Introduction
The keynote presentations addressed automobile policy in the 21st century and what role the fuel cell vehicle might play in this. Three of the major bodies concerned in this area all presented, with views from Bill Borthwick of the European Commission; Tsune Tatsuoka from the Automotive Division of METI, the Japanese Government Agency; and Phyllis Genther Yoshida of the US Department of Energy (US DoE).
Although it was not the first presentation, the US DoE presentation sets the scene for the rest of the conference very effectively. Dr. Yoshida pointed out the trends in oil production and oil demand, with the likely disparity between these in coming years, in addition to the growth in the number of vehicles in the world. The technical challenges for fuel cells were also mentioned: thermal and water management; efficiency; fuel storage or processing; and cost. Dr. Yoshida went on to point out the problems caused by the relative scarcity of personnel trained to work in this area.
The presentation was realistic as it also showcased some of the progress being made. Examples of this included work by 3M and Gore to ensure that membrane electrode assemblies (MEA) for proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) can be reduced in high volumes at reduced platinum loading; the development of testing standards; the formation of a working group to conduct research and development into higher temperature PEMFC membranes and the process of educating the public about fuel cells. More information can be found at www.ott.doe.gov.
Later in the day, two panel discussions addressed the respective roles of government and industry to ensure that fuel cell vehicles become commercially viable and the possible scenarios to achieve this. Participants included senior figures from Honda, Nissan, Toyota, DaimlerChrysler, Ford and General Motors as well as Nisseki Mistubishi Oil and BP.
Electric car-sharing
A number of other interesting presentations were seen in the rest of the conference. In particular, details were given on the Kyoto public car-sharing project. This is sponsored by the Japanese New Energy Development Organisation (NEDO) and began in late 2000. The project examines the feasibility car-sharing and of electric vehicle operation, with a view to expanding the scheme elsewhere in Japan in the future.
The project uses nineteen Nissan and Toyota electric two-seater cars based at five stations in the Kyoto area. 180 qualifying users were initially selected. The results of the project so far seem largely positive. The system chosen allowed up to 60km of driving with service of the vehicle limited to a radius of 20km of the operation centre. The project was also designed, through simulation, to ensure high utilisation rates of the vehicles (for cost-effectiveness) whilst still ensuring high availability of the vehicles when requested by a user.
The cars were used over 3,000 times in a three month period with stations located in business areas being busiest and with the majority of vehicles being used for round-trips to and from the same station. The project will continue and will hopefully pay for itself in its third year of operation. To achieve this, the criteria for potential members will be expanded and the costs are set somewhere between those for a bus and for a taxi for the same period of time. Although fuel cells are not featured in this project, it remains of interest as an example of a route for their early introduction.
Universities and the car companies
Honda and Toyota both presented information on the fuel cell prototypes they have manufactured. These include Toyotas FCHV4 hybrid sports utility vehicle with its top speed of 150 km/h and a range of 250km.
Toyota's FCHV-4 under test with the California Fuel Cell Partnership.
This image is reproduced courtesy of the California Fuel Cell Partnership.
Honda gave details of the progress of its fuel cell programme from the use of metal hydride storage to supply hydrogen to a 50kW PEMFC to its more recent use of a compressed hydrogen tank working with a 60kW fuel cell and a capacitor for energy storage. Over the course of this progress, start-up time has been reduced from ten minutes to ten seconds. The present range of 300km is still lower than for most conventional vehicles but is a significant step.
Shinshu University in Tokyo gave some details of the less researched use of solid oxide fuel cells in electric vehicles. In the authors view, the fuel flexibility and high efficiency offset the high temperature of operation and the large system volume sufficiently to be worth further examination. A 50kW system was designed to work at 800 degrees C. Such a system was expected to weigh 56kg and cost 564 000 Yen (roughly US $4,300). The range of such a vehicle operating on natural gas is expected to be twice as far per kg of fuel as for a conventional vehicle.
A number of organisations such as the oil companies and the University of Tokyo examined well to wheel efficiency, to quantify the environmental and cost benefits to using a fuel cell rather than an internal combustion engine. The Universitys detailed study came up with some realistic answers. The results showed that benefits could be gained by use of fuel cells. However, the range of estimates for the efficiency using an individual fuel was often greater than the differences between fuels, indicating that further investigation is required to come to an environmental best case answer.
Finally, Keio University, from Kawasaki, presented its intriguing eight-wheeler Kaz concept. This is a vehicle specially designed to use an electric engine, although not necessarily a fuel cell. Able to travel at 200 miles per hour, environmentally friendly and allegedly safer than a conventional automobile, more details on this creation can be found at www.sfc.keio.ac.jp/~hiros/kaz/aboutkaz.html.