Volkswagen: Affordable fuel cells by 2010

Saturday, November 04, 2006

Volkswagen: Affordable fuel cells by 2010

Volkswagen developed new fuel cells which are cheaper to produce and therefore expects to have the first prototypes by 2010 and a full production might be possible by 2020.

Almost every car company is working on pollution-free hydrogen fuel cells, but VW has claimed a major breakthrough.

The big problem with fuel cells is the cost of manufacture - car companies are reluctant to quote figures but it is thought that current designs cost as much as the rest of the car. VW says the main reason for this is that fuel cells can only run at a maximum temperature of 80 degrees C, so need very expensive cooling systems. A new VW fuel cell runs at 120 degrees C and can tolerate a maximum temperature of 160 degrees C.

VW says that the cost-savings in the cooling system make this the first financially viable fuel cell design for cars. It expects to have the first prototypes running in 2010 and full production around 2020. The company insists that existing designs could never be viable.