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Driving
A Fuel-Cell Car
First of all you will notice that there is no clutch and no gears in
the car. The car is directly powered by an electric motor and
so does not require any of the drive mechanisms from
internal-combustion engine vehicles.
When you start it up the
next thing you notice is the sound. The whining of the
starter motor is gone, along with the sudden revs and throb of the
engine as it powers into life. These are replaced with
various electrical whirrs and whooshes and instantly the electric motor
is ready to go.
As only experimental cars are currently
available the number of people who have driven one is very
small. So, as it is unlikely that you will have had the
chance to drive one yourself, I've managed to find someone who has and
can answer the question "what is it like to drive?"
With
no gears acceleration is
instantaneous and smooth accompanied by sounds that wouldn't be out of
place in The Jetsons cartoon. It doesn’t take long
before a respectable 40mph is reached. The car just seems to
float along as the usual judder of gear change is eliminated.
This was how one lucky
reporter described driving the fuel-cell powered Ford Focus.
Manufactured in a joint project with BP (British Petroleum), 30
experimental models have been built so far each capable of reaching 80
mph with 87 bhp.
In addition to the fuel cells the car
carries a battery behind the back seat which is charged under
regenerative breaking and can be used for extra accelerative energy as
required. The fuel cells are stacked under the floor with the motor and
"traction inverter" under the bonnet.
While it may
not be up to the full
performance of a standard combustion engine yet it definitely works
and, capable of speeds up to 80 mph, there is no reason why it
can’t start to replace gasoline driven cars in town and
cities as soon as production models are available.
And remember
that these vehicles are powered
by hydrogen derived from that abundant and freely available raw
material........
You guessed it.
Water.
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