Volkswagen, the famous automobile company has just launched the Blue FCV concept car at the Los Angeles Auto Show. The USP of the car is that it is the world’s first high temperature fuel cell that has an array of twelve lithium-ion batteries. This is an encouraging step taken by Volkswagen towards environment protection. The car, when driven on battery solely can give a range of around 65 miles. One can “re-fuel” the battery with an electric outlet or with the Volkswagen high-temperature fuel cell.
When the high-temperature fuel cell is used, the car’s range is expanded to 155 miles in addition to the existing range, thus giving a range of around 220 miles. All this, with just one single charge! The Blue FCV concept car is equipped with a solar panel on the roof which supplies around 150W energy to the battery. The fuel scores because it is quite light, provides better everyday utility, has a lower price range and has better chances of becoming a technology that is used by the mass on a large scale. The fuel cell for Blue Concept Car was developed at a Volkswagen research centre based in Germany. This car is the third concept variant of “New Small Family” car of Volkswagen. The car measures 144.9 inches long, 61.8 inches high and 64.2 inches wide. The weight of the car is around 1,090 kg including the fuel cell and batteries. The lithium-ion batteries are situated under the rear seat. The fuel cell is located in the front.
