[Mr. Wyndham]

Listening and learning from 500,000 miles of emissions-free driving
By Mary Beth Stanek
Director, GM Fuel Cell Commercialization

Sometime next week, one of 100 Equinox hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles being driven in Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C., will drive the 500,000th emission-free mile of Chevrolet‘s Project Driveway.

This is a huge accomplishment because we learn something about our vehicles, the hydrogen infrastructure and consumer acceptance of fuel cell vehicles with every mile driven.

Since the program began just over a year ago, more than 3,400 individuals have driven the fuel cell Equinox; either in short drives at media programs or special events, or as part of a longer-term loan. And with each drive we’ve learned something – most times it’s a pleasant surprise; other times not so pleasant. But each “surprise” has helped us identify needed refinements to the vehicles performance or resolve potential issues.

Overwhelmingly, the drivers love their experience, but that hasn’t stopped them from giving us candid feedback on everything from the way the vehicle looks, to technical input on brake “feel” and performance, to fueling experiences. To date, their feedback has led to the resolution of several hundred customer issues, and many of those changes have to do simply with how we set-up the driver experience.

The Project Driveway program has also provided us with insight into how these vehicles are being used under real world driving conditions. We’ve been able to use these experiences to extend fuel cell stack life and improve the regenerative braking system, which has already benefited our 2-mode hybrid vehicles since it’s the same brake system used on the Saturn Vue, Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon 2-mode hybrids.

Plus, the knowledge we’ve gained during the program on the fuel cell itself directly impacts the development of the Chevrolet Volt battery. Just like the Volt battery, fuel cells have several hundred repeating elements that need to be thermally managed, and we are applying the fuel cell thermal design knowledge to the Volt battery design.

From an infrastructure standpoint, the capabilities of the fueling stations have improved greatly to where many customers who used to spend 20 minutes or more refilling now spend about 6 or 7 minutes, which is very close to the average time to fill-up a traditional internal combustion vehicle.

True, hydrogen has a ways to go before it becomes a mainstream fuel, but GM is making real progress in vehicle development, which is also impacting other advanced vehicle programs as well. If you have some time, I recommend you check out the write-up in Motor Trend this month, which is a balanced account of where the Equinox fuel cell electric vehicle and hydrogen economy stands today.
http://fastlane.gmblogs.com/archives...#comment-84361

This is phenomenal!! Way to go, GM!!!


(I can't believe the gov't would let this die....)