Nissan considering fuel cell sports car for production
Until fairly recently, Nissan has been mostly quiet about its fuel cell development program. The Japanese brand recently became the first to run a fuel cell vehicle around the Nurburgring in Germany when its X-Trail FCV took to the circuit more typically populated by GT-Rs, Corvettes and Porsches. Now it looks like Nissan might follow the lead of Tesla with its first production fuel cell vehicle. Izuho Hirano, Nissan's fuel cell laboratory manager has told AutoCar that a sports car or luxury car would likely be the best place to introduce the technology. Using the same rationale as Tesla and Honda with the FCX Clarity, expensive new technology like lithium batteries and fuel cells would be accepted better in a more expensive car because other premium features could be packaged with it. A fuel cell car must have something to justify the price besides the powertrain. Nissan will make a decision in early 2009 about whether to proceed with a production fuel cell car for launch in 2014. [Source: AutoCar]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Serge 2:47PM (8/15/2008)
Tesla is charging a $100K for the Roadster and making money on it. As far as I understand, Honda with their $600 / month FCX Clarity deal is not. There is a difference.
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Chris M 4:30PM (8/15/2008)
While there are a few sportscar enthusiasts willing and able to shell out a half-million dollars for a high performance coupe, they'd insist on high performance, and current H2FC cars don't have that.
To get high performance in a fuel cell car means larger than average fuel cells and lots more LiIon batteries, raising the price significantly. At that point, even the spendthrift sportscar enthusiasts are much more likely to choose somethng like a Tesla Roadster, a Lightning, a Venturi Fetish, or even a Bughatti Veyron - any of those would be cheaper and faster.
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gorr 5:35PM (8/15/2008)
A electric fuelcell sport car should be very powerful and light, the best caracteristics for performance. Electric traction is better too and can be set without too much weight to 4 wheels drive for instant acceleration and regenerative/boosting braking. The battery must be there just for capturing regenerative breaking because it weight too much. Also the fuel is weight efficient, you only get useful molecule contrary to gasoline that is full of impurity that have to be half treated by the catalyser. Also it would more secure to install a noise generator in front of the car.
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Chris M 8:02PM (8/15/2008)
Automotive fuel cells aren't that powerful, most are in thw 40 to 80 Kw range, the most powerful that I know of is the 100 Kw fuel cell in the FCX Clarity. In contrast, the Tesla Roadster battery pack can put out over 200 Kw, and since the Roadster is considerably lighter than the Clarity, performance is far far superior.
At 5K per Kw, fuel cells are very costly, to help reduce prices manufacturers plan to use the lowest power fuel cell they can and get most of their peak power from much cheaper batteries. Both GM and Ford have changed their fuel cell programs to plug-in programs, relegating the fuel cell to "range extender" use only.
H2 has the highest energy to weight ratio of any chemical fuel, but it is extremely low density, and the high pressure H2 storage tanks add considerable weight, neutralizing hydrogens weight advantage.
Joseph 3:32PM (8/17/2008)
A fuel cell car alone probably could not be a sports car; fuel cells cannot instantly spit out power.
A fuel cell hybrid (many fuel cell cars are hybrids: FCX, GM's Equinox FCV ect.) that is a sports car would have to depend on its battery for good performance. So....why not use the battery alone like in the Roadster? Come on, Nissan. If your willing to make little EVs, then why not a sports car EV that makes sense, instead of a fuel cell EV.
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