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One-Tank Trips

June 11, 2007
Some fuel-cell-powered cars can last 300 miles between fuelings.

UK scientists reported in late May a breakthrough in hydrogen storage technology that could eventually make mass marketing of fuel-cell-powered cars a reality.

The team, consisting of researchers from the universities of Birmingham and Oxford and the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, has developed a compound of lithium that can store enough hydrogen aboard a fuel-cell-powered car to keep it running for as long as 300 miles before refueling. (Three hundred miles has been cited as the range necessary to commercialize fuel cell cars.) Size and weight issues related to the use of hydrogen as fuel for passenger vehicles have proven major barriers to commercialization efforts.

The UK team's approach has focused on enabling hydrogen to be stored at a much higher density while maintaining acceptable weight limits using a process called "chemisorption." Their efforts included the testing of thousands of solid-state compounds to find "a light, cheap, readily available" material that would allow the absorption and de-absorption process to occur safely at typical fuel cell operating temperatures. The scientists have now produced a variety of lithium hybrid that may offer the right blend of properties.

In a related development, General Motors Corp. has declared victory in achieving the 300-mile driving range on one tank of hydrogen with its Chevy Sequel. The Sequel, touted as "the first vehicle in the world to successfully integrate a hydrogen fuel cell propulsion system with a broad menu of advanced technologies," made it across the state of New York on one tank. Its journey began at GM's Fuel Cell Activity Center in Honeoye Falls and finished in Tarrytown.

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About the Author

Jill Jusko

Bio: Jill Jusko is executive editor for IndustryWeek. She has been writing about manufacturing operations leadership for more than 20 years. Her coverage spotlights companies that are in pursuit of world-class results in quality, productivity, cost and other benchmarks by implementing the latest continuous improvement and lean/Six-Sigma strategies. Jill also coordinates IndustryWeek’s Best Plants Awards Program, which annually salutes the leading manufacturing facilities in North America. 

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