The Fuel Cell Gods Weren't Smiling That Day - problems in Opel Zafira fuel cell-powered automoble development - Brief Article

Automotive Industries,  July, 2000  by Lindsay Brooke

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We came as believers, and our belief has not wavered. But the test driving program that GM's Alternative Propulsion group had prepared for us late last month in Belgium, with their latest fuel cell-powered development vehicle, was beset with gremlins. The drill went like this: Get in the Opel Zafira. Step on the "throttle" pedal. Feel very torquey off-the-line acceleration ... for about 200 feet. Then nothing. No pedal. Forward momentum dies. Engineers in car with laptops look frustrated. Car limps to support van full of equipment. Technicians pounce on car. Test drive over.

GM engineers explained that the fuel cell Zafira, which has been undergoing systems validation testing at Opel's proving grounds, suffered from numerous maladies -- from sensor ills, to excess air in the system, to electro-magnetic interference from a local radio transmitter. We could only imagine the pioneers of this industry, back in the late 1800s, when they pushed their gasoline-powered carts out the barn door and pointed them up the dirt road for the first time. Same frustrations, indeed.

As a side note, program co-director Dr. Erhard Schubert is optimistic about developing an hydrogen-fuel infrastructure in Europe, to support fuel cell vehicles, by 2020. "Creating alliances between the auto industry and energy companies is the key," he says. "The vehicles and infrastructure must be developed in parallel."

COPYRIGHT 2000 Cahners Publishing Company
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group