GM unveils World's First Drivable Fuel Cell and By-wire Vehicle
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Image Gallery ( 5 images )General Motors has revealed its Hy-wire concept vehicle, the world's first drivable vehicle that combines a hydrogen fuel cell with by-wire technology. The GM Hy-wire incorporates the features first envisioned in the AUTOnomy concept vehicle at the 2002 North American International Auto Show in Detroit and the drivable Hy-wire will be shown to the public at the Paris Motor Show in late September, just eight months after the technology was unveiled.
"The fact that we developed Hy-wire as a drivable concept vehicle in just eight months (from its introduction in Detroit) shows our commitment to this technology and the speed at which we are progressing," said Rick Wagoner, GM's president and CEO.
"With AUTOnomy, GM shared a vision. Hy-wire accelerates our progress with a functional proof of concept which strengthens our confidence in our ability to gain marketplace acceptance of production fuel cell vehicles."
Larry Burns, GM's vice president of research and development and planning, said, "We are driving to have compelling and affordable fuel cell vehicles on the road by the end of the decade. With Hy-wire, we have taken the technology as it exists today and packaged it into an innovative drivable vehicle comparable in size and weight to today's luxury automobiles.
"All of the touring sedan's propulsion and control systems are contained within an 11-inch-thick skateboard-like chassis, maximizing the interior space for five occupants and their cargo. There is no engine to see over, no pedals to operate - merely a single unit called X-drive that is easily set to either a left or right driving position."
Hy-wire is the product of global cooperation. GM designers and engineers in the United States developed the vehicle chassis and body design, as well as the engineering and electrical system integration. Engineers at GM's research facility in Mainz-Kastel, Germany, integrated the fuel-cell propulsion system, which is the same system designed for the HydroGen3 concept (top speed of 160 kilometers/hour or 97 mph), based on an Opel Zafira and shown for the first time at the 2001 Frankfurt Motor Show. American designers also worked closely with Italian design house Stile Bertone in Turin, where the body was built. The SKF Group, headquartered in Sweden, developed the by-wire technology in the Netherlands and in Italy.
"By combining fuel cell and by-wire technology, we've packaged this vehicle in a new way, opening up a new world of chassis architectures and customized bodies for individualized expression," said Chris Borroni-Bird, director of GM's Design and Technology Fusion Group and program director of the Hy-wire concept. "It is a significant step towards a new kind of automobile that is substantially more friendly to the environment and provides consumers positive benefits in driving dynamics, safety and freedom of individual expression."
According to Wayne Cherry, GM's vice president of Design, the chassis architecture provides designers the freedom to create a number of different body styles.
"Until now, fuel cells and by-wire have been demonstrated as if they were an end in themselves," said Cherry. "But we look at this technology as enabling us to create a number of exciting new body styles for consumers to choose from. This is just the second interpretation of many to come."
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