Staying on the German car theme for today, I thought I’d pass along some other ‘green vehicle’ news I ran over. Mercedes-Benz is set to launch its first series-produced fuel cell car called the B Class F-CELL. The new ‘zero-emission’ electric vehicle will have a similar performance profile to that of a 2.o liter gasoline-powered vehicle and a range of about 250 miles.
At the heart of this the new generation compact is the high-performance fuel cell system in which gaseous hydrogen reacts with atmospheric oxygen at 700 bar to generate a current for the electric motor. The fuel cell system of the B-Class F-CELL has a very good cold-start capability even at temperatures as low as minus 25 degrees Celsius. Important for those German winters.
All Of That For 70MPG?
Mercedes, unlike other car companies, is correct in stating that the F-CELL is a “locally zero-emission vehicle”; obviously recognizing the fact that the production process used to produce the hydrogen needed for the vehicle to run is an energy intensive process that releases emissions. If broken down into equivalent miles per gallon, the F-CELL’s hydrogen drive cell has the same carbon footprint as a diesel car that gets about 70mpg. Not bad, but certainly not a ‘zero-emission’ vehicle when viewed objectively.
With a limited first production run of 200 vehicles being offered in both Germany and California, don’t expect to see the B-Class F-CELL driving down the street anytime soon. The limited number of vehicles, coupled with the fact that there are virtually no hydrogen filling stations, pretty much ensures that this car will remain a vehicle on the fringes of real world use and practicality. To somewhat alleviate the ‘fueling dilemma’, Daimler is cooperating with government authorities, energy utilities and oil companies in joint projects in places such as Hamburg, Stuttgart and California to get hydrogen stations installed so people can actually fill up their cars.
The Good: It’s a locally zero-emission electric vehicle that doesn’t need to be plugged in to be charged.
The Bad: There essentially is nowhere to fill up the car seeing as there are only a handful of hydrogen fueling pumps. Producing hydrogen is usually a fairly energy intensive process that still produces emissions.
The Bottom-Line: It’s surprising to see a smart company like Mercedes-Benz spend money, time and effort on a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle seeing as the technology and infrastructure needed to support such vehicles would be incredibly expensive; making large scale hydrogen fuel cell vehicle usage in the future impractical and improbable.
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