Zero-emission motoring reaches new heights
Two hydrogen pioneers have taken real-world zero-emission motoring to a new level by driving a Hyundai ix35 fuel cell 2 383km in 24 hours.
Arnt-Gøran Hartvig, a sports scientist, and Marius Bornstein, who has a master’s degree in physics, travelled around the clock on public roads in Germany, emitting nothing but water vapour from the ground-breaking fuel-cell electric vehicle.
The Norwegians covered the route of more than 300km between Vatenfall’s hydrogen station in Hafen City, Hamburg, and a Shell hydrogen station in Sachsendamm, Berlin, as many times as possible in 24 hours. Refuelling the car takes as little as three minutes.
Their route included city driving as well as high-speed roads. “We wanted to see what the combination of a state-of-the-art fuel-cell electric vehicle and hydrogen refuelling station are capable of today. The result was stunning,” said the team after the journey. The ix35 fuel cell is fitted with a 100kW electric motor, allowing it to reach a maximum speed of 160km/h. It produces no harmful emissions – only water vapour comes from the tailpipe – and has an official driving range of almost 600km on one tank of hydrogen.
