Fuel cell has potential growth

Fuel cell-powered Mercedes-Benz B-Class F-CELL announced

The fuel cell powered Mercedes-Benz B-Class F-CELL

Mercedes-Benz has announced its first limited production fuel cell car, the B-Class F-CELL. Production will begin towards the end of this year and first of around 200 vehicles will be delivered to customers in Europe and the US early next year.
The B-Class F-CELL’s electric motor produces 100kW (136bhp) and 290Nm of torque. Range is 385km and top speed is about 170km/h. ‘2009 is the year in which we are establishing further milestones where sustainable mobility is concerned. The B-Class F-CELL is taking on a pioneering role as the world's first fuel cell powered automobile to be produced under series production conditions,’ says Dr Thomas Weber, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler

AG. Dr Weber is responsible for Group R&D for Mercedes-Benz cars.

The zero-emissions F-CELL uses a compact, high-performance fuel cell system in which gaseous hydrogen reacts with atmospheric oxygen at 700 bar, to generate current for the electric motor. This fuel cell system has very good cold-start capabilities and the B-Class F-CELL will start at even temperatures as low as -25 degrees Celsius. The B-Class F-CELL also uses a lithium-ion battery, with an output of 35kW to boost power and recover braking energy.

According to Mercedes-Benz, the operational reliability of the B-Class F-CELL is of the same high level as in Mercedes vehicles with conventional combustion engines. However, before hydrogen fuel cell vehicles like this can really hit the motoring mainstream, a comprehensive network of hydrogen filling stations has to be set up wherever such vehicles are used. And while government authorities in certain regions in Europe and the US are already working on setting up a hydrogen infrastructure, it is, for now, still a distant dream – if not an impossible one – in India and elsewhere in Asia