May 2, 2001

Pollution-free fuel cell vehicle delivers 11 records for elapsed time and distance

Opel "HydroGen1" endures Arizona heat and sets "24 hours" record

Rüsselsheim/Mesa. "HydroGen1", the Opel and GM fuel cell concept car set yester-day, May 1, 2001, a total of 11 international records during an endurance test program carried out on GM's desert proving ground in Mesa, Arizona. Despite the extreme heat of 35 C ambient air temperature and 65 C on the asphalt, the hydrogen-fueled vehicle succeeded in setting new endurance records (one hour, six hours, 12 hours, 24 hours, 10 kilometers, 10 miles, 100 kilometers, 100 miles, 500 kilometers, 500 miles and 1000 kilometers). Opel's "HydroGen1" was able to accumulate 1,386.906 kilometers or 172 laps in a period of 24 hours.

The records were actually set by a group of international motoring journalists and Global Alternative Propulsion Center (GAPC) engineers attending a fuel cell workshop in Mesa. The results, subject to confirmation by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), show clearly the progress the GM/Opel GAPC team has made in the recent past. GAPC was established by Opel and General Motors in 1998 with facili-ties in Germany and the USA to develop the propulsion system of the future.

The record-setting drives were part of a comprehensive test program that the concept car – which is based on the successful Opel Zafira compact van – has been undergo-ing on GM's 2000-hectare, Arizona test site since the end of April 2001. "Our small team at GAPC is very proud of the results we achieved in the past day or two", said Dr. Udo Winter, chief-engineer at GAPC. "It is great what we were able to achieve in only a very limited development time". HydroGen1, which is propelled by an electric motor supplied by a fuel cell stack consuming pure hydrogen, must cover a distance of around 10,000 kilometres during the four weeks or so of trials. The five-seater is equipped with a variety of measuring instruments and the GAPC engineers are check-ing above all the electrical systems, the entire drive train and the car's performance under hot weather conditions. Temperatures routinely climb above 45 C on this proving ground near the city of Phoenix.

The measurements are made during the day and night test drives at hourly changing speeds of 80, 90, 100 and 110 km/h. Yet this is only the start to a mammoth test pro-gram which the HydroGen1 must undergo – as indeed do Opel and GM models with a conventional engine, too. The program consists of a total of around 150 different test-ing programs, each making specific demands on the vehicle as a whole or on individual components. They extend from demanding endurance tests to trials in which certain parts of the car are tested to beyond their normal load limits. Apart from this, all the tests have a speeded-up time factor. This means that, at the highest factor of 75, the wear and tear of one test kilometer corresponds to the stress of 75 normal everyday kilometers. The tests will be carried out on 13 different race-tracks and test sites on five continents.