Ford Unveils Hydrogen Fuel-Cell SUV

Ford debuted a new hydrogen-powered fuel-cell Explorer concept today during the first of two L.A. Auto Show press preview days. Like the regular gasoline-powered version of this midsize SUV, it seats six and features full-time four-wheel drive but gets 35 mpg and can travel 350 miles on one tank of hydrogen, which Ford says is a record for a fuel-cell vehicle.

The fuel-cell Explorer prototype is part of a series of vehicles partially funded by a contract with the United States Department of Energy. The goal of this program is to promote research and develop technology for alternative fuels.

Ford engineers mounted a hydrogen fuel tank in the center of the vehicle, where the standard Explorer’s six-speed automatic transmission normally goes. This positioning prevented any significant changes to passenger or cargo volume. So far the fuel-cell Ford Explorer prototype has been driven 17,000 miles, which goes some way to prove the viability of fuel-cell technology, as opposed to it just being a pipe dream, as critics have said in recent years. The company also has accumulated more than 300,000 miles with a fleet of 30 hydrogen-powered Focus fuel-cell vehicles undergoing real-world testing in seven cities around the globe.

“We believe hydrogen may become a viable motor fuel in the long term,” said Gerhard Schmidt, Ford’s vice president of research and advanced engineering. Ford engineers recently set what the company claims is a record for fuel-cell vehicles by traveling 1,556 miles in a 24-hour period.

Ford began working on hydrogen technology in the early 1990s. Its first hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle was released in 2001 and was based on a lightweight aluminum sedan body, which also was used in the development of the company’s first hydrogen-powered internal combustion engine.

In 2002, DaimlerChrysler completed what it claims is the first-ever transcontinental journey in a fuel-cell vehicle, the methanol-powered Necar 5, which the company estimates will be ready for sale in 2010. Fuel-cell-powered buses developed by DaimlerChrysler are currently being tested in Iceland.

Meanwhile, Honda’s hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle, the FCX sedan, is currently in pre-production and is scheduled for general release in three to four years.

A hydrogen fuel cell is superior to an internal combustion engine in several ways: It doesn’t pollute and produces only water as a byproduct; it has far fewer moving parts; it is more efficient; and it uses renewable resources. But fuel-cell technology is still prohibitively expensive and the question of how to mass produce and make available liquid or gaseous hydrogen is a huge barrier to adoption.

Honda is aiming to address this last issue with a Home Energy Station, now in its third generation of development. This backyard-shed-size hydrogen production and storing system is fueled by natural gas and provides heat and electricity to homes in addition to refilling fuel-cell vehicles.

Other applications of fuel-cell power are already in use around the world — there’s even a Rhode Island rock 'n' roll band called Protium that claims to be the world’s first hydrogen fuel-cell-powered rock band.

Ford’s other green vehicles to debut at the L.A. show, which will be open to the public Dec. 1 through Dec. 10, include a 2008 Escape Hybrid, the low-emissions Fusion and Focus, and the 2008 F-Series Super Duty pickup with new “clean” diesel technology. The company plans to unveil the next in their series of green technology demonstration vehicles in January 2008 at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.