OSCar Automotive has been awarded a grant by the BOC Foundation to develop a powertrain for a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle.

The Hyrban concept car, being developed by OSCar and the universities of Oxford and Cranfield, will have electric motors in each of its four wheels.

These will be mainly powered by a fuel cell, generating 6kW - less power than needed to run four electric kettles, so very little hydrogen will need to be stored.

The vehicle's motors will generate power when the brakes are applied, enabling the Hyrban to reach speeds of 50mph.

Researchers hope that the project will prove fuel cell cars are ready to be developed with existing technologies and are an efficient way of travel that could be translated into a long-term solution.

They believe fuel cells are the way forward, as they only emit water, whereas hydrogen extracted from fossil fuels produces carbon dioxide.

"The two generally accepted barriers are fuel cell cost and the problem of hydrogen storage, but by developing the vehicle architecture to suit a fuel cell, solutions to these barriers are within our grasp," commented Hugo Spowers, managing director of OSCar.

Since beginning in 1990, the BOC Foundation has funded in excess of 120 environmental projects, with the aim of finding practical solutions to environmental problems.


Ÿ Adfero Ltd