Fuel frenzy - Chicago Sun-Times- Gas Mileage

It looked like any other vehicle. And it drove like one, too.

That’s what blew me away.

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The Tahoe Hybrid is the first full hybrid in the General Motors lineup. It is powered by a 6.0-liter V-8 and is offered in both 2WD and 4WD models. The 2WD model boasts a city fuel economy of 21 mpg, which is equal to the four-cylinder 2008 Toyota Camry. The 2WD model is estimated to get 22 mpg on the highway, and the city/hwy fuel economy numbers for the 4WD model are estimated at 20/20 mpg.
 

 

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The Volt concept is powered by the E-Flex System, GM’s next generation all-electric propulsion system. GM estimates that this "plug-in" electric vehicle could nearly eliminate trips to the gas station for the 78 percent of commuters who drive 40 miles or less each day. It runs completely off of electricity, unless the battery power has been depleted. That’s when an engine would kick in.
 

 

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Chevy fuel solutions

Here’s this vehicle completely powered by hydrogen, and you probably wouldn’t bat an eyelash if you saw it driving down the road. It’s not chugging along with an underpowered engine. It doesn’t have an odd egg-shaped design. And it doesn’t make any weird sounds. Actually, it doesn’t make much of a sound at all.

It was a Chevrolet Equinox, like any other Equinox, except that it was powered by hydrogen rather than gasoline.

This fuel-cell-powered vehicle is just one of the things Chevrolet has on tap in the race toward fuel solutions that will wean our dependency off gasoline.

Fuel cell solutions

This Equinox with a fuel cell is about one step away from real, honest-to-goodness production. In fact, this year Chevrolet is launching a 30-month program called “Project Driveway,” where 100 of these Equinox Fuel Cells will end up in the garages of hundreds of real consumers living in Washington, D.C.; New York City; and Los Angeles. Each driver will have the Equinox for three months and report their thoughts and opinions back to Chevrolet. Once the test period has concluded, all the data will aid the creation of a production vehicle.

What these driver’s will experience with the Equinox Fuel Cell is something very similar to what they’d get with a regular gasoline-powered vehicle. Only kind of different.

The overall shape of the fuel cell vehicle will completely mimic the regular Equinox, though the special paint job and raindrop badging on the back will identify the vehicle as something different. There won’t be anything on the inside that will immediately distinguish the vehicle as a fuel cell either. Unless you look in the cargo area. Then, you’ll see funny bump in the back that contains two of the three hydrogen fuel tanks.

The most visible difference will be observed when the driver goes to fuel the tank. There is still a flip cover on the side that contains a hole for a fuel nozzle, but the circular hole is about half the size of one you’d see for gasoline. The most audible difference will be heard when turning on the vehicle. There are no cylinders to fire up, no engine to make a vroom sound. Instead, there’s a quiet hum that’s similar to the way a hybrid vehicle sounds when operating in electric-only mode.

Otherwise, the Equinox Fuel Cell drives just like a regular Equinox. And that’s incredibly impressive in its unimpressiveness. I’ve driven previous-generation fuel cells, and they did look funny, sound funny and drive funny. They plodded along slowly, and there were buttons and knobs instead of a gearshift. Plus, you needed an engineer in the co-pilot seat to explain how to drive it. Literally.

So, though the underpinnings are technologically advanced, the driver’s experience will be utterly usual.

Hydrogen motivation

When you begin talking about fuel cell vehicles, the terminology gets a little unfamiliar. If I said that the Equinox Fuel Cell has three compressed hydrogen storage tanks made of carbon fiber that are pressurized to 100,000 psi and that they contain roughly 9 pounds of hydrogen, it doesn’t make much sense to the average person. But, if I said that the fuel tanks will be able to take in 4.2 kilograms of hydrogen in the form of compressed gas and 1 kilogram is roughly the energy equivalent of 1 gallon of gasoline, then that means something in relatable terms. Furthermore, these three tanks of compressed hydrogen will allow the vehicle to travel 150 miles before needing to refuel.

The power behind the Equinox Fuel Cell will be equivalent to 126 horsepower, and zero to 60 mph in about 12 seconds, which is about 4 seconds slower than the gasoline-powered Equinox. This number is deceiving, however, because the 236 pound-feet of torque supplied by the fuel cell is brilliant for quick acceleration. I would have thought the zero-to-60-mph times were faster based on first-hand testing.

While the Equinox Fuel Cell won’t be race-car quick … or even gasoline-model quick … that’s not the point. The point is zero emissions. The only byproduct is distilled water.

Fuel cell safety

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