HYBRID HYDROGEN-ELECTRIC AUTOMOBILES: HIGH MILEAGE, LOW POLLUTION

A concept for a highly efficient hybrid hydrogen-electric automobile, that gets the equivalent of 95 miles per gallon, travels 300 miles without refueling, and produces significantly less pollution than a gasoline-powered vehicle, is evolving at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Advancing this vehicle into commercial production will not only help reduce polluting emissions, it will create manufacturing jobs, increase U.S. economic competitiveness, and improve energy security through the use of domestic hydrogen sources.

The envisioned automobile is a hybrid design that combines an electric generator with a piston engine. The design being developed at LLNL uses hydrogen to run the engine. The hydrogen fuel, safely stored in the form of a metal hydride, supplies chemical energy that the generator converts into electricity. Special flywheels store sufficient electrical energy to accelerate the vehicle at a brisk 0 to 60 mph in 8 to 10 seconds.

The technology used in the hybrid hydrogen-electric vehicle is well understood and can be available in the near future. The production cost of the engine/generator combination is estimated to be about $75 per kilowatt ($100 per horsepower) of available output power - somewhat higher than for conventional vehicle engines, but several times less than the projected cost of fuel cells.

For more information, call (510) 422-6416; fax: (510) 423-8988.

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