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Matt Brogan4 Nov 2012
REVIEW

6 AMP HOUR CHALLENGE: The wrap-up

As the aim of our story was to highlight a selection of the electrified vehicles currently available in the Australian new car market, there are no winners or losers.

THE WRAP-UP: It’s time to pull the plug on the 6 AMP HOUR CHALLENGE

What we have instead are six vehicles that have all taken a difference approach to electrification. Some haven’t strayed too far at all from the safety net of the internal combustion engine, while others are as far removed as possible, relying solely on the merits of their respective technologies… Or a very long extension cord.

All jokes aside, there are some obvious differences amongst our half-dozen rivals. The Mitsubishi i-MiEV, for example, works well as a city car but lacks the practicality a family hauler like the Holden Volt or Renault Fluence ZE.

Similarly, the Nissan LEAF is a great all-rounder, and a fabulous electric car in its own right. But it can’t hope to match the range-extending capabilities of the Holden Volt or the all-petrol range of our hybrid hopefuls.

The Honda CR-Z and Toyota Prius c both come from established hybrid families. The execution might be slightly different, sure, but the technology is very similar. Depending on your needs and style both offer a practical, albeit cautious step toward electrification, and may help sway those who need more range, or simply aren’t ready for the ‘switch’ to an all-electric vehicle.

The best thing is that there’s something for everyone. It’s a broadening of the scope we’re used to and puts the very best of electrified motoring technology in reach of the average buyer for the first time. It’s an exciting and practical move in the right direction, and one we’d encourage anyone with even the slightest bit of interest to explore with an open mind.

Who knows, a test drive of an electrified car just might shock you!

For the moment, fuel cells for production vehicles remain a way off

World markets are on the cusp of an explosion in fuel cell vehicle sales – figuratively speaking. Hyundai, Toyota and Mercedes-Benz are all talking about commercially available fuel cell vehicles by 2015, and they, and many other companies, are already beta-testing vehicles in places as far-flung as Germany, Iceland, South Korea and the USA.

It is, in fact, the USA from whence the strongest push for hydrogen-powered vehicles is coming. There (in California, to be precise), the public mood is demanding the infrastructure necessary to support hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

Local Mercedes-Benz spokesman, David McCarthy, has told motoring.com.au in the past that California could be home to 50,000 fuel cell vehicles by 2015.

Hydrogen is the great white hope for the automotive industry in the face of global warming and a world that is claimed to have reached peak oil production. But it's expensive and inefficient to extract hydrogen to provide the material basis for electricity production in a fuel cell. Storage and transportation of the volatile gas set more hurdles also. Nevertheless, the potential outweighs the challenge.

In summary, a fuel cell stack combines hydrogen with oxygen to form water. In doing so, it generates electrical energy, which can be stored in onboard batteries or fed directly to an electric motor driving the car forward. There's no pollution produced, but separating the hydrogen in the first place is energy-intensive, which is why a solar powered (energy from the sun) process is the preferred solution. It costs nothing, other than the hardware to catch the sun's rays, it's effectively an unending resource and it's non-polluting.

For the moment, however, fuel cells for production vehicles remain a way off. Which is why none took part in our 6 AMP HOUR CHALLENGE.

Maybe next time...

Words by Ken Gratton

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Written byMatt Brogan
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