheel electric motors, with a total output of 154 horsepower. Electricity to drive these motors is supplied by a GM-designed proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell fed by compressed hydrogen stored in three 10,000 psi tanks. Lithium ion batteries are also used for energy storage. The Sequel offers a 90 mph top end and a groundbreaking 300 mile driving range. It sits on a 119.7 inch wheelbase with a bodyshell measuring in at 196.6 inches long, 77.4 inches wide, and 66.8 inches tall.

Segue northward about 400 miles or so to Laguna Seca Raceway on the Monterey Peninsula. Different automaker, same experience. Here, we’re brought up to speed on Honda’s latest efforts in creating the future, in the form of the FCX Concept. Far from the original and somewhat boxy FCX fuel cell vehicle that Honda has been fielding in fleet and highway demonstrations for a number of years – a model based on the automaker’s circa-1990s battery electric powered Honda EV Plus – this is a sleek and stylish sedan replete with the kind of features that get buyers’ hearts racing. Plus, we note, this is a concept car with unusual attributes more suited to conventional new vehicle models than a vision of the future like, for instance...windshield wipers, turn signals, and a horn. Apparently, the roads of the future will be as hectic as those of today. We mention this because these are not typically fully-functional items on a vehicle concept, which traditionally offers more design cues than functional attributes.

The FCX Concept is a milestone for Honda, brought about by its totally-new vertical fuel cell stack configuration that allows packaging this important powerplant in a center tunnel layout. Moving the compact fuel cell here opens up design possibilities that were previously unattainable, such as integrating the stack into a low-profile and elegant sedan form. Also, moving hydrogen vertically through a stack rather than horizontally means improved water drainage, one of the real issues in fuel cell operation. Fuel cell stack power has also increased by 14 kilowatts even as Honda’s stack design decreased by 20 per cent in size and 30 percent in weight.

As for specs, the sleek, five-passenger FCX sedan measures in at 187.4 inches long, 73.4 inches wide, and 56.9 inches high. It motivates smartly along courtesy of 127 horsepower provided by an AC synchronous electric motor, with energy supplied by a 100kW fuel cell stack and lithium-ion batteries. Gaseous hydrogen is stored in a 5,000 psi hydrogen tank. Top speed is 100 mph and range is 270 miles. It feels good driving this car and we’re struck by just how “normal” the experience seems, even though we realize just how advanced every part of this vehicle is and that we’re being propelled by electric motors, fed by hydrogen-produced energy, with energy recaptured in lithium-ion batteries.

What we found with the Honda FCX Concept is that, just like with GM’s Sequel, you can drive the most advanced vehicle in existence using the most exotic technologies and fuels imaginable, and come away from the experience feeling like you’ve just driven a pre-production model of today. Sure, there were some atypical sounds and idiosyncrasies in both, but they were minor ones that will surely be engineered out of the equation. Other than that...this was like beaming a pair of future vehicles to today’s highways and having the pleasure of driving effortlessly about, oblivious to history unfolding on the road ahead.